A few weeks ago I attended a conference that featured a “motivational speaker.” You should have seen this guy. He had a loudly printed sport coat featuring the New York skyline. A tie with rhinestones in it (I didn’t even know they made those). A big belt buckle, cowboy boots, and bright yellow pants. His advice was this: “You have to be ALWAYS ON in this business! If you’re not, someone will spot you in an off moment and you’ll be exposed.”
He then began getting in people’s faces, yelling, “Are you ALWAYS ON?” And the person would yell, “YES!” and he’d move on to the next. It was like a tent revival meeting. Then, he turned and spotted me….and suddenly I realized that I had chosen the wrong seat for the morning’s festivities.
He high-stepped over to me, reading my nametag, and yelled, “Troy, are you ALWAYS ON?” I did the only thing I could. I clenched my fists. I got into my best power stance. I looked him square in the eyes. And I yelled, “NO!” And he stammered, “Uh, beg your pardon?” Then he got himself back together and yelled, “What do you mean, you’re not ALWAYS ON?” I said back, in a normal tone of voice, “I’m always ME.”
You see, as goofy as this guy was, he did have a point. When you’re “ON” in any environment where you’re observed – such as selling or speaking – you set a standard to live up to. And when you’re not at that standard at other times when you’re “off stage,” you do become inauthentic. Inauthentic is the worst thing you can be. More than once, after I’ve been speaking at conferences, I’ve had people approach me at various settings – over lunch, even by the pool at the hotel – and have a conversation. And they’ll say, “Gee, you’re the same guy out here that you were in the room.” I tell them, “No, I’m the same guy in there that I am out here.”
Like the old saying goes, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” That goes for salespeople too. Of course, you should be the very best version of yourself that you can be, but don’t have a “sales personality” that you put on like a sport coat. What does “Be the best version of yourself” mean? Simple.
- Constantly learning: You should be constantly learning about your customers, your products, and your sales skills. Your goal should be that you are just a tad bit better on every sales call than you were on the last one. Customers will perceive your professional growth and they will appreciate it.
- Personal grooming: We can’t all be Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Or, if you’re a woman, well, just pick your own personal equivalent of Brad or George. But we can be the best we can be. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen salespeople making sales calls with wild, unkempt hair, unshaven, or in clothes that looked like they were slept in the night before. Come on. Put some effort into it. If you can’t be your best in front of the customers, you shouldn’t expect the customers to give you effort. Every salesperson ought to carry a small grooming kit with them in the car. When I sold industrial supplies, I kept a spare clean shirt, just in case.
- Be prepared: I’ve written about this before, but it’s vital that you be prepared with whatever you need to take the sales call to its logical conclusion. And yes, that likely means you’ll need to carry a briefcase. That’s OK. When you carry a briefcase you mean business.
- A game plan for the call: As I explained in my Teleseminar, “The Purpose Driven Sales Call,” you should have call objectives for every call, and be prepared to execute them. That means having questions prepared, any presentation materials prepared, etc.
None of this means that you have to be anyone besides yourself – but being prepared and professional means being the best version of yourself. That’s what you should be shooting for. And unlike the speaker, you’ll never have to worry about being “Caught.”
