If you run through terms associated with the word “noble,” you’ll probably mention “noble leader,” “noble physician” and “noble soldier.” How about “noble salesperson?” Hardly. Yet, according to ace sales coach Lisa Earle McLeod, selling can qualify as a noble profession. People vitally depend on the products and services that someone sells them, such as medications that keep them well or vehicles that convey them to work. Having made her case with good stories (thanks for the one about us) and easy approachability, if at an inviting but leisurely pace, McLeod explains why salespeople who have a noble purpose outperform those who don’t. She believes selling “is one of the highest callings you can have,” and she shows the power of that belief for getting sales results. getAbstract recommends her heartening sales manual to everyone with anything to sell.
The Nobility of Sales
For many salespeople, the secret to superior results is to sell as much to your customers as they are willing to buy. Ironically, top sales producers often outperform everyone else by focusing elsewhere; they pay less attention to just selling and more to benefiting their customers through the products or services they offer. To illustrate, a prominent pharmaceutical company’s leading salesperson achieves top sales results because she feels motivated to protect the lives and health of the patients who use the medications her firm manufactures. This idealistic salesperson is a perfect representative of the “noble salesperson.” “I’m not just pitching a product,” she says. “I’m saving people’s lives.” For this sales leader, her job is a calling.
Many superstar salespeople see helping people as their profession. The key to their success is their desire to support their corporate customers in enhancing their operations and to assist individual customers in improving their lives. These top sales producers, who work at firms of all types and across all industries, find their primary motivation in making a substantial, lasting contribution to their clients...
Lisa Earle McLeod is the founder of McLeod & More Inc., a sales leadership consultancy. An author, coach and speaker, McLeod writes leadership commentary for Forbes.com.
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