How To Build Confidence In Sales Conversations: 7 Top Tips

By Helen Wada with Debbie Johnson

For the latest episode of Human Wise, I sat down with Debbie Johnson. Debbie is a seasoned sales leader with global technology organisations. She is now working with others to share her wisdom and experience to help build their commercial teams and capabilities.

In reality, the best and most successful rainmakers are those that lead with authenticity, that build trust with clients, and that prioritise valuable relationships above making a one-off win.

If you’re in an environment where your technical expertise is valued, but you also need to develop your own book of business, then focusing on the ‘human’ side may just be the secret you’ve been searching for to build more valuable, lucrative and lasting relationships with clients. But what does this actually mean?

Carve an authentic path, when role models do not exist

Debbie: “Going back to my early days in an environment that was very male dominated, I didn’t have many role models, and what I saw was people who were successful… through just focusing on transactional business rather than building something for the long term.”

Sales environments, especially within technology organisations, have historically been very tactical. Today the world is different, but it is still hard for individuals looking to break the mould and progress their own careers in a way that is different to those that have gone before them. Debbie shares some of her learning from her extensive career in sales.

Don’t try and be something that you are not

Debbie: “When you're out building trust with customers and looking at creating relationships, if you're not yourself, it's very, very evident… I kind of figured that actually being more of myself, looking to build trust and looking to add value was actually more important than just focusing on [selling].”

This means taking the time to understand who you are, who your team are, and the value that you bring. Debbie suggests that those in sales might consider increasing the percentage of their time working out customers’ key issues, what value they can bring and how they can communicate it to their audience in the most effective way to ensure their message hits home when they deliver it.

Build your network

Debbie shares that cultivating your network from early on in your career is incredibly important.

Cultivating a network that continues to work for you beyond the initial connection means realising the humanness of your clients. Seeking to add value to their personal and professional success. Thinking of them as more than just a potential sale. How can you help them outside of the provision of your services? Sometimes it’s about thinking outside the box in terms of how you can support those in your network to build ongoing, lucrative relationships.

Debbie encourages us to look for “parallel activity”, which could mean offering your support at a charity event, or helping out with changes occurring in the company. It’s about building connections outside of the sales conversations.

You don’t have to be the expert

Some professionals may find this idea intimidating. Expanding our intention beyond just the content, beyond the comfort and safety of what we know, and seeing where we can bring more value, more humanness and more of ourselves can be scary. But the crucial thing to remember is: you don’t need to be the expert.

Debbie: “I’ve seen a lot of people work really, really hard to be the expert. And they’ve missed so much along the way. There are a lot of other things that make up a well-rounded individual. Knowing where to get key information, how to create broad propositions, who you can work with – being able to collaborate to pull that together is way more valuable than somebody spending many hours trying to be the expert.”

But what if you are not yet comfortable with selling?

Debbie and I discussed how we can reframe the concept of selling by having an opinion, challenging thinking where necessary and reframing our focus altogether.

Debbie: “An approach i’ve used many times is to park for a moment, the idea that you are selling. You’re there to make a difference. What's the problem? Can I solve it? How can I make a difference? And then how can I take that difference and turn that into something that's a tangible business benefit for the customer?”

The power of challenge

As Debbie points out in the episode, there are many companies who deliver exactly what the customer is asking for, no more and no less. The key is to create new insight for customers that help them to think about problems and opportunities in a new way. Despite delivering what the customer is asking for, you may be missing out on value (for you and the client).

Debbie: “They want to be challenged. Customers want to have opinions put in front of them that are constructive. There is a definite drive towards doing more with fewer suppliers. So certainly in the technology sector, build great relationships and then really manage, and develop and nurture those relationships – always from the customer’s perspective.”

This is a parallel concept to our focus on clients during a coaching programme. In coaching, the client is at the centre of all conversations and it is the job of the coach to challenge, to create insight for the client, and to add value through discussion and exploration. The same should be true in sales environments.

Value beyond the sale

Debbie: “Value in a sales situation isn't always a direct A to B. Sometimes there’s a more indirect route to building some of that trust, and that’s through your network.”

When we’re thinking about our intentions towards our clients, we need to be thinking outside the box – this is what is going to set us apart from the competition. What can we offer that is of value beyond the sale?

Debbie: “You’re there to make a difference. What’s the problem? Can I solve it? How can I make a difference? And then how can I take that difference and turn that into something that's a tangible benefit for the customer?... It’s not about presenting the facts and figures around a solution and then just walking away. It’s about building that engagement and that value – and that can work so well. In fact, when that works well, it’s absolutely stellar.”

Why? Because human connections are much more collaborative and lucrative than transactional relationships.

Get out of your comfort zone

She encourages everyone to get out into the field, learn on the job, work out what works for them and push themselves to have different experiences. It is so important.

Debbie: “You feel good about yourself when you've done something you're uncomfortable with. And then it gives you more confidence to [go again].”

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The full conversation with Debbie Johnson is available here.

For more information on Debbie, head over to LinkedIn.

Human Wise releases new episodes bi-weekly and is available on all major podcast platforms.