© Максим | stock.adobe.com

Recently, I was consulting with a sales professional, and we were discussing his success, or lack thereof, with attracting new clients.

He had a serious challenge with landing new prospects: they would often avoid meetings with him or were simply unresponsive. Understandably, he was pretty broken up about it and quite demotivated. A career in sales is not for the weary, and his sentiments are often felt at some point by most sales professionals. However, in our oversaturated world, differentiation beyond product or price is key. In this article I’ll break down why and how you and your personality is the ultimate sales tool.

Why Product and Price Cannot Be Your Sole Pitch

Let’s face it, every day the world shrinks a little more. We’ve never been so interconnected, and for many companies this means the potential for new clients abounds. On the other side, never have clients had so many options available. A walk down your local Target aisle easily proves this; it can truly be overwhelming to decide on even the simplest purchases. Given our reality, let me ask you the same questions I asked my client: What makes your product different? Why should I pick you? If your response includes mentioning that you have the best product (we all think so) or you can offer the best market price (can you really?), I ask you to take heed and dig a little deeper.

When I posed this to my client, he responded that his company provided great service and technology. Here’s the thing, though — so do several other companies with the same or similar technology. Also, when it comes to service, every single sales professional will already have that included in their opening pitch. I mean come on, who’s going to sell a client on poor customer service? Yeah, no one.

Here’s the harsh truth, sales pitches that rely heavily on products or price will get you nowhere. Hearing these same promises uttered over and over again usually leaves potential clients feeling underwhelmed and that all salespeople are the same. This is not true, but who can fault them? This is where most salespeople fall short.

Ditch the Robotic Pitch and Let Your Personality Sell, Sell, Sell!

A few days later in a consultation, another client also brought up that his sales team was facing the same struggles. However, he’d caught on to a major red flag — his team was so focused on sounding professional that they often came across like emotionless robots. He said, “They’ve lost their personality.”

“People will trust and respond to your personality before a product they already have or don’t think they need.”

Hear it, learn it, and believe it: the most important aspect of attracting a new customer or keeping a customer is not your product or price, it is your personality. In fact, it is one of the building blocks of a great sales relationship. Just to clarify, yes, you need to offer a great product or service and compliment it with good customer service, but that is the minimum. Also, most successful organizations already have those basics handled or at the very least, are great at one of the two. If you want to attract new clients, especially those that already have a supplier, then my friend, it just comes down to who you are.

How to Wield Your Ultimate Sales Tool, Your Personality

As a sales professional, you want to become your client’s best unofficial employee. Like any job interview, use your personality to build trust and get hired for the job. Offer solutions, be willing to go the extra mile, be friendly, warm, and open. Use who you are to intrigue them and strive to leave a positive, memorable mark. Allow me to break this down into two simple strategies.

1. Be authentic, commit and deliver — In sales, you need to be genuine, and the best way to be genuine is to be you.

Our main job as sales professionals is to help current or prospective clients realize that we’re the best option. The more they see you as a person trying to help versus selling to them, the more likely they are to respond to your phone call or email. Show them that you’re the real deal, offer solutions and deliver. By striving to become their star quarterback, they’ll know that you’ve got your head in the game and they’ll never want to trade you.

2. Practice being the best you — don’t wing it. Know your intent and desired outcome before making the call or email.

Okay, I’m going to say something a little contrary here, but pick up what I’m putting down: you need to get scripted, but don’t make it the copy-and-paste version. Instead, you should be so scripted that your pitch comes out natural and conversational. It’s all about not having to hesitate on what you are going to say or ask next. When you are prepared, you don’t have to think, you just need to listen and help.

Final Thoughts

Being a sales professional can be challenging, but you set yourself up for failure when you forget to deploy your ultimate sales tool: your personality. In a world with way too many options, landing that client will only boil down to two things, namely your intent, and your efforts. In a world where you can be anyone, the adage remains, just “be your best self.”

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].