As a speaker and consultant, I spend time with salespeople, managers and company leaders across a wide spectrum of industries.
And, of course, I at one time was in the world of sales as a salesperson and manager.
I’ve observed countless selling situations. I won’t go so far to say “I’ve seen it all,” but I certainly am not naive to the variety of skills and approaches out there.
I’ve seen salespeople justify some pretty shady tactics.
And I’ve seen salespeople operate with the highest of ethics.
You know what?
The people who operate with high integrity day-in and day-out see more sustained long-term success (plus they sleep better at night knowing they didn’t cut corners and didn’t compromise their ethics).
Why am I highlighting this?
It’s not unusual for me to occasionally encounter salespeople who are so discouraged about how their career is going that they entertain the idea of lowering their standards — of adopting selling tactics that are anything but above board. They especially are tempted to do this if they see other salespeople — maybe even some of their peers — operating with low standards and experiencing more sales (in that moment).
I urge you, though, to not base your code of integrity on how someone else would define it. We each must arrive at a definition ourselves and then walk in that definition.
In my experience, the people who set the bar high with integrity do achieve more all-around success. More often than not, they succeed financially, but more importantly, they also garner the respect of their customers, colleagues, bosses, family members and friends.
You know as well as I do that sales motivation is mostly comprised of intangibles, such as your attitude, your choice of who to hang out with and whether to let their influence impact you, and your level of belief in your product and price.
Choose wisely in those areas. And add to it all a high standard of integrity. Do this, and you just can’t go wrong.
Will you close every sale? Well, no.
But the sales you do close you’ll know you secured honestly and without any manipulation.
Here’s to great selling! (And the highest of integrity).
Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
