The “Of Service” Sales Professional
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 8:35 am
Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying this is a bad thing and I can tell you that I sure made a lot of money.
But there was a downside to it.
The downside was that I based my entire self-esteem on how well I did as a closer.
A Cautionary Tale About Being The Serious Closer
If I had a good month then I felt good about myself, but when I didn’t do well I tended to get anxious and depressed.
I could be moody, and I often projected my attitude and self-esteem on others.
I looked down on those who didn’t perform at the top and after a while I lost my empathy for others and eventually for myself.
On The Flip Side of Sales Drive
Another problem was that I was driven to succeed all the time. While this might sound like a good thing, the flip side of it was fear.
There were many evenings and mornings I would lithuania telegram data wake up in fear of not making or exceeding my quotas.
This fear drove me to close sales at all costs, and in the end I cared more about closing sales than I did about what was in the best interests of my clients.
While this may seem like an extreme attitude, the push for profits, for making quotas and for succeeding in business often supports and rewards this kind of a sales mentality.
After years of pursuing sales in this way, a slow transformation took place and I developed into what I now refer to as an “of service” sales professional.
While I’m still all about closing deals, today I go about it in a very different way.
Today I’m more concerned with finding people and companies I’m a good fit for and then looking for the maximum ways of being of service to them.
But there was a downside to it.
The downside was that I based my entire self-esteem on how well I did as a closer.
A Cautionary Tale About Being The Serious Closer
If I had a good month then I felt good about myself, but when I didn’t do well I tended to get anxious and depressed.
I could be moody, and I often projected my attitude and self-esteem on others.
I looked down on those who didn’t perform at the top and after a while I lost my empathy for others and eventually for myself.
On The Flip Side of Sales Drive
Another problem was that I was driven to succeed all the time. While this might sound like a good thing, the flip side of it was fear.
There were many evenings and mornings I would lithuania telegram data wake up in fear of not making or exceeding my quotas.
This fear drove me to close sales at all costs, and in the end I cared more about closing sales than I did about what was in the best interests of my clients.
While this may seem like an extreme attitude, the push for profits, for making quotas and for succeeding in business often supports and rewards this kind of a sales mentality.
After years of pursuing sales in this way, a slow transformation took place and I developed into what I now refer to as an “of service” sales professional.
While I’m still all about closing deals, today I go about it in a very different way.
Today I’m more concerned with finding people and companies I’m a good fit for and then looking for the maximum ways of being of service to them.