The Unseen Element That Drives Sales Excellence

Tell me if you’ve heard any of these before – “ABC – Always Be Closing”, “It’s a numbers game”, “Sell like your hair is on fire”. For me, that last one hurts because I no longer have any hair.

Throughout time, there have been a number of great – and some not-so-great – expressions designed to keep salespeople motivated to sell, sell, sell. And as a former salesman and sales manager, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The question becomes though, who are you selling for?  

Before we address that question, can you relate to the potential customer’s comments below?

Boss: Did you get any new customer orders today? Salesperson: Yes, I got two! Boss: Congratulations! What were they? Salesperson: “Get out!” and “Stay out!

Salespeople can be persistent, but their intentions aren’t always clearly stated. For example, a few years back following a quick, 10-minute speech at a networking event I gave, a young man came up to me afterwards and said words to the effect of, “Wow, that was a great talk. I’d love to pick your brain on some things.” Thinking that he was interested in me expanding on some of that night’s talk, I agreed to a meeting, and we set up a date and location.  

Upon getting there, we sat down, exchanged pleasantries, and I asked him how I could help him out. His reply was, “Do me a favor, write down your top five financial goals.”  Having witnessed this sales technique before and not being very fond of it – not to mention the fact that I don’t even know this person – I said to the guy, “Why would I do that?”  “Just go on and do it”, he replied, “I’ll explain in a minute.”.  

At this point – though I was seething on the inside because I went out of my way to meet this guy to try to help him – I explained that I was going to leave now.  I told him in a kind, but strong way that it was wrong for him to get me there under false pretenses and that he showed a lack of respect for me and my time in trying to sell me something that I hadn’t asked for. I further explained that while I understand he may have been directed to use this tactic by his boss, it is wrong and lacks integrity. I then stood up and walked out.  

In all honesty, while I was annoyed at the situation, I really hope I helped this guy out. He seemed nice enough and was incredibly young. Bottom-line though, he really had no regard for the other person (me) or that he was misleading in his comments.

Regarding our earlier question, let’s take a deep dive into answering it.  

Who Are You Selling For? 

For a number of people, this is a question that only has two answers.  Those being, “For my company” or “For me and my family”.  Let’s take a look at each reply.

When people are selling for their company, I think that is great. It is generally steeped in the idea of wanting to do well for the people who have taken a chance in hiring you, have put their time and energy into providing company training, and have invested in you in other financial ways as well.  

When people are selling for themselves and their family, I also think this is a good reason.  Afterall, we all have to live, right? Our aim is to succeed comfortably while aspiring to be the best and earn enough to enjoy life’s finer things.  

They are both valid responses.  However, they come with caveats.

When you sell for either your company or for you/family, at what cost do you do so? Does it really have to be, as they say, “All about the Benjamins”?  Do you approach sales with a win-at-all-costs attitude? And if so, who wins? Your company? Ok. You? Ok.  But you’re leaving somebody out who is especially important to the process, aren’t you?

What about your customer? 

Because when we talk about the other side of the coin here…your customer…don’t you want that company and their representative to trust you?  To trust that you are also selling with their best interests in mind, as well as yours?  After all, you are now showing your customers through your actions that you understand that when they succeed, you succeed as well. And when you both succeed repeatedly, then your “customer” becomes a long-time “client”.  

It is about selling with integrity. Selling with integrity is steeped in helping others succeed as well. It’s about working with a client in such a way that when you do business together, you’ve both come to trust that you, the salesperson, will treat him/her in such a way that you both feel good about working together.  

Selling with integrity is about other things as well. It’s also about making sure things get done in the timeframe you’ve promised. It’s about making sure the product or service you’re promoting is everything you claim it to be. Furthermore, it’s about going above and beyond…as you’ve promised…not because you said you’d do it but because you want to do it. And perhaps most difficult, it is admitting if a mistake was made up front without shifting the blame.  

Again, you want to help that client succeed…each and every time.

Selling with integrity can be a challenge but it’s what sets great salespeople apart from good ones. It sometimes forces you to stretch beyond your comfort limits but when you do, three other remarkable things happen:

Selling with integrity can be a challenge but it’s what sets great salespeople apart from good ones. It sometimes forces you to stretch beyond your comfort limits but when you do, three other remarkable things happen:

1).  You now come to realize that you’re more than even you may have thought

2).  You become irreplaceable in the eyes of your client. It’s become as if you’re part of their company 

3).   You no longer have to worry about being on the defensive regarding when, why, how, and what. As in the customer consistently questioning, “Is it going to be delivered when you said so.”, “Why is the price so high?”, “How is this going to help me?”, and “What in the world was I thinking about when I decided to do business with you?” 

Selling with integrity can be a challenge, no doubt.  However, the challenge of becoming better for your clients (as well as for you and your company), comes with great rewards. In closing, consider this thought by Napoleon Hill:

“When you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity – regardless of what others may do – you are destined for greatness.”