Not sure when I recorded this track. I believe it was at one of the sales training sessions I offered a few years ago. Short track but with some powerful tips. Enjoy!
MFP Copier Blog
Sales Professionals Are Not Sales Pretenders, What About You?
"If you want to make it in life stop pretending to be someone else, just be who you are."
Albert Tshifulwe
Are you the real deal? Are you living the life of a sales pretender?
According to Merriam-Webster, pretending can defined as...
- To give a false appearance of being, possessing, or performing
- To make believe
- To claim, represent, or assert falsely
Often as kids growing up, playing make believe was fun, entertaining and playing dress up took us to places our minds could only imagine.
In today's highly informed business world, playing dress up in sales will only get you exposed as being an empty suit.
In a red ocean filled with sales sharks and empty suits, being genuine is a huge way to stand out. Being real, sincere, honest and not asserting yourself falsely will get you noticed immediately.
Let's just face reality for a moment, many can sniff out the B.S. conversely, many know when you're "leaning in" and bringing the business goods.
Being genuine is a rare quality. Today's world is full of sales phonies, social media hype and virtual fake sales personas.
Who they portray is not really who they are or are willing to admit too.
Sales chest puffing is running rampant inside the sales world.
Would you agree your clients and future clients will respond favorably and will continually come back to you, when they see you as being the consummate sales professional as opposed to a sales pretender?
Genuine sales professionals forge their own sales path and our not sales pretenders.
Sales professionals are not pretenders as they search for and discover their own unique way of pursuing their passions and purpose.
They forge an entirely new path to get to their desired destination.
It's about what they think and say that makes them who they are. It's what they do and how they view themselves within the sales world. They lead a congruent lifestyle.
A genuine sales professional is guided by an internal compass, meaning they don't follow the conventional or typical routes others take to achieve their goals.
They do not pretend to be someone they are not.
START WITH BEING REAL
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."
Judy Garland
Let's all stop for a moment and reflect upon that quote.
Are you the first-rate version of yourself?
In a business world full of empty suits, being real and transparent is nonnegotiable. You see, without this one will be labeled a commodity.
Transparency and being real:
- Creates the foundational layers of trust
- Creates the basis for a strong positive relationship where you can build loyalty
Without loyalty, you're a commodity
Are you bringing the real version of yourself to your clients?
Being real is intentionally baring your soul by showing the true version of yourself.
Many in sales have lost their identity. This may be brought on out of fear of rejection, lack of self-confidence, a broken sales heart, lack of fulfillment or trying to be someone that they know they are not.
What do you think your clients crave?
Sales professionals know who they are. They refuse to masquerade around as someone they’re not. They let down their guard and their client's sense, see, and know it.
Being phony is no way to fill your sales funnel
Phoniness is a human characteristic that can be sensed from miles away.
So, when we’re looking to build your personal relationships, do you identify and relate to people who are honest, trustworthy and kind?
I believe you do, then I believe the same can be applied to your client relationships and interactions.
START WITH BEING TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”
Oscar Wilde
I would like for you to think for a moment...
Being true to yourself... means integrity, moral beliefs, personal values, honesty, sincerity, authenticity, living by what is and what is not acceptable to you, ethics, right and wrong, honor, no falsehood, truth... Now... how many of these words would people associate with the salespeople?
Therefore, those who absorb what it means to sell from the heart, live by a code of morals and values.
Being true to yourself is fundamental to living a life full of integrity.
How many in sales have let their clients down by simply not living up to their promises?
It's your duty to live up to your obligations and fulfill them, this becomes your character and your brand.
Stop pretending to be someone you are not just so you can fit into the so-called sales culture.
START EMBRACING VULNERABILITY
"Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn't feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive."
Brené Brown
Vulnerability is the driving force of connection.
It’s about being brave and tender. It’s nearly impossible to connect without it. We live for it in our personal lives so what prevents us from doing this in our professional lives?
Why have we turned vulnerability into a sales weakness?
Why do we 'pretend' in order to make that sale, then only to revert back to what every other empty suit does really well... abandonment?
