Ego.
Perhaps no other word does more to impact a salesperson’s performance than ego. Your ego’s job is to make sure you are safe, sound and right as often as possible and at almost any cost. Many times, a sales opportunity goes south when the ego of the salesperson decides it needs to take over the call and show off. Ego wants to prove your superior product knowledge or throw around some stories of past success to prove you are the sales killer ego wants you to be. Ego never likes to lose an argument, even if it means losing the sale. “Damn if I am going to get pushed around when I know I am right!” Ego can always justify those moments when it wants you to feel good about yourself instead of collecting a decision or proving a point.
When sales people feel the need to protect or embrace the needs of the ego sales calls go sideways. It never works to get your emotional needs met when there is money to be made or business decisions to be collected. Some of the most challenging issues for sales people are need for approval or fear of rejection. Those two conditions are 100% ego driven as they both scream out that you want to be friends more than you are willing to risk asking tough questions when the moment demands them. Ego wants you to play it safe and operate on the belief that you need to sell yourself to be succeed in sales. The best in class in sales performance know how to be just that; a performer. Your performance has to be free of emotional neediness, out there on the edge of going too far to be willing to disqualify an opportunity rather than believing you can close anyone that displays even the slightest bit of interest.
Your ego wants you to win at almost any cost just to experience that feeling of being a winner. Personally, I’d rather lose the right way than win a deal that isn’t the best for both me and the prospect. When your ego gets too loud, you tend to emit an air of neediness that sounds more like greediness to the other side of the conversation. Keep yourself ego free to make sure you can operate in the mode of true partnership. Check your ego at the door and focus on letting the prospect’s ego feel like it matters most and your success will increase dramatically.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
