--- title: Why the Smartest Guy in the Room Isn’t | The Sales Blog description: To sell effectively, you need to know some things. You need the business acumen that allows you to connect the value you create to your dream client’s problems and challenges. You also need the situational knowledge that helps you to make the distinctions that ensure you can help your dream client to obtain their desired […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screen-shot-2011-04-23-at-6_30_39-PM1.png --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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You need the business acumen that allows you to connect the value you create to your dream client’s problems and challenges. You also need the situational knowledge that helps you to make the distinctions that ensure you can help your dream client to obtain their desired outcome. You have to be super smart. But you never have to prove you are the smartest guy in the room. #### Discounting Other People’s Ideas and Feelings One sure fire way to lose friends and alienate your dream clients is to discount their ideas and their feelings. It’s dangerous to prove that you have the right ideas if it means that you have to block out [your dream client’s ideas](http://thesalesblog.com/2010/05/whose-proposal-is-more-likely-to-win-your-story-their-story-or-our-story/) and feelings about what the right solution might need. Being so confident in the right answer that you dismiss other people’s thoughts, concerns, ideas, and suggestions looks like [arrogance](http://thesalesblog.com/2011/03/one-size-fits-one%e2%80%94the-arrogance-that-is-your-solution/). The worst part is that you may not even know that you are doing it. Other people can tell that you are discounting their ideas and that you don’t care about their feelings when you dismiss their ideas and when you ignore what they have said and move on to your own “better” ideas. #### That Smug Look on Your Face People also know that you believe you are the smartest guy in the room by the smug, patronizing look on your face. Your body language and your facial expressions give away the fact that you believe other people’s ideas aren’t as good or as valuable as your own. It can be as simple as a little smile that betrays your thoughts, or it can be the fact that [you aren’t really paying deep attention](http://thesalesblog.com/2010/03/4-ways-to-improve-your-communication-skills-for-sales/) to what they are saying; you are already thinking about your next great contribution. You also give yourself away when you respond with short, monosyllabic responses to other people’s ideas and statements. You can’t fake full engagement, and being disengaged means that you really don’t [care about other people](http://thesalesblog.com/2010/02/6-ways-you-can-prove-you-care-in-sales/). #### The Dumbest Guy in the Room When it comes to your dream client relationships, there can’t be anything dumber than believing or behaving like you are the smartest guy in the room. There is very little likelihood that you know as much about your dream client’s problems, challenges, and opportunities as do they. There isn’t any possible way you know more about how they feel than they do. Even if you know how to help, and even you have the right ideas, *how* you bring others to those ideas counts far more than simply having the ideas. And *how* you make people feel about themselves, their ideas, their feelings, their thoughts, and their concerns will determine whether you win or lose—and whether you can implement the change you sell. Making other people feel small is stupid. Your dream client is trying to identify someone that can help them move beyond their current state to an imagined future, and they can’t imagine adding someone to their team who is arrogant enough to behave as if they are the smartest guy in the room. If you are dumb enough to prove you are the smartest person in the room, know that your dream client is smart enough to choose someone else. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2011](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2011) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on April 23, 2011 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover (1)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg) ### Free Sales eBook: Sales Call Planner Planning your sales call improves the likelihood of making a successful call, and it demonstrates to your dream client your professionalism. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2022-06-16T3:22:25 PM", "datePublished" : "2011-04-23 18:57:14", "description" : "To sell effectively, you need to know some things. You need the business acumen that allows you to connect the value you create to your dream client’s problems and challenges. 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