Having confidence can feel awkward, you don’t want to come across too showy and you don’t want anyone to find out your a fraud, but don’t we all feel like frauds at some point? It’s just our insecurities telling us we aren’t good enough, we don’t know enough, we aren’t enough. And that’s BS!
We question ourselves, but at the end of the day, we are living, learning and growing. You just need to know more than your client or potential clients. Don’t worry about trying to know everything. I know it’s not easy, I’ve experienced this feeling often. It was really highlighted to me with my man, Mike.
Case Study #1
Mike’s been building houses for the past 7 years or so, he went to school for construction management and design, he also went to school for business management. He recently decided to further his education and get his home inspector license. Before he even took the course, they asked him to test his knowledge to highlight where he should focus his learning through the courses and he got 96%. One year later he passed the actual course requirement and is now ready to inspect people’s homes. Keep in mind he’s been inspecting and building people’s homes for over seven years. And, guess what?! He was feeling nervous, insecure, wasn’t sure if he has enough knowledge to bring to the table. Umm yaaa kidding me right?! I wouldn’t trust anyone else to inspect my home and his client’s agree. He knows much more than them, and that’s why they are paying for his services. Think about this in your business, just be a couple steps ahead of your prospective clients and you have value to offer.
Case Study #2
Another example, that is more personal to me. I heard through the grapevine that a company needed support in sales. I approached them to see if they needed support, and they kind of pushed me off and said they weren’t ready, but would call me when they knew more about what their next steps would be. I thought about it, I followed up and said, I don’t necessarily need to be hired as an employee, I can help get you through this period where you don’t have direction. They agreed to meet with me since I persisted in communicating them through this. We met and they still seemed to have a lack of direction, but we had a great meeting about where they are, what value I can bring to the table and they let me know that once they figured out what they wanted to do, they would be in touch. Nothing came of it for a couple weeks, so I thought, what would I do if I was in their shoes? And so, I proposed a sales audit, broke it down on timing, what it would look like and the cost to them. They called me and agreed to hire me on a two week contract. I’m not telling you this to impress you, I am telling you to encourage you to think outside the box, think like a boss. Be confidence in what you have to offer and pursue it.
You’ve got what it takes to do the job, I truly believe that you grow outside your comfort zone, so be confident and push pass the uncomfortable.
