I had an interesting conversation with a stranger this afternoon. We were standing next to each other waiting to order some dinner and he looked over at me and asked if I was in sales. I looked at him and said yes, and asked him why he would have asked that question. His answer was GREAT. He told me I stood in line with confidence.
I really thought that his answer was funny. I asked him how one goes about standing with confidence. He told me I didn’t wander around, I didn’t leave a great big gap between myself and him, and he said it was just your stance.
At that I actually laughed out loud. I am 5’6” and about 280 pounds. I have the shortest legs of anyone I have ever known. How is my stance so telling of my profession?
He told me he was a script writer for newscasts. I found that to be interesting, but he didn’t want to talk about himself, he wanted to talk about me. He asked me what it was that made sales people so confidant? I told him it was no matter what we were told, we always had an answer. Our ability to think on our feet and keep conversations going gives us what he perceived as confidence.
He didn’t like my explanation. He actually told me, and these are his exact words, “Oh get off it”, he said that there are a lot of people who can think on their feet and keep conversations going. He said that sales people are just different. I laughed again and told him he had just shaken my confidence in myself.
We talked for a few more minutes and then we had to go our separate ways, but the conversation had me thinking. You see I believe he was being honest when he said that he has noticed sales people are confident people. I also believe that as a non sales person he was seeing something that I may not be able to see because I am too close to the subject. I also believe that he was very sincere when he talked and I could tell he was green with envy.
Then as I was driving to my hotel I realized that sales people are confident for different reasons. I was trying to group us all together but that isn’t right. For some of us it is our gift of gab and our way of controlling a conversation. For others it is the successes we have already had and others it is the knowledge of our industry and products. And for still others it is the peace of mind knowing that if we are good at our trade our families will never go hungry.
I wish I could have talked to this guy more. I liked the way he asked questions, but he should be good at asking question, he works in the newsroom. Then I started wondering if we came across to our customers as confident. Do our customers look at us as confident people or arrogant pushy jerks? It didn’t take me but a second to decide that our customers viewed us as confident professionals. Why did I come to this conclusion? Easy, our customers wouldn’t spend money with jerks.
So the point of this post today is to let you know that people view you as confident. Your customers see you as a professional. You need to start seeing yourself the same way.
I need to be honest, when this stranger asked me if I was in sales for absolutely no reason, I first got very insecure. I thought I had done something that’s was over the top. (I have been known to do those things every once in awhile). But after I had a chance to absorb what he had said, I felt good.
What would you have said to this guy? Would you have felt the same way I did at first? Think about it. It is a fun exercise.
Lorin
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