Without vulnerability relationships struggle. Without vulnerability how will your client relationships flourish?
Embrace vulnerability in your sales career.
It’s opening yourself up to get closer to your clients. It’s about giving without expectation or a hidden agenda. It's receiving with an open heart. This my sales friends is Selling from the Heart!
STOP PRETENDING AND START DOING
Become more comfortable with who you are and be yourself. Becoming more confident and exposing the real you to the business community is scary.
Pretending to be someone you’re not, well that is exhausting and a complete waste of all of the talents you have to offer.
E.E. Cummings best said it,
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
It is better to be yourself imperfectly, then it is to pretend to be something you are not perfectly.
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I believe you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps become sales professionals. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social and Selling from the Heart.
You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebookand on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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DocuWare offers New HR Solution to Manage Vaccination and Testing Records
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Executive Connection Summit at Valley HO for Day One
I made it to Valley Ho in Scottsdale just about 1:30 this afternoon. I was a happy camper because the weather was improving from the colder temperature and the cloudy skies in Tuscon this AM.
Today for the ECS was 3:45 PM for the press conference and all were invited that were available. Andy Slawetsky hosted the press conference and did a great job with the introductions of the all of the Consortium vendors that were in attendance.
Mike Stramaglio started off our press event and gave us a preview of the some of the technology and fun that will come over the next couple of days.
Jennie Fisher (Senior VP and General Manager, Office Equipment Group for Great America stated that many of us are talking about where our market is going. The connection is a great way to evaluate potential and generate ideas that will create value for our clients.
We then heard a little from each vendor and while most was the same intro's about products and services we were able to hear from some new players looking to add services and expand to the BTA channel.
What interested me was the talk tract around fan controlled football. Which they are building live Madden like event. Not sure how this plays into our technology bit I thought it was interesting and different.
At 6PM we'll have out have the reception dinner and tomorrow starts at 7AM for a full day.
-=Good Selling=-
Has Your Sales Growth Leveled Off? Are You Unsure Of Where To Turn? Grow Your Best Self!
“What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
In a world of me-too, sales sameness and empty suits... could what many of us fear help us to drive more sales?
We all want to grow sales. We all want more clients. We all want to become our very best.
Then I ask you to think about this...
You are going to have to self-invest if you would want to be the best.
High achieving sales professionals push themselves further and harder than anyone else ever will.
Walt Disney said,
“Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”
Think about this quote and apply this to your sales career and how you work with your clients.
Now answer these three questions...
Would you follow yourself?
Would you be motivated by yourself?
Would you be filled with vision if you were following yourself?
If you want to grow sales, you must be willing to dig in deep. You must be willing to get to know and grow yourself.
If you were asked what your strengths are, you should be able to provide an immediate answer. With confidence and clarity, you should be able to give a detailed answer of exactly what you do best.
If you stumble and bumble needing paragraphs to explain, you may not clearly know your strengths. If you struggle to explain what you do best in a few sentences, then quite possibly you haven't taken the time to become conscious of your strengths.
Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, renowned as one of the legendary Seven Wise Men once said,
"If you don’t take the time to clearly know yourself, you won’t be able to raise your influential value."
Therefore, if you want to grow your sales then raise your influential value.
You raise your influential value by getting to know the real you.
"When you're able to be honest with yourself about who you are and finally can present your authentic true self to the world, you feel so much better about yourself, and it makes it easier for everyone else to feel better about you."
Gus Kenworthy
What you may be hiding from the sales world could be preventing you from monumental sales growth.
Let's pause for a moment to deeply reflect upon these questions...
- Are you living as the real you and not someone else?
- Do your thoughts match your actions?
- Does your walk match your talk?
- Are you spotlighting the positive aspects of you?
You see, living a lie comes out sooner or later. Living a sales lie and somebody that you're not is even worse, as it will ultimately screw with your career and your sales results.
Are you tracking with me so far?
Let's continue this journey...
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Your greatest accomplishment in sales and to your clients is to be yourself.
