A couple years ago, a well-recognized “sales expert” told me top sales performers are not passionate. The argument they laid out was passion does not exist in sales, as it will cloud a person’s thinking ability.
That conversation has bugged me ever since I first heard it. I believe being passionate is a requirement if you want to be successful in sales. My belief is we have to have a desire to succeed and the passion to serve if we’re going to be successful in sales. It’s not about being passionate about what we sell; it’s about being passionate about helping those we have the privilege to sell to and come in contact with that counts.
After I get done speaking or working with a client, people will always comment to me about how my passion for sales comes through in how I communicate. Does your passion show? Maybe the question is not if your passion shows, but do you even have passion for sales?
Being passionate means caring for others and caring about their success. Yes, the same holds true for leadership and is one of the reasons I say frequently, “Sales is leadership and leadership is sales.”
Watch this 52-second video clip where I share my views on passion:
The first thing a customer buys is the salesperson, and with this being the case, then doesn’t demonstrating passion allow the customer to buy in sooner? Passion is genuine. It’s not faked. It’s genuine and in this era of “fake news,” isn’t that refreshing?
Our goal is to help others succeed. To do this we can’t just say it, but we have to mean it by living it, and that is the foundation from which passion is built. How passionate are you when it comes to your customers? How passionate are you to others you come in contact with?
The benchmark we should all have when it comes to our customers and others is to show the same level of passion to them as we do our own family.
Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
3 Responses
I have always thought of sales like a game. Play to your best ability and if you win that’s great but it’s not always about winning and like any game you “can’t win em all” … when you talk about passion I think of some of the great sports people Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Rodger Federer (who as one of the oldest men on the circuit still wins 5 set matches against much younger opponents) … yes these guys have passion and a LOVE OF THE GAME
Totally agree with your comments, Mark
Passion is what drives me everyday. How can I help must customer be better at what they do. PASSION!!!!
I think that in anything and everything we do, passion would show and would be evident with the outcome. If you do things passionately, good fruits will reap out of your hardwork. I think that’s applicable with sales, too. This article is as good as a motivation to be passionate about what you do. Thanks for that, Mark!