What is the number one reason why salespeople get a bad reputation? Sure, we’re not perfect, but most of the problems we create are caused by the things we say. Think of any salesperson you didn’t like either as a co-worker or a customer and chances are it will have something to do with what came out of their mouth at some point. Our words get us into all kinds of trouble which is a big problem because we love to talk. It’s the primary skill set for our job. Everything we say is usually said with the best of intentions, but we get carried away in the moment and over promise to customers, misinform our teams, say something unkind about a coworker or any other number of ways we put our foot in our mouths. To make matters worse, when some salespeople misspeak, they do their best to deflect blame and point the finger at someone else. Salespeople have a lot of pride so, naturally, they don’t like to admit fault. I get that, but it’s unhealthy for everyone; especially the salesperson. No matter how good you are at selling, you need to have enough humility to admit when you make a mistake.
Salespeople need to develop The Ownership Mindset in all that they do. The Ownership Mindset is taking responsibility for our decisions, actions and responses to accelerate solutions and create better outcomes for the future. For example, we make a promise to the customer that the service team is unable to deliver. There could be several reasons for this, but a salesperson with an ownership mindset spends less time on blame or more time on collaborative solutions. If the salesperson is at fault, they can admit it with honesty to maintain trust and integrity for the long term instead of trying to just save their own skin today. The Ownership Mindset doesn’t mean that we have to take the fall for someone else, but it does mean that we try to work with everyone to fix the issues and prevent it from happening again. Salespeople who know how to perform at this level are seen more as leaders especially to customers who have the propensity for repeat business. That’s the difference between salespeople who just try to tell everyone what they want to hear and salespeople who know how to get things done. And this is how we do it.
- We understand what it means to be valuable. That means we don’t just concern ourselves with what’s important to us, but what is meaningful to others.
- We have a higher calling to do what is right. Doing what is right does not always mean doing what is easy, but we choose it anyway because our character compels us to do so.
- We hold integrity as one of our highest virtues. We want to make sure we are someone our customers and coworkers can always count on because when we bring out the best in them, they bring out the best in us.
- We see solutions where others only see problems. We maintain a sense of optimism even when we don’t have all the answers so everyone keeps working towards progress.
- We act as leaders by setting the example. We exceed expectations whenever possible and go above and beyond for our customers.
