When you think “con game”, you think of being swindled, stolen from, hoodwinked. But that’s not the whole story. While the original “Confidence Man” (con man) was set on deception, you have to admire the root of it (just hear me out…). The whole scheme behind “a con” is to gain your mark’s confidence by exuding confidence in what you want them to buy into. Your confidence earns their confidence. The Con.
At work, i am responsible for training all of our Customer Service Reps and introducing most of everyone else (from Exec to Sales to Data Entry) who comes into the company to what our CS Dept does. In training, i stress the importance of being confident, owning the “con game”. Dentistry is a foreign language to most people. I mean literally; it’s mostly Latin. But as a CSR, you have to sound like you know exactly of what you speak – even if you have no clue what you’re saying – because the person on the other end of the phone (i.e. the dentist or the dental assistant) does know what they’re talking about. If you don’t sound confident, they are not confident in our company’s ability. As the front line, we represent the whole company. Confidence is a must!
Coming into this company, i had approximately 2 years of general dentistry knowledge. My very first job at 15 years old was with Dr. David Miura, DDS… This job came 25 years later. So basically i knew much of nothing about dentistry, except that it was a field i had zero interest in. I took this job because i needed an income and it provided one. Honest answer. Six years later, it’s continued to provide a stable, progressive income, and remains a field i have zero interest in. But i do what i do well enough that the powers that be are confident enough in my ability to trust me to train and orientate new employees and management. Confidence.
So where am i going with Mastering the Con? I am not entreating you to swindle or trick anyone out of anything. But in the entrepreneurial game, in the product sales game, you’ve got to have a level of confidence that exceeds standard. I have to show such unwavering confidence in my product that there is no way you wouldn’t want to try, nay, BUY, my cake. Is my cake the best cake in the whole wide world? Well… does that really matter? If i tell you, with utmost confidence, that it is, look you dead in the eye with a sincere smile and tell you that it is, you’ll be compelled to try it. And your biological reaction to the taste will make you want more, therefore, you’ll buy. Now, if i just asked you if you wanted some cake, do you think you’d have the same reaction? If i just sat cake in front of you and went, “Meh, it’s cake,” do you think you’d be interested? Nope. I have to instill my confidence in you that you will fall deeply in love with this cake, so much so that you will confidently buy it, eat it and tell others about it!
Did you notice that at no point was there a deception? Did i lie? Did i bend a truth? Did i make you do anything you didn’t want to do? Nope. I earned your confidence and delivered on it. See? The Confidence Game needn’t be a bad thing!
Confidence is more than a state of mind, it’s a state of being. You don’t just think “Be Confident”, you have to live it! Walk into a room owning it. Answer that phone knowing you’ve already solved the problem before you even say hello. Make eye contact with people like you already know them. Treat people like they’re the most important person in your life at that very moment. If they mean something to you, you’ll mean something to them and they’ll have confidence in you. Sounds too easy, huh? People have always asked how i’m so confident about things. Honestly, it’s genetic. Vaughns are cocky. My uncle once said, “If you don’t know a Vaughn, you should.” How confident is that!! It’s true though… You should… But it’s so ingrained in me, i don’t know how else to be. If i don’t believe in me, who will? If i don’t believe in my cake, who will? If i don’t convince you to believe in my cake, who will? No one. It’s on me. My “con” isn’t about deception, it’s all about decadence. So I’m gonna run the game till the wheels fall off!
And you will master your con game too. Because there’s something you need to share with the world and nothing is going to stop you!
You got this. Go get ’em!!!