There are various careers out there that aren’t heavily focused on looks and image, but sales isn’t one of them.
The truth is, success in a sales career isn’t just reliant on how well you know a product/service and the company selling it. The way you carry yourself, your confidence level, and your image directly impact how well you do in sales.
This can be daunting for someone who doesn’t consider themselves confident. But improving how you carry yourself to better your sales career doesn’t have to be scary.
Before we give you a few tips for carrying yourself confidently in your sales career, let’s explore the relationship between image/confidence and success in sales.
The Relationship Between Image/Confidence and Success in Sales
Confidence is immeasurable in sales.
You must easily sell your product or service no matter the circumstances. The only way to do this is to be confident in yourself and your ability to make the sale.
Ultimately, when you know the product or service inside and out, feel good about the way you look presenting it, and are confident in your skillset, you’ll significantly increase your chances of making that prospect an actual customer.
Now, it’s time to start carrying yourself in a way that makes triumph the only option in your career.
Three Tips for Carrying Yourself in Your Sales Career
Here are three tips for how to carry yourself confidently in your sales career to achieve the most success:
Make a Good First Impression
First impressions are critical in sales. It only takes someone a few seconds to make a judgment on who you are. If a potential client makes up their mind that you lack confidence and aren’t a strong representative for whatever you’re selling, you’ll lose them.
So, make a good first impression with decision-makers and potential leads by:
- Smiling to communicate warmth and enthusiasm
- Greeting your client with a firm handshake
- Setting the tone with a polished, professional wardrobe
- Paying particular attention to grooming and hygiene
- Exuding confidence and authenticity in all you do
- Doing some research on the client before the meeting
- Always using good manners
- Dressing the part in business formal clothes or a suit, budget or otherwise
Learn the Ins and Outs of Closing a Deal
One of the most complex parts of sales is closing the deal. However, you can quickly close a deal if you understand how, where, and why purchasing decisions are made. Additionally, closing deals fast is a confidence booster in itself because the more results you get, the prouder you become of your efforts and abilities.
Make sales and close business deals faster by:
- Knowing who makes the decisions and investing your time into them
- Creating a sense of urgency by offering a time-sensitive discount
- Sharing exactly why and how your product/service is the right choice for the client
- Writing a proposal unique to the client
- Doing more active listening than talking in your meeting
- Knowing how you compare to your competition
- Following up once the initial meeting is over
Ensure You Have a Healthy Relationship With Yourself
Of course, taking care of your looks and appearance is a must in the sales industry, considering how often you interact with people. But with such a heavy focus on image and appearance, beauty bias or pretty privilege makes looks seem like they’re more important than skill level.
Although beauty bias can be a wonderful thing for those who consider themselves attractive, it can also be horrible for their self-esteem, productivity, and overall confidence if they don’t consider themselves beautiful.
By cultivating a healthy relationship with yourself, you learn to love all of who you are. You learn to see strengths where others see weaknesses, whether in your looks or skill set. By loving yourself fully, you won’t allow biases like these to stop you in your quest for success in sales.
Having a healthy relationship can also help you realize when things like burnout hit you. You can then take some time off to rest so that you can put your best foot forward when it’s time to reengage with your clients.
Ultimately, when you have a healthy relationship with yourself, you’ll feel more confident in your looks and abilities and combat biases like the above. You’ll also be able to tell when it’s time to rest so that you can confidently reconnect with your clients when it’s time.
Conclusion
It’s essential to pay attention to how the way you carry yourself impacts your sales career if you want to succeed. When you look good, you feel good and can do good in all that your sales career requires of you. Use the three tips above to carry yourself in a way that attracts success in your sales career.
