"A personal mission statement becomes the DNA for every other decision we make."
Stephen Covey
Having heavy conversations is a necessary part of working and business life, especially in environments that encourage continuous improvement.
Business as well as your sales growth is dependent on a repetitive cycle of monitoring, evaluating and development, enabled by a proactive system of constructive feedback.
If we can have these types of conversations in our professional lives, then how many of you consistently, routinely and with rhythm are a having a personal growth conversation with yourself?
How many of you are you keeping on top of what you might need to work on the most, YOU?
Eleanor Roosevelt once said,
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
Are you rising to the occasion to change the course of your sales career? Or are you allowing the circumstances in front of you to control your narrative?
Are you asking yourself difficult growth questions?
Many will shy away from themselves because this can be uncomfortable. However, this is where the greatest growth potential lies. Are you willing to get a bit uncomfortable?
This means asking yourself questions such as:
- What could I have done differently?
- How did I contribute to this not working out?
- Am I prepared to do what it takes to become better?
To quote the great Peter Drucker,
“Being a self-leader is to serve as chief, captain, president, or CEO of one’s own life”
When it comes to personal growth, are you holding yourself accountable to you?
When it comes to self-leadership, what is your personal mission?
MISSION STATEMENT
Successfully run corporations have well defined corporate mission statements.
These are statements describing what they are all about, including areas such as corporate responsibility, strategic focus, customer value, and how they take care of their employees.
A mission statement explains the origination's reason for existence and answers the question,
"What business are we in?"
So, what business are you in?
A sales professional embodies the foundation of a corporate mission statement to form the basis of their own personal mission statement.
A personal mission statement may answer and give you a sense of direction around:
Who am I?
What is my purpose/passion in life?
What are my core values? And how I live my life by them.
What phrases guide you?
Steven Covey once said,
"The power of the personal mission statement lies in your values and in a commitment to that vision, that purpose, and those principle-centered values. They will control your decisions, determine your outlook, and provide the direction for your future."
What is your vision and purpose? What are the set of values that you lead your life by?
At Selling from the Heart, it is my personal mission to bring authenticity, business substance and true sincerity to the forefront in the sales profession.
We do this based on our core set of values... integrity, honesty, trust, servant leadership, care, compassion and heart centered.
Sales professionals live by their personal mission statements because:
- It is a self-discovery tool - know thy values, know thyself
- It provides direction for the present and the future
- It strengthens relationships both personally and professionally
- It holds them accountable
The great Zig Ziglar once said,
"Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission."
Again, I will ask you... what is your mission?
Now, we're going to take this a couple of steps farther... A true sales professional understands their personal mission statement, however; a selling from the heart professional combines their mission statement with a moral framework and a manifesto.
MORAL FRAMEWORK
A moral framework can be defined as a particular set of rules, ideas or beliefs which you use in order to deal with problems or decide what to do.
How many times in each day, week or month, are you tested with this in sales?
A moral path in sales requires that you honestly take stock in what is appropriate and not.
What guides you in sales?
What guides in working with your clients?
To quote Tabitha Coffey,
"Sometimes, in order to follow our moral compass and/or our hearts, we have to make unpopular decisions or stand up for what we believe in."
Are you willing to stand up for what you believe?
What is your code of conduct?
With trust and credibility constantly being challenged, I ask you... how will you carry yourself?
When it comes to your moral framework, think about these words... And now think of the sales profession:
Character, decency, goodness, honesty, integrity, wholesomeness, ethical, principled, blameless, virtuous, noble, righteous, purity, ideals, uprightness
Are you starting to smell what I am cooking?
PERSONAL MANIFESTO
A manifesto is a declaration of one’s beliefs, opinions, motives, and intentions. It's a document declaring what's important to someone. This serves as a statement of principles or even a call to action.
A manifesto may challenge assumptions, foster commitment, provoke change or may even challenge the status quo.
A personal manifesto can help serve the following:
- As inspiration to live your life with purpose.
- As a foundation upon which to build your life.
- As a frame for your life
- As your sales NorthStar
Stop, think and reflect upon this for a moment... could a public declaration of your intent, help you rise above the sea of sameness within the sales world?
May this change the perception around what you do and who you are?
A personal manifesto gives your sales life meaning.
Combining this with your mission statement and moral framework, this becomes extremely valuable and serves as a consistent source of inspiration.
Now, imagine sharing these with others. Think about sharing with your clients, future clients and friends. Imagine how this could elevate your status within their minds? It now becomes your public creed through which you're presenting yourself, your beliefs and your future self.
Today, where the trust factor with salespeople is at an all-time low, how will you stand out? What makes you different? Why should someone trust you?
A personal mission statement, a moral framework and a manifesto separates the sales professionals from the sales pretenders
SELLING FROM THE HEART MANIFESTO
As the last chapter of Selling From the Heart ends, I incorporated the Selling From the Heart manifesto.
Here's a snippet...
A selling from the heart sales professional is a new class - genuine, authentic, the real deal, in touch with who they are and are brutally honest with themselves.
A selling from the heart sales professional wages a war and becomes a minister to their clients in a profession riddled with unscrupulous, fake and disingenuous sales reps.
A selling from the heart professional leads with the heart and not the wallet.
A selling from the heart sales professional brings the human approach to sales by making it about their clients and what's important to them.
A selling from the heart sales professional seeks first to be understood as they turn transactional sales opportunities into transformational experiences.
You can find the entire manifesto - here
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
I encourage you to clearly define your purpose and stay true to your values. When you fail to uncover or struggle to clearly define your values, you wind up drifting along with your sales career.
Living a sales life without core values and a set of guidelines is mentally exhausting, leaving you feeling empty, lifeless and unfulfilled. Conversely, living a sales life in line with your core values brings you purpose, direction, happiness and a sense of well-being.
Some of you may think all of this is not necessary, and to that, I would say go continue to do what you're doing.
However, those of you who want to elevate your career, elevate your sales status and build trust in a profession that sorely needs it, please take this to heart.
"Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity."
W. Clement Stone
When all is said and done, the true hallmark of a sales professional is embodying what you believe in and having the guts to live it. This is what selling from the heart is all about.
I will leave you all with this...
Your clients would rather connect and do business with a sales professional who sells from the heart as opposed to a sales rep who is an empty suit.
Would you like to increase your sales success and fulfillment?
This was my goal when recording all-new materials for the new Selling from the Heart Masterclass, to increasing your sales success and fulfillment in your business.
If you enjoyed the Selling from the Heart book, you’re going to love this masterclass! It takes the tools given to the next level.
Have yet to read Selling from the Heart? No worries, you will receive an audio version as a part of the Masterclass. As an option you can get a free signed copy of Selling from the Heart (just pay for shipping and handling).
You can get your copy here - https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/book
Together, we will go on a journey where we’ll dive into how to apply the ideas in the book to help you achieve even greater sales success.
With each of the 10 sessions, you’ll receive questions that will help you increase your sales in a way that also makes selling more enjoyable and fulfilling.
This masterclass is configured with you in mind where you can complete the course in chunks from any mobile device, iPad or computer, based on your availability.
You’ll also discover fun bonus materials throughout the course.
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