Why We Fear To Sell … And How You Can Overcome It

Have you ever heard someone say "I'm afraid to sell" more than three times in one day? If so, then you might be familiar with the concept of fear of selling. Kerri Smith from The Trusting Program shares what it means, how it can negatively impact your sales, and how you can overcome these fears.

Many people struggle with feeling confident when relating to others. It's often a big obstacle to overcome when it comes to effectively building trust and establishing rapport. It's no wonder, then, that one of the most common barriers that keeps us from being more successful is our fear of "selling."

I know this because I used to struggle with it as well. During my MBA program, I had a professor who recommended that I stop focusing on building trust and start selling. It was advice that was quite powerful for me. Once I stopped trying to win people over by spending time building rapport and instead focused on what was needed to close the sale, things began to drastically change.

In addition, it was also a phrase that my husband used over and over again. He kept telling me, "Just sell them the product." And while I had heard this hundreds of times before, it wasn't until I began to truly focus on being a salesperson instead of simply being there to help that I saw a dramatic change in myself.

It's been almost ten years since then and now when I hear someone say they're afraid to sell or they're afraid to promote themselves, etc. I immediately think to myself, "Oh boy."

It seems that fear of selling is a problem that is epidemic throughout our society. And it really comes down to our own perception of what selling really is and isn't. So, I thought today we would tackle what the fear of selling really is and how you can overcome it.

WHAT IS THE FEAR OF SELLING?

When I talk about the fear of selling, I'm not just talking about someone who's afraid to call or meet new prospects or those with buyer's remorse after they've made a sale. The fear of selling can actually keep us from doing many different things in life aside from sales.

The fear of selling is the reason that many of us don't ask for a raise, don't speak up at work, and even hesitate to ask our friends to tag along. We are concerned with how others will respond.

When we feel we may be judged or that someone else has more important things to do than get involved, we then lack the confidence necessary to really push for what we want. Instead, we remain stuck in a state of stagnation and eventually grow tired of what was once our passion or goal in life.

As I mentioned earlier, I used to struggle a lot with this as well. I dreaded calling on people in my networking groups because I was concerned about how they would respond. It was a mixture of nervousness about what others thought and my own lack of confidence in myself.

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?

So how do you overcome this fear of selling? Perhaps the best way is to simply realize that you are capable of making sales. After all, you're the only person who can determine whether or not you have what it takes to sell successfully. So why don't we try focusing less on whether or not people are going to buy from us and more on if we have what it takes to make sales happen? The fact is, if we don't, then there's nothing we can do about it. It's as simple as that.

If we focus on understanding what it takes to be successful in sales, then we begin to build confidence. And once we believe that we can be successful, our actions will follow and mirror this belief.

from http://www.thesalesblog.com/2012/02/why-we-fear-to-sell-and-how-you-can.html

Why We Fear To Sell … And How You Can Overcome It

Why We Fear To Sell … And How You Can Overcome It

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