On a Google hangout today: "I noticed today how focussed I was on the sale rather than helping".
Does this make you laugh? 95% of people believe they’re self-aware, but only 10–15% actually are (Harvard Business Review, 2018). That kind of explains a lot about humans. And salespeople.
Do you or don't you believe you're a trusted advisor? Do your buyers see you that way?
These stats can't be true?
3% of buyers consider salespeople trustworthy (HubSpot Research, “State of Inbound,” 2016).
Is that considered more or less trustworthy than a politician? Have mercy!
OK. So you've heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Read those stats again. Now, take this made up 5 tier model of buyer perception and have a think about what level you operate on:
Level 1, Means to an End: Purely transactional. No relationship, no loyalty.
Level 2, Vendor: You take orders. You’re easy to replace.
Level 3, Problem Solver: You fix issues but they want you at arm’s length.
Level 4, Trusted Advisor: You understand their business and over-deliver.
Level 5, Rainmaker: You’re integral to their success. Indispensable. Lifetime.
If those first three stats are accurate, you’re probably somewhere between Level 2 and 3, but think you're 4 or 5. If you asked your buyers, they might tell you what you want to hear but you deep down know. 1-3 get replaced.
Self-awareness is funny. Once you think you got it, you kind of don't. It's a weird mix of your ego, anecdotal remarks, EQ and performance data put together as a story. But there's a better way of approaching it.
My mission to wake up 1,000 frustrated salespeople who then decide to change their life and become a Rainmaker. There's a diagnostic tool that has a lot of utility for this. What it does is uses 100 situational questions to assess your 21 selling competencies, then compares you against 2 million. (Think belief, will and skill).
If you’re serious about being the best, this is as close to reality and self-awareness medicine as it gets. Egos will be bruised. And the people willing to get bruised to get better are the people I wanna do life with.