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If you are in sales, the answer is yes.  In this sense, I am using the Austin Powers term of MO-JO to represent your confidence.

Experiment #1:

Question:           

Ask ten different people for a date.  

Results:             

Get ten rejections. 

Summary:          

Yep, that ought to do it!  You’re well on your way.  You’ve lost it!

Experiment #2:

Question:           

Ask ten customers for an order. 

Results:             

Get ten rejections. 

Summary:          

“Two Tickets to Loser-ville please!”

Experiment #3:

Question:           

Customer says, “Why should I pay you more?” 

Results:              

You stammer and sound like a sales person reciting Features and Benefits, sounding like everyone else. 

Summary:          

Check please!!

Experiment #4:

Question:           

Through your persistence, the “C” level finally agrees to see you for one hour.  You walk in, they say, “You’ve got ten minutes.  What’s your value proposition?” 

Results:              

Your answers are vague and more “self” focused instead of industry and customer focused giving them information they didn’t even know yet.

Summary:          

You search Google looking for creative ways to say “I messed up” that will look OK on the forecast.  Oh, found one. “No budget.”

Top Five Ways to Keep or Re-Gain Your Confidence

The reason why I said "If you are in sales, the answer is yes," is because there are always times where you lose your confidence.  We all have slumps. 

So, how do you keep your confidence?  Well, simply put, that would be by getting ten people to say “Yes.”  If you ask ten people for a date and you get ten “Yes” answers, two things will happen.  You’ll get your confidence back and you’ll be broke from the cost of all the dates you’re going on.

So, what are the five best ways to keep your confidence strong?

1.     Think positive.  That’s the first step. The whole “I think I can, I think I can” mentality like the famous children’s book “The Little Engine That Could.” You have to believe.

2.     Be around people who believe you can too. There is nothing worse than hanging around people who are contradicting what you are thinking internally and speaking externally. That wears you out! Hang with Positive People!

3.     KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.  This comes from maturity and practice and knowing your product.  When you walk in and have an understanding of exactly what you can and can’t do, you feel extremely confident, and your customers knows it.

4.     Be RED.  For most of those who know this simple fact, Tiger Woods wears RED on the last day of a tournament.  It may not be 100% of the time, but its close.  Why?  It’s aggressive and confident.  When you are in front of a customer, your whole “aura” of colors rubs off on the customer. And yes, that is a fact! You’re negative, they’ll be negative. You’re scared, they will become scared.  It’s like a cloud. What ever color you are, that color will move into their space.  So be RED with confidence, and they will see confidence in your ability to help them.

5.     READ MORE THAN YOUR COMPETITION OR CUSTOMER!! The more you read about being a sales person, the more you know. The more you know, the more confident you become.  Let’s say you are going to sales convention on how to overcome objections. You read 5 books and the people you meet there have read none. My money is on you!  Reading about your craft and your profession gives you confidence to overcome your competition.  More importantly, it gives you the ability to impart your wisdom on to your customer so they see the value in what you bring. 

Experiment #5:

Question:           

Ask ten different people for a date after reading books on human behavior, understanding that it’s not all about you, being positive and sincere in your approach and delivery, all wrapped up in a smile of confidence. 

Results:              

You’re on a date 

Summary:          

You’ll probably be on a second one!

Experiment #6:

Question:           

Customer wants to know your value proposition?

Results:              

You deliver a confident and concise message about their business, their vertical, their issues and the relevant problems to the specific title of the person you are speaking to. 

Summary:          

Your ten minutes turned into two hours, and your competition will be telling their bosses, “We lost because they always get the high level meetings!”

Check Please!