"It's hard to practice compassion when we're struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance."
Brene Brown
We've all used the term the "B.S. Meter". I'm here to give you a new meter to judge your sales team by, the "Authenticity Meter".
Authenticity is one of the biggest challenges within the sales world. It's a profession riddled with unscrupulous, fake and disingenuous sales reps and managers; that quite frankly many buyers despise them as well as some on their team.
Authenticity separates sales reps from sales professionals. Authenticity separates sales managers from sales leaders.
What is authenticity? It's staying true to who you are, what you do, whom you serve and, most importantly, why you do what you do. To quote Simon Sinek, “It means that the things we say and the things we do are things we actually believe.”
It may sound a bit touchy-feely but look inside yourself as sales is all about building credible, genuine and real relationships. In order to build these relationships and change the way people think, you need to understand who you are and what goods you bring to the table. Here lies the issue for many in sales, they fail to understand the value they bring to the marketplace because they haven’t spent the time investing in themselves.
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we actually are.”
Brené Brown
Authenticity requires self-knowledge and self-awareness. Authentic sales professionals accept their strengths and weaknesses. They are accountable to themselves. They are connected to their values and desires and act deliberately in ways consistent with those qualities.
ARE YOU AN AUTHENTIC LEADER?
Authentic sales leaders are real, genuine, caring and nurturing. Authentic leaders build relationships and build true connectedness with their team. They are willing to share their deepest personal experiences and listen to others’ experiences.
Authentic leaders have heart, and it shows in their compassion. They are sensitive to others’ needs and are willing to help each one on their team.
Leaders who lead and serve from the heart develop a team that sales and serves from the heart
In times of uncertainty, concern, fear and transformational situations; authentic leaders rise up and lead with courage, compassion and conviction.
Authentic leaders are consistent with their message, their focused, and determined to make a positive impact to each member of their team.
CREATE A SELF-AWARE TEAM
A self-aware team means they know themselves so well that they become amazingly happy which in turn allows them to live an enriched and balanced sales life.
I encourage to you to think about the following questions:
- Is each member on your team the real deal or are they trying to be someone else? Would you even know?
- Do their thoughts match their actions? Would you even know?
- Does their walk match their talk? Would you even know?
When you and your team are living with sales lies, it comes out sooner or later. It will screw with your team, your relationships and the relationships your team has with their clients.
CREATE A TEAM THAT SELF-REFLECTS
What makes you tick? What makes each member on your team tick?
Knowing yourself brings you face-to-face with self-doubts and insecurities. Self-reflecting upon this allows you to take a serious look into just how you're living your life and sales life.
A vulnerable leader is not weak. A vulnerable leader is strong, sensitive and supportive.
Getting to know yourself is a conscious effort. Authentic leaders lead with intent and purpose.
Are you leading your team with intent, purpose and pride?
Authenticity is a choice. It's not easy, but this is the difference between just getting by and making it happen. Self-reflect for a moment, asking yourself what does it mean to lead an authentic lifestyle? It's hard work. It's looking right into the mirror, asking tough questions and answering them.
What's your plan with your team? What do you need to do with your team right now? It is totally up to you! Open up who you are to your team and watch what happens to their sales career.
Authentic leaders rise up and are not afraid to draw a line in the sand and ask,
“Are you with me?”
THE B.S. METER AND FAKE AUTHENTICITY
You must realize, your clients are smarter and more empowered than ever before. They can see through your team's B.S., the charades and the all about me attitudes. Especially in turbulent times, those sales teams that truly embrace authenticity and stay true to themselves will be successful in today’s digitally dominated world.
I'd asked you to think about the following:
- What would happen if every member on my team brought the real, raw and relatable version of themselves to the business table?
- What would happen if every member of my team opened the window into the who they really are?
AUTHENTIC LEADERS DOUBLE DOWN ON THEIR TEAM
In a chaotic and crisis filled sales world, sale leaders invest.
- Are you doubling down on your team and yourself?
- Are you doubling down with your customers?
In uncertain times, sales leaders rise up and double down on re-inventing, re-engaging, re-educating, re-igniting and re-committing to their teams.
Ignite your mind, your heart and your sense of community.
“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.”
Andy Stanley
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! 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 think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
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, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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