Ralph immediately got straight to the point. “Confidence has nothing to do with being introvert or extrovert. It has nothing to do with how well you can ‘wing it’ in a presentation. Confidence is a response you elicit in others. Do they feel confident in you?”

“You can attempt to project confidence all you want, but in the end the most important thing is how your confidence is perceived by others – your clients, your team. People confuse charisma with confidence, which is not the same thing. Clients are not coming to buy charisma.”

As creative people, we are projecting ourselves into futures that do not exist, dreaming about things that have never happened and as Ralph points out, “we are eternal optimists, and sometimes that leads us outside of our capability zone”.

Your capability zone, as Ralph describes it, is the arena in which you have the greatest right (and likelihood) to win business. Your sweet spot. The area in which you can prove you can add value. It’s where you’ll most naturally instil confidence in clients, because you are in control and capable of delivering on what you are saying.

Agencies often rely on dialling up the passion and charisma when outside of their capability zone. But even when projecting positivity and confidence, client confidence in them can quickly evaporate. A lack of reassurance by the agency on its track record in the area in question, and avoidance of discussing any of the risks involved, won’t establish client trust.

Without trust there is no relationship. And without any relationship there is no business.

If people feel confident in you, and they trust you, that fuels your own confidence. “It is a bit like being a comedian”, says Ralph, “the audience will decide if you are funny or not.” But there is no short cut to achieving this – honesty and delivering on what you say on a constant basis is key.

Shift your thoughts to “What can I do to elicit more confidence in me by those around me?” and you’ll arrive at two strands of activity:

1. Personal development – how can you grow your competence and expertise?
2. Positioning – are you trying to sell the wrong thing to the wrong people?

By understanding where you have the greatest right to win, and the confidence you can elicit in clients in your capability, you’ll hit the sweet spot in securing new business – and be able to charge a premium for it.