Something I struggled with early in my sales career & that I constantly need to remind myself of to this day is to interact with prospects & customers based on WHO THEY ARE and NOT who I am.
People connect with & trust people who they feel comfortable with & that hinges on our ability to meet them where they are at & adapt to their personality & communication style.
What I quickly discovered in tech sales was that my ego & need for significance often got in the way of connecting with prospects.
Early on as an SDR at Oracle I often would chime in on discovery calls with senior sellers & executives to prove I was important even though, in many cases, what I was saying brought little to no value.
Speaking up wasn't coming from a true desire to help the customer but was an attempt to validate my own ego.
What I came to find out is that the smartest, most impactful people on the call (or in the room) are often those who listen more, speak less, & speak last.
I'll also never forget one time when I was talking with a VP at Citizens Bank & he said "settle down son" because I was so amped up and passionate.
I was undisciplined & fell into my comfort zone of communicating in a way that made me feel good even though it was light years away from how the prospect communicated.
I should have been assessing the VP's calm, analytical demeanor & adapting my style to meet him where he was at in order to actually connect with him.
And finally, I remember in a Salesforce interview I talked too much when answering a question and it cost me the job.
Rather than taking a pause to understand exactly what information the interviewer was looking for and how they might prefer to receive that information I was too caught up on proving I was smart.
In my experience sales has been the most powerful vehicle for self development because it shines a mirror on blindspots & goes beyond reading books by getting you in action & giving you the opportunity to receive invaluable feedback that you can use to get better.
Sales can be a humbling career & it will wage war on your ego.
The best thing we can do if we want to be successful is let that ego die.
And imagine if we took the approach of getting off of ourselves, having more empathy, & interacting with people in the way they prefer beyond sales and into our personal lives with the people who matter most when there's no money on the line?
I think we'd find ourselves connecting more deeply, having better conversations, improving our relationships, & experiencing a lot more joy.
Happy Selling & Happy Living,
Chris
#techsales #salesmotivation #personalgrowthjourney
