Overcoming The Fear Of The First Client Visit

 All first contacts with potential customers are journeys into the unknown: no sales person knows what welcome they will receive or whether the visit will be successful or not. Fear is the natural reaction to this uncertainty. In order to help your staff overcome this feeling hold sales training sessions to build their self-confidence.

By recognising this fear accepting that it exists and learning to control it your sales staff will be well on the way to becoming a successful sales people. Try and analyse, with your salespeople, the possible causes of their fear:

Lack of skills:
Not having the right skills causes lack of self-confidence. Those who do not have self-confidence develop fears. The following questions may help you examine the situation:

What must the sales people know about their products and its use by the customer?
What sales techniques does the sales person need to master?
What does the sales person need to do in order to become the number one for the customer?

Your sales people must have the right attitude towards their profession.

The need for recognition is deeply rooted in all human psyches. It is always very difficult to receive the desired recognition when dealing with new customers particularly those who are strangers. At the end of the day, the initiative needs to come from the sales person - they approach the prospective customer and introduce themselves, their company and product to them.

Encourage your sales people to ask themselves the following questions:

How do I feel if a customer behaves in an unfriendly manner towards me?
Is it realistic to expect immediate recognition from someone when you meet for the first time?
Would it be prudent to change my own expectations?

Your sales people will notice that a large part of their fear is based on a self-made problem: they have set their expectations too high and therefore their own sense of disappointment will be all the greater.

Lack of self-confidence:
Do your sales people see themselves as experienced in their field? Do they see you as a problem solver and the bearer of good tidings? Do they require technical sales training?

Every customer that your sales people visit or contacts will ask him or herself the question: “Is this person a time waster or do they really have some interesting information that I should listen to?”

Your sales people need to have an answer to this question and this answer begins with their self-image and self-confidence. Self-confidence functions like a thermostat: the higher the self-confidence, the higher the performance and success. The deal can fail as a result of a lack of self-confidence, even if the sales person is standing right next to the decision-maker and the requirement for the merchandise is immense.
 
Many sales people see themselves as hawkers. The customer will also see anyone with this view as a hawker and time waster. The transformation from hawker to competent, equal negotiating partner begins in the mind.

Strong self-confidence works like a catalyst: words and sales skills are only as good as the self-confidence in the voice.

Are your sales people wrestling with negative thoughts? Leading psychologists are convinced that when you are ready to control them and say the right things to yourself it is possible to fight negative emotions.

False ideas only disappear once they have been replaced by good ideas.

Lacking a sense of reality:
Do your sales people view customers’ indifference and doubt as rejection? Both behaviours are completely normal reactions to strangers who make unsolicited contact. It has nothing to do with rejection. It is more likely to be that the customer has had a bad day, just dismissed a valued colleague or had a client cancel a large order. However, the negotiating partner may be a naturally reserved or suspicious person.

Instill in your sales people the belief that their business is just as valid and serious as that of the customer. Their time is just as valuable as that of the customer. They are an equal person irrespective of title, age or position.

As sales people they have the distinct opportunity of gathering information about important developments within their area of industry. They are reporters who observe the customer at work. They see various users and uses for their products and services and are able to judge how economical or uneconomical these uses are. They see what will and will not work. They are consequently in the enviable position of being able to provide the potential customer with their valuable practical expertise. Many companies often pay huge advisory fees for this knowledge which sales people offer free of charge.

When your sales people view themselves and their profession as consultants, they no longer lack self-confidence or a sense of reality. Consultative sales training can further assist in the development of your team’s skills.

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