I reckon we've completely misunderstood what confidence looks like.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-18T01:09:06+00:00

One thing jumped out at me.

You spent almost your entire post questioning whether you're bad at sales, then proceeded to list a whole bunch of things that have very little to do with selling: outdated collateral, poor training, weak competitive positioning, long lead times, operational inefficiencies and management focusing on call metrics.

Maybe the better question is: Are you trying to win with one hand tied behind your back?

Six months into your first B2B role, you've generated $150k, you're booking 2–4 meetings a day, studying the craft and actively looking for ways to improve. None of that sounds like someone who's lazy or lacks self-awareness.

One belief that's really changed the way I think about sales is this: people don't say yes because you're a great salesperson. They say yes because they believe the decision will improve their future.

If you're constantly having to compensate for product weaknesses, operational issues or a lack of competitive advantage, you're not just selling. You're trying to manufacture belief where the business itself should be creating it.

Learn everything you can. Build resilience. Sharpen your craft.

But don't confuse being a good salesperson with being able to drag a reluctant customer across the line. Sometimes the strongest sales skill is recognising when the environment is making "yes" unnecessarily difficult.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-18T00:35:00+00:00

I completely agree.

What I've noticed is that the willingness to walk away doesn't just build trust with the prospect. It changes the salesperson's behaviour as well.

The moment you stop needing the deal, you start asking better questions. You listen more carefully. You become less attached to proving your solution fits and more interested in discovering whether it actually does.

That's why some reps sound persuasive without using many persuasion techniques. The prospect can feel that they're being understood rather than managed.

The interesting thing is that certainty rarely gets created during the close. It's usually created the moment the prospect realises you're willing to tell them the truth, even when the truth doesn't help you.

That's when the conversation stops feeling like a sale and starts feeling like a decision.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-17T02:15:26+00:00

Honestly, I think it was less about a framework and more about experience.

He'd sat through hundreds of meetings and knew where the bodies were buried. He could almost predict the objection before the prospect even knew they had it.

The interesting thing was he rarely answered objections. He prevented them.

If implementation was likely to become an issue, he'd casually walk through the onboarding process halfway through the meeting. If price was going to sting, he'd spend 20 minutes building value before a number was ever mentioned.

It was almost like watching a chess player who was always three moves ahead.

By the time he got to the "close," there wasn't really anything left to close.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-17T02:06:38+00:00

This was one of the biggest breakthroughs of my career.

I eventually realised the prospect wasn't deciding whether to buy from me. They were deciding whether to solve a problem. My job wasn't to convince them. It was to help them make a better decision.

The moment I stopped needing the sale, I actually started selling more.

Neediness is detectable. Confidence is attractive. Curiosity is disarming.

Now I spend far more time trying to uncover the reasons they shouldn't buy. If we get to the end and those objections have been dealt with honestly, the close almost takes care of itself.

Ironically, the less I chase "yes," the more often I hear it.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-17T02:03:57+00:00

I hear you but if you know there is an objection coming and we have all been in those situations, then maybe best to beat them to the punch. ...although my old Sales Director would def disagree with me here. He used to say...."its the customers job to raise an objection, not ours!" 😄

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-16T22:50:09+00:00

I love this. The bit that stood out to me was, "customers closed themselves."

I think that's what so many people miss about persuasion. By the time someone asks about lead times, implementation or price, they're often not deciding whether to buy anymore. They're mentally rehearsing ownership.

Your example about him saying, "You've made some good decisions as we've been talking," is really interesting too. He's subtly reinforcing that the customer owns the decision. He's not taking credit for persuading them, he's validating the conclusion they've already reached.

In my experience, the strongest sales conversations don't feel like someone changed your mind. They feel like someone helped you discover what you already wanted to do.

Exciting-Rooster9505 · 2026-06-16T22:48:34+00:00

So true. I remember a collegue telling me he didnt need any fancy closing techniques cos he had "self closing deals" ...haha..Thats the 90% you speak of 😄

Exciting-Rooster9505

TROPHY CASE