Sales often gets a bad reputation. Not because it’s inherently negative, but because of how it makes people feel. Nervous, awkward, exposed or even the word itself can bring up images of pushy pitches and polite rejections.

Sales isn’t just about making someone buy something, it’s about connecting, understanding and offering value. That’s it.

Still, fear around sales is real. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freelancer, business owner, coach, or working in a sales team, if the thought of “putting yourself out there” makes you sweat, you’re not alone. This fear can be paralysing. It makes you overthink emails, delay follow-ups or completely avoid sales conversations altogether.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Building confidence in sales is possible and you don’t have to become someone else to do it. You just need to shift how you see the process and how you speak to yourself throughout it.

Here’s how to do that in a way that feels human, genuine, and actually doable.

Sales is a conversation, not a performance

Let go of the idea that you need to impress people or get everything “right”. That’s a huge part of where the fear comes from. It puts pressure on you to sound perfect, look polished, and nail every word.

But people don’t buy from perfect. They buy from people they feel connected to.

The most powerful shift you can make is this: sales is a two-way conversation, not a pitch. You’re not delivering a performance, you’re exploring. You’re asking questions, you’re listening. You’re seeing whether you and the person you’re speaking to are a good match. That’s all. Nothing more.

Stop aiming for the ‘yes’

When you chase the ‘yes’ too hard, everything starts to feel high-stakes. That’s when the pressure kicks in. You second-guess yourself. You avoid taking action altogether.

Let’s reframe it: instead of going into every call, email or conversation hoping to ‘close’, go in seeking clarity.

Does this person need what you offer? Are you the right fit for them? Do they understand how you can help?

If the answer’s no, that’s still a win. You’ve learnt something, you’ve freed up space for the right person and you haven’t wasted anyone’s time trying to force a yes.

Confidence is built by taking action

There’s no training, script or pep talk that can give you instant confidence in sales. It only comes through doing.

That means making the call when your voice is a bit shaky. Sending the message even though you rewrote it five times. Telling someone the price without apologising for it.

The more you do it, the more you realise two things:

You won’t die from discomfort.
You actually know what you’re doing.

Sales confidence doesn’t start with a feeling. It starts with action. And the feeling follows.

Ditch the sales voice

You don’t need to sound like a different version of yourself. People can tell when you’re using a voice that isn’t yours. It creates distance and makes both sides feel uncomfortable.

Talk how you normally talk. Use language that feels like you. Keep it simple, honest and clear. When you stop performing, you feel less pressure and you build trust much faster.

You’re not trying to ‘get’, you’re here to offer

Sales fear often stems from this idea that you’re asking for something. Asking for attention. Asking for money. Asking for validation.

But flip it: you’re offering something. A product, service or solution that could make someone’s life easier, better, more efficient, or more enjoyable.

That’s valuable and if you don’t offer it, the right people might never know it exists.

This one shift, from taking to offering, can completely change how you feel in sales conversations.

Instead of thinking, I hope they say yes, try, I hope this is useful to them. Let’s find out.

Takeaway

Fear around sales doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for it, it just means you care. You want to get it right. You want to feel good about how you show up.

Confidence grows when you start seeing sales as something you do with people, not to them. When you stop chasing outcomes and start having honest conversations. When you let go of the pressure to prove yourself and instead focus on the person in front of you.

If you’re nervous, that’s fine. You’re allowed to be. Take the next step anyway. Speak like yourself, offer your help. Let go of needing a yes and keep going.

That’s where confidence lives, not in perfection, but in progress.