Sell With Confidence: Unlock Your Potential

Paul Vitale
Vital Communications (2009)
ISBN 9780966617443
Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (4/09)

“Sell With Confidence: Unlock Your Potential” by Paul Vitale is a book full of common sense tips and techniques for salespeople. While the book does not contain any breakthrough new ideas, theories, or practices, it would be the perfect book for any company to give its salespeople when they are hired. The first section of the book is a practical guide that would help the new salesperson. The last two bonus sections “Thirteen Habits of Pitching with Confidence” and “Twenty Tips to Providing Customer Care” will be helpful to any salesperson, new or old, and provide reminders along with some ideas that might be new to seasoned sales veterans.

Overall, what struck me most about the book was the practicality and common sense of Vitale’s advice—from reminders about how to dress and look professional, to irritating phrases to avoid when making a sale, and reminders for doing presentations, including to check beforehand that your markers haven’t run dry.

At the heart of “Sell With Confidence” was the reminder that salespeople are not only selling their products or companies, but they have to sell themselves to build confidence. Vitale reminds us that, “People don’t care how much you know—until they know how much you care.” As a result, “The very first thing you need to sell to a prospective client is yourself. It is usually the aspect the customer knows the least about, but ultimately will buy.”

I also greatly appreciated the discussion of the importance of knowing all the details of the product before trying to sell it. I know from personal experience that frequently salespeople feel it’s their job to sell the product, but not their job to be knowledgeable about the product.  Too often, once a sale is made, the salesperson turns the customer over to the customer service department to answer questions, while the salesperson moves on to making the next sale; the customer is left feeling abandoned and dissatisfied by the lack of personal attention. Vitale emphasizes the importance of salespeople knowing the products they are selling; knowledge of the product makes the salesperson more confident in his presentation, and that confidence will in turn make the customer feel confident and want to buy. It will also eliminate problems with dissatisfied customers after the sale.

Vitale also spends considerable time talking about how to present a product, especially after the customer has agreed to meet with the salesperson. Many little tips are offered for providing an effective presentation with visual aids. Vitale provides great tips on the importance of paying attention to detail; the details are key for making a good impression. Too often, businesses set their salespeople up for failure by failing to train them to speak in public and before their clients. Vitale’s book would be an excellent source for new salespeople in this situation, providing them with guides for how to prepare before the presentation, and public speaking tips for during the presentation.

All around, I think every business would do well to present a copy of Vitale’s “Sell With Confidence” to a newly hired salesperson. The book would also be a great gift for anyone attending business school, the teenager who just started his first job working the counter at McDonald’s, or anyone in a position to represent a company and sell a product to a customer. “Sell With Confidence” will make anyone involved with sales more confident.

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