SALES PROFESSIONALS ARE SELF-AWARE
Spend any amount of time in sales, and you will have eaten a slice of humble pie or have been bitten by the reality bug. This bite injects salespeople with a dose of humility and awareness of their shortcomings.
If you’re willing to set aside your ego, become humble and go about your work; then you can radiate an attitude of "others-interest" and thus create a true client-focused experience.
In the poem, written by Charles C. Finn, Please Hear What I am Not Saying.
The opening lines read,
“Don’t be fooled by me. Don’t be fooled by the face I wear, for I wear a mask, a thousand masks, masks that I am afraid to take off and none of them is me.”
High achieving professionals are not self-centered. The best of the best incorporate self-reflection and are truly aware of who they are. They love eating humble pie for breakfast and look forward to a day full of learning as they serve their clients.
BUILD THE REAL YOU
Believe me or not, you are front and center, the face of the business. The development of the real you allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust.
We've all heard the age ole saying, "People do business with people they know, like and trust."
Now, how do you become that person when somebody may not have personally met you?
Creating, cultivating and connecting with the real you can dramatically improve your sales conversion rates. The goal is simple... drive more sales revenue, increase client retention, gain more referrals and build deep meaningful relationships.
How do you become more recognizable? How do you build your authority? How do you build becoming the subject matter expert? How do you create your following?
If you want to exponentially grow your sales, you must bring the real version of yourself to the business table!
DITCH THE SALES FACADE AND THE MASK
How do you feel about how you're portraying YOU to the business world? Are you truly being yourself?
Do you feel that you can be you, no matter what sales situation you're in?
Masks may protect us, however; if you're not bringing the true version of yourself to the business table then I'm here to inform you that you'll get exposed. You may not believe me just yet, but I promise at some point it will happen.
Mask wearing is a huge drain on your mind. It's a hard act to constantly pretend to be, or feel like you need to be, someone else. Similarly, it's very draining to regularly act like you feel one way when you really feel another.
"Be real, because a mask only fools people on the outside. Pretending to be someone you're not takes a toll on the real you, and the real you is more important than anyone else."
Alex Gaskarth.
We admire those who bring their heart to the forefront. We admire those who are honest and transparent and stand up for what they believe in. Conversely, we poke holes and see right through those we see as fake or phony.
THE AUTHENTIC YOU DRIVES SALES
Mask wearing protects you from vulnerability. Being you, getting to know you and discovering the authentic you, is not a sign of sales weakness. When you wear a mask you stand in resistance to the true you.
You must stand tall and reflect who you are. You must believe it. You must own it. You must know what it stands for. You must know your strengths and your weaknesses. Wear those emotions on your business sleeve. Be proud of those emotions.
We are all human beings. It is all about the personal connection. If you are "blowing smoke" at people what's the likelihood they will come to trust you?
I love what Brené Brown says in The Gifts of Imperfection,
“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
Becoming authentic is a process and journey to begin knowing who you really are. To understand your own personality traits, behaviors, values, beliefs, needs, goals and motives.
It's having the courage to acknowledge your limitations, embracing your own vulnerability and to stand proud saying, "This is who I am!"
When you can better connect and relate to yourself, I promise you this, you will better connect and relate to your clients. In turn, watch what starts to happen to your conversations and sales results.
BEING A HUMAN AND NON-SALESY DRIVES SALES
How hard is it to be an authentic human being?
I'm here to tell you, there will come a point in your sales life, when you're sick and completely exhausted of all the masks your juggling and the people you're trying to impress.
Sales masks are sign of weakness and stunts your sales growth
Your clients can tell when they're in the presence of an authentic human being, one who isn't "putting on a sales show," they're just true to their humanness.
One can they are Selling from the Heart!
This comfort is heartfelt because in their presence everyone can sense it. This authenticity brings out in the best in conversations.
The inner work you do on yourself fuels the outer success you will have in sales.
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I believe you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps become sales professionals. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social and Selling from the Heart.
You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebookand on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.