Salespeople crave success and the rewards that go along with it: accolades, awards, commissions, bonuses, and the thrill of landing a big client. Many times, people who are not involved in sales activities see sales professionals as greedy, narcissistic, egotistical, or just plain selfish.
While some salespeople may display some or all of those unfavorable attributes, truly elite salespeople have the heart of a servant. These are the salespeople that are consistently at the top, the ones that clients refer to as friends, and the ones that share their success with others. Here are three ways to put your client first and have the heart of a servant:
- Help – The elite salespeople leverage their products and/or services to truly help their clients. At the core of each sales transaction, the elite salesperson will ensure that the client will receive value as a result. It could be boosting sales, saving money, increasing market share, supporting a product launch, or any number of things. The key is that the elite salesperson truly desires to help the client.
- Authenticity - Elite salespeople won’t take an easy sale if there is not genuine benefits to be reaped on both sides. If the client will not be better off after the sales transaction, the elite salesperson will not only decline the sale, but will offer the client candid advice on how best to find the resources necessary to solve the problem.
- Relationships – Truly elite people value relationships far more than they value the sale itself. These people are firmly invested in the long-term success of their clients and keep that at the forefront of each client engagement.
Elite salespeople always make serving the needs of the client their primary focus. Too many people think that to be successful in sales that you need to be a wolf. I much prefer the Zig Ziglar approach: “To get the things in life that I want, I first have to help enough people get what they want.”
Show me a salesperson with the heart of a servant, and I’ll show you someone who has more than they ever wanted – spiritually and materially.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, immediate past president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), vice president of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board, and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, and developing branding that resonates with a target audience. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.