Sprezzatura is an Italian word that I discovered while taking a music history class in college. Sprezzatura was first coined by author Baldassare Castiglione in 1528 and it means, “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it”.
Sprezzatura could also be defined as the reassuring impression we give off that helps us successfully acquire and retain clients. It is a special kind of confidence. Sprezzatura could also be seen as a purposefully designed representation of how skilled we are.
Who would you rather hire, the person who says they can do something for you and visibly struggles to get it done, or the person who seems like they have solved this problem 1,000 times before? Sprezzatura marks the difference between an amateur and a professional—the professional can design and show their Sprezzatura at will.
When selling anything, there is a certain threshold of hesitation from the side of the client that we need to overcome. If we aren’t able to provide a sense of security, if we can’t make the decision-making process easier for our prospects, we won’t be able to get them to hire us.
Our potential customers are always trying to find the best solution to their problems. When we sell to them, we are showing them that we are the best at what we do. Expressing yourself as an expert and consistently proving it, is why clients hire us. We also have to focus on ensuring that we showcase our Sprezzatura for as long as possible.
Even in moments when we don’t have the answer to problems, when we have to push a deadline, when we have to explain a failure, we still have to show that we are able to solve the problems we were hired to tackle.
If you don’t have the answer, you still have to prove that you’re the best person to figure out. If you push a deadline, you have to then deliver beyond expectations. And if you failed, you better provide revisions and improvements as fast as possible and ensure that it never occurs again.
Much of what our work tends to be just reassuring our clients that they made the right decision in hiring us. We have to always fulfill the promises that we are presenting in our marketing. Our clients will continue to exchange their hard-earned money for our stellar services and products only if we can give them peace of mind.
The moment you stop showing your Sprezzatura is the moment you have truly failed yourself and your clients, for they will go elsewhere. To someone else who can consistently show Sprezzatura.
Image Credit: Fran Hogan on Unsplash