Leadership Selling

Last week I keynoted at a major California trade association convention in Los Angeles. I introduced the concept of integrating leadership principles into the sales process, and how today's sophisticated buyers are fed up with the selfish manipulations of traditional sales training. I explained the concept that a successful sales professional never has to say 'thank you' at the conclusion of the sale. If your value is high and your belief in your product or service is genuine, then it is the customer who should be saying 'thank you' to you. If you focus on creating and articulating the clear contribution of your value on a personal level to the end-user, then that prospect will eagerly make the investment in your product or service.

At the end of the convention, one of the board members came up to me and told me that the message resonated well in the hearts of the attendees, who were seasoned sales veterans. When I asked her why she thought the program was well-received, she said, "That's because this is L. A. We're so used to seeing fake and plastic people that any bit of authenticity is refreshing to us."

This is indeed an age of authenticity and congruence. People are tired of hype and are putting up impenetrable walls to keep marketers out. The recent telemarketing legislation is a strong signal that shows how fed up our society has become with traditional sales efforts.

Don't try to fight it. Go with it. Leverage this trend to your advantage in your sales process.

1. First, develop an insatiably high belief in the value of your product or service. If you don’t believe that there is a benefit to be realized to your customer from what you are selling, then you need to find something else to sell. Focus on contribution first, commission second.

2. Get testimonial letters from your best clients. Call them and ask them to give quantifiable representations of how your product or service has benefited them. Specificity builds credibility. By showing specific benefits on a personal level that are quantifiable, you use the principle of social proof in why others should buy your product or service. The premise of this principle is that we make decisions to buy based on the decisions that others have already made. By making it quantifiable, it is irrefutable and much more compelling.

3. Clarify your own personal values. In your role as a business professional who wants to influence others, create a list of the three or four values or premises that govern your behavior. These should be the guiding force of all of your actions, including the sales of your products and services. Crystallizing your premises and beliefs gives you freedom to operate within that framework. You now have a reference point for your actions. This also increases your own personal self-confidence. By understanding who you are, what motivates you, and what governs your actions, you will start to perform at a peak level in your sales activities.

4. When you have such a high belief in your own personal values and in the value of your product, then you now have a duty and a responsibility to overcome the prospect's objections. If they give you an objection, your belief will be the main driving force of them purchasing your product, not your sales tactics. Most sales training is poor in teaching sales professionals how to properly sell, relying on gambits and manipulation more than authenticity and genuineness. It is the emotional belief in your contribution and the way that it will benefit them on a personal level that will encourage them to buy, not rebuttal number nine.

Integrate these leadership principles into your sales process and watch how your prospects follow your lead. And at the end of the transaction they will thank you for your service to them.

Scott Love shows managers and sales people how to manage their risk and win the game of business. He is a professional speaker and can be reached at 828-225-7700 or on his website at www.nolimitachievement.com