strategy & tactics
Selling with Confidence Learn how building confidence in yourself and your abilities will help you make clients more comfortable, and as a result, increase sales and dollar amounts in your business.
At KnowledgeFest Indianapolis this year, Elias Ventura of Safe and Sound Mobile Electronics in Manassas, Va. and Chris McNulty of Chantilly, Va.-based Driven Mobile Electronics, teamed up to present a workshop on how to sell with confidence. In case you missed it, we’d like to share the highlights of our presentation with you. We talked about how confidence is often the missing trait that holds most people back from declaring themselves experts in their field. The important thing to remember is that you are the expert.
Syndicate, 12-Volt Sales Pros and the Educar groups—just to name a few. Additionally, familiarize yourself with all the tools at your disposal and use them. Vendor reps are trained specifically on the gear they sell us, so it’s also important to utilize them as resources. Ask them questions about how the gear is supposed to work, and don’t let them off the hook until you fully understand. This is part of their job. We also recommend finding a peer or a mentor within the industry who routinely demonstrates mastery of customer interaction and finds the best solutions for clients every time. Talk with them, reach out and explore their ideas. Find parts of their process that you can use in yours to better serve your clients.
Educate Yourself to Build Confidence
Confidence Will Guide You Forward
If you don’t yet feel like enough of an expert, remember that tireless study and training on the newest gear, techniques and solutions is what makes you an expert. It’s important to attend trainings and learn as much as you can through events such as KnowledgeFest, as well as local vendor or distributor trainings. Read industry publications and be a part of the movement forward in social media groups like the Mobile Electronics
The class we presented in Indianapolis was not at all groundbreaking. When we were sitting in Dallas last year in Eddy Kay’s class on sales, we were reminded that selling is a process that hasn’t changed much over time. Many of the concepts Eddy talked about—and Del Ellis, in the past, and Marcel Newell, and Ken Ward—are concepts that we cover. The class serves a reminder, for the most
WORDS BY ELIAS VENTURA AND CHRIS MCNULTY
44 Mobile Electronics April 2019
part, of the things we already know, but tend to overlook or cut short. The class teaches that what we may think is common knowledge—and is to us—isn’t necessarily common knowledge to our clients. We need to show them why to follow our recommendations, rather than just expect them to do so. Once we learned to confidently guide customers with our expertise and knowledge, we also learned the best way to move forward. The end result is so rewarding. We love seeing the finished result, or the customer’s reaction—and even simply the most genuine “Thank you!” Confidence will allow you to be the best expert you can be with every customer. It builds trust with the client, letting them know that you know what the best way forward is, and that you’ll share it with them. As industry professionals, we have to be the navigators for our customers. That said, if we truly want to win, we have to create the map for success.
Create Solutions Your Clients Can Easily Visualize The best way to build and implement confidence in your sales procedure is by building the foundation for a solution that your client can easily visualize.
