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Written by: Larry Levine
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” - Charles Dickens
This quote truly sums up Charles Dickens' belief in human potential for kindness, suggesting that one's personal character is defined not just by grand gestures, but by consistent, gentle, and persistent approaches to life's challenges.
Let's apply this to the sales community... Can your personal character be defined by your consistent, gentle and persistent approaches to how you work with your clients? I will leave that one for you to think about.
Allow me to introduce you to three words that I believe could positively alter your sales results and your career.
As you read each word, place the word 'heart' right after. Does it change the context? I believe it does.
Compassion
- Maintain a soft, empathetic heart. This allows you to experience true human connection.
- Maintain emotional vulnerability.
- Show kindness even in challenging circumstances, and we know there will be.
Resilience
- Develop persistent patience and emotional endurance. Play the long game.
- Stop becoming easily discouraged.
- Maintain consistent effort, positive energy and disciplined habits.
Gentleness
- Treat others with care and respect. Think about your clients and future clients.
- Become mindful of how your actions and words impact people.
- Practice emotional intelligence, sensitivity and give a rip.
In today’s competitive sales landscape, trust is unfortunately at an all-time low. For many, it's liken to salmon swimming upstream. People are skeptical, inundated with sales pitches, and wary of empty promises.
In this post-trust world, success isn’t about clever tactics or automation, it’s about authenticity, trust, and heart.
I'm here to share with you this... Those sales professionals who embrace authenticity, build meaningful relationships, and create real value will not only survive but thrive.
If you want to stand out in a sales world full of empty suits, then you must become radically authentic.
If you’re looking for a powerful way to grow sales and future proof your career, here are three transformative ways Selling from the Heart can elevate your sales approach.
1. Building Authentic Relationships
In today’s post-trust world, people are more skeptical than ever.
They’ve heard every sales pitch, seen every closing tactic, and can spot insincerity a mile away. In such an environment, authenticity isn’t just a differentiator, it’s a necessity.
The foundation of trust and loyalty lies with your ability to build authentic relationships
I believe true sales success isn’t about slick presentations, rehearsed scripts, and canