You can run, but you can’t hide. You can fake it, but you won’t make it. The era of thinking that you can behave one way in one situation and a different way in another is long gone. Your reputation arrives before you do.
It continues to amaze me that salespeople think they can craft this perfect image with customers but behave like a jerk in other situations. Each conversation we have and each sale we make leads to the next one; there is no such thing as a dead end conversation. Too often, I salespeople respond is a less than professional manner to one customer and then become shocked when other customers won’t do business with them.
Watch my video below:
My mother always said good news travels fast but bad news travels even faster. In today’s world, this truth applies more than ever. Your reputation arrives long before you do. The customer who you want to meet with will check you out online before agreeing to work with you. Before you buy from the customer, they will talk to others who know you and your reputation.
Don’t think that you can be nice and polite to one customer and then go ballistic moments later with someone else. A true leader is the same with each person they meet, regardless of their stature or position in life. Warren Buffet uses a phrase a lot that goes something like this, “it takes a lifetime to build your reputation, but you can lose it in a moment.” Think about the power of that quote the next time you’re tempted to get upset with someone.
It’s more than other people observing your two-faced behavior, it is the damage that you do to your own mindset. Once you allow yourself to have split-behavior, it’s amazing how easily it can creep into more and more of your thinking and change your mindset. Ultimately, we do what we think, so the best way to ensure you have a solid reputation is to only think in an honorable manner.
Your reputation does arrive before you do. Your customer is checking you out on Google before they will ever allow you in their office or even talk to you on the phone. Your reputation is built on two things: first, the things you craft, create and write on social media sites and second, how you behave in the real world. The two had better line up, so don’t think that you can fake it. Yelp gives us reviews about a restaurant and similarly, our customers speak to others about us.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: are my actions consistent? I am the only one that can craft my reputation. I cannot blame anyone; therefore, it’s up to me to be consistent in what I do, say, write and share. If you don’t walk and talk the same language, you will be seen as a fraud.
Copyright 2019, 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 Result
