Confidence in sales is severely overrated. Confidence is nothing more than a byproduct. Many of the sales tips we receive tell us all we need is confidence. Nonsense.

Why Confidence Alone Doesn’t Work
There are racecar drivers who try to be competitive through confidence alone. Their race speeds are not up to par. They simply aren’t competitive. They don’t measure up. They feel anxious when racing.

These drivers frequently operate under the repeated delusion that once a race is started (versus practice), they will suddenly blossom into world-class drivers and their fears and inabilities will disappear. The adrenalin of the race will carry them through, they think.

These Drivers Aren’t Fooling Anyone
Why would an underperforming racecar driver think the strain and difficulty of a race would suddenly make him or her a great driver? Adrenalin doesn’t improve high-level technical skills; it hurts them.

Instead of continually deceiving themselves about their fears and limitations, these drivers could be using these same fears and limitations to steer them toward tools and resources that would make them better.

Why Fear Is Our Friend
Oftentimes we don’t approach sales any differently.

We might be fearful and ineffective when meeting CEO’s of large corporations. We tell ourselves “we’ll just power through it” by being confident.

We might experience tremendous anxiety about making an important customer presentation because we feel our presentation skills aren’t up to speed. We respond by revving up our confidence – as if we could just push a button and receive “instant confidence.”

How We Can Use Fear
Fear is nature’s way of telling us we are not prepared. When we are fully prepared to meet with a Fortune 500 CEO or when we have an important presentation ready and rehearsed – we have little anxiety.

Preparation and competence kill the fear monster. When the fear monster has been tamed, then confidence is free to flow. Just like there can’t be a waterfall without water, there can’t be confidence without preparation and competence.

Everyone Deals With Fear and Weaknesses
A recent study of corporate executives (i.e. CXO’s) reveals that they feel incompetent and fearful about 20% of the time. Most of them respond to their fear and incompetence by formulating a plan to address the issues. They treat fear and inability as a guide to improvement.

Sales Blog Rx
Fear is our signal that we need to work on a specific inadequacy. Once we tackle a deficiency, then confidence can legitimately flow. Confidence never comes before ability. Quit wasting time chasing it.

Further reading:
The Not So Subtle Difference Between Confidence And Positive Thinking In Sales
8 Sales Tips To Help Control Nervousness When Presenting

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Tags: performance, sales-training, skills

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