“Always listen to your HEART. The wisdom of your heart is the connection to your authentic power - the true home of your spirit”
Angie Karan
One of the fascinating aspects about the people who lead us, whether they are good, poor or indifferent, is the fact we can learn a thing or two from them.
Some teach us how to lead while others demonstrate how not to lead. What makes the difference in a strong leader versus a weak one? Is it their personality? Is it their skill set? Is it their life experience they possess?
While all of these are factors there is one thing I believe sets apart strong leaders from weak ones... THEIR HEART
"A leader with a noble heart can give us what we all search for—a sense of purpose, meaning, and nobility." As Lolly Daskal so eloquently says in her article, Make A Difference: Lead With A Noble Heart
SALES REPS WHO LEAD
True leadership from a sales perspective is the ability to affect change and influence people inside your clients and prospective client's places of business. You, as the coach need a game plan just as a general needs a plan of attack or someone running for office needs a platform. If you are truly going to lead others, then I suggest you bring a proactive thought process to how you lead yourself.
One of the most influential people in the history of mankind, once said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must become a servant.” – Jesus of Nazareth
This perspective, however, smacks many in the face of how most people tend to live their lives. Most people don’t want to serve. They would much prefer to be served.
Is it possible these words can apply to those in sales? I wholeheartedly believe they can...
- Servants make themselves available to serve
- Servants pay attention to others needs
- Servants do every task with equal dedication
- Servants are faithful and they are trustworthy
If you want to be 'great', if you want to be 'successful', learn to become a servant. Stop selling…Start serving... Start being a leader of yourself.
LEAD WITH THE HEART - SERVANT LEADERSHIP
There is a world of difference between being a vendor who takes orders and being viewed as one who brings value.
Do you view and treat your customers as customers or clients?
A vendor or customer mindset defaults to a defensive or reactive position, missing opportunities to help and to increase your value by being able to build a dependable, mutually profitable relationship.
Truly successful sales reps lead with the heart and seek to serve their clients and prospects. The most high-valued sales relationships will be peer-to-peer in nature. This is a huge mental and strategic shift most find exhausting.
Adopting a servant leadership mindset takes a conscious effort by learning and committing to develop self effectiveness in areas such as:
- Listening
- Empathy
- Healing
- Persuasion
- Foresight
Think about stewardship with your clients and prospects. Make the commitment to grow relationships not for sales sake but to genuinely and with a sincere heart build a great community of clients.
Servant sales leadership is a journey. It is conducive to sales reps with a grit and growth mindset.
A HEART THAT SERVES DRIVES SALES REVENUE
Actions speak louder than words when serving with the heart
Those who lead with the heart help buyers discover how to make decisions and manage possible change by using their own values. This can be done by:
- Helping to resolve their issues with familiar resources
- Getting all necessary buy-in from whomever is involved in the final decision
- Implement the new solution without facing major disruption
Sales rep who lead with the heart are avid listeners of the... Selling From The Heart Podcast
Those that lead with the heart seek out authentic and genuine ways to continually serve those that mean the most to them, their clients!
SEEK TO ALWAYS PUT YOUR CLIENT FIRST
You must put your client's perspectives and needs far ahead of your own to give yourself a fighting chance. Putting them first is not complicated. It's about making them feel important and valued. If they need help, there should be absolutely no hesitation. If there is a question, every effort should be made to answer it. If there is a complaint, every effort should be made to rectify the problem immediately. Client satisfaction should be at the forefront in any reasonable situation.
Instead of worrying about being interesting, we need to first be interested. Develop empathy for your clients. Start to gain an understanding of what motivates them and how this can align to what you can deliver.
Your clients come first, no matter what, no ifs ands or buts! This is the only way of doing business and living the sales life. If you take care of your customers, they will take care of you.
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND FIRST THEN BE UNDERSTOOD
Listen closely to your clients and prospects. Seek to understand their needs, concerns, desires, issues, challenges and current initiatives within their business. An amateur sales rep sells products, a true professional sells a solution to the problem.
By seeking first to understand, you can turn a transactional opportunity into a transformational opportunity. Position yourself on the same side of the table looking at the problem instead of staying on opposite sides of the table staring at each other.
SEEK TO OPEN UP CONVERSATIONS
If you truly want to get to know your clients and prospects then take the sales hat off, roll up your sleeves and engage in healthy conversation.
Here lies a concern...
How many sales reps have meaningful conversations with their clients outside of the selling process?
The best of the best know how to bring conversation out in the open. It is about uncovering the conversation your client or prospect is having with themselves. This enables open and honest communication to what is really going on providing the freedom to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship.
If your client's don't feel like they are being heard or understood, they may withhold critical information as to where they really are within their buying decision, which may diminish or eliminate your ability to impact the outcome.
Develop conversations, not sales campaigns. It is not about your agenda, it is about opening up a human to human conversation. It is not about you it is about helping them. Develop a sincere desire and demonstrate you are interested in their world and what motivates them. They can smell insincerity and commission breath a mile away!
IN THE END - WIN THE WAR AND THEIR HEARTS
In a business world where sales reps are viewed upon with negativity, an authentic, real-deal approach is a breath of fresh air. It may result in losing a few battles but those who put their hearts and clients first are guaranteed to win the war.
- A servant sales rep has an authentic desire to serve
- A servant sales rep is all in
- A servant sales rep is focused on serving the needs of the person sitting in front of them
Whoever wants to become a sales professional must become a SERVANT!
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 modern 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!
In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image.
You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. 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 inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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