The Human Side of Selling

Sell more by being You

Over the past 18 months, I have been particularly impacted by the work I am doing in the criminal justice system. I work with a company called Beyond Recovery running seminars to help offenders overcome serious addiction and behavioral issues.

We also run seminars for the prison staff, offering them new perspectives on behavioral change and mental health. Overall, it has been a humbling experience and a privilege to see such incredible change in people.

However, much of my work is with sales professionals, I help them to become far more focused, inspired and resilient. Some of the results in terms of performance increases and the more intangible personal changes have been impressive.

“Innate Thought offers a new and unique way of increasing individual resilience and the quality of team interactions.” Head of Cash Markets

Early on in my sales career a manager once told me that all great sales performance was based upon the 3 As: Attitude, Aptitude & Ability.

However, at the time, the focus for sales training was always around increasing ability through product, process and skills development. There was little training oriented towards attitude unless, of course, you had a bad one! Aptitude was seen as something you either had or didn’t have.

We all know that experienced salespeople don’t lose their skills, experience or knowledge, but it is normal for them to lose access to them when they become distracted.

Not me! I hear you say. But, you simply wouldn’t be human if you didn’t experience some form of distraction. It is absolutely normal for us all to get in our own way from time to time.

Over the past 20 years, I have worked alongside some of the best sales professionals and entrepreneurs in the FinTech sector. I have come to realize that there is a simple foundation upon which great salespeople are built — it is the ease by which they can draw on their considerable natural talent, resourcefulness, and resilience.

This is what we call The Human Side of Selling.

Sell more by being You

There is no doubt that the more comfortable you are being you, the better access you have to your natural talent. You then become more present, clear-headed, motivated, confident, lighthearted, focused, intuitive, creative and resilient.

You are able to prioritize your efforts more effectively and reduce the amount of time wasted in unproductive meetings. You experience more calm and much less stress and anxiety over important meetings and hitting targets.

You are able to maintain your confidence and lightheartedness and reach decisions and act more quickly. You become more intuitive, empowered and creative.

Ultimately, you are able to create more opportunities and win more business.

It is so easy to get distracted

Targets, KPIs, strategies and challenging relationships can all easily help to distract and divert you away from the simplicity of selling.

While you are distracted, you are simply less able to access the best of you. This ultimately affects your ability to listen, see clearly, create opportunities, understand your client, your colleagues and your ability to sell.

Conclusion

Whether you’re selling complex solutions or simple transactions, people only buy from people they connect with, value and trust.

When salespeople are more comfortable and less distracted they are far better at creating opportunities, connecting with others and communicating their message with integrity and authenticity.

Thanks for reading, Paul

The Human Side of Selling