The most important advice I can give to any aspiring salesperson is contained in these four words: play to your strengths.
The power of using this simple concept cannot be overstated. Many advise you to do exactly the opposite, as in, “no pain – no gain.” They think you should focus only on improving your weaknesses. Of course leaning to use new tools is necessary and desirable at times, but as a steady diet, your morale will begin to suffer. At least put some balance into the picture and focus on your strengths.
Only one element is truly unique about you and your selling process; it is, that you are you. Successful people aren’t necessarily great at everything. They recognize their natural, native gifts and strengthen them. By focusing on areas that are easy and interesting they quickly rise to the top in their areas of activity. Everyone has a natural aptitude for something. Don’t feel that you have to be a generalist and do everything. Focus on what you like and are good at and then expand on that.
You’re one of a kind. And this is often the sole distinguishing factor that separates you from the din of other salespeople vying for the attention of the buying public. Strengthening this element will focus the spotlight on what people want . . . they want you to be yourself.
The competition out there in the real world of selling is fierce. The struggle is getting harder not easier. You must make a distinction between yourself and everyone else. But it’s easier than you think, for the answer is already within you. A searching assessment of yourself will discover there are countless little elements that make you different from the rest, all of which contribute to your uniqueness and assist your sales abilities in more ways than you may think. These are your natural strengths, exactly what you should be focusing on.
There is no “magic button” that will guarantee any sale. Customers act and react in some very unpredictable and changeable ways. They don’t always fit the script you have so carefully worked out.
But there is one more element that you should be aware of in any selling activity: you must be able to get people to like you and trust you. The answer to how to do this is as simple as it is obvious: others will like and trust you when you can honestly trust and like yourself.
The one thing that will set the stage for your long-term happiness and success is to be yourself. Now, once you have discovered your strengths . . . learn to “play to them.” If you are honest with yourself about who you really are, it stands out like a spotlight on a jet-black night. You can’t miss it. And it is what other people are searching for and are drawn to when they see it.
When the philosopher Diogenes searched the world searching for “one honest man” he was not far off the mark. Being honest with yourself is after all the first step to operating honestly with others. If you’re not truthful to yourself, you’re untruthful to others as well; only when you’re honest with yourself can you really be honest with others.
Once you have the willingness to really look at yourself and face up to the fact that you have both strengths and weaknesses you have reached the first step of becoming honest with yourself and with others.
It is only when this point has been reached that you begin to honestly and like yourself. And then, you’ll find that others begin to like you and trust you as well. And this is when you begin to play to your strengths. And the more you acknowledge and validate your strengths, the stronger they become.
daniel w. jacobs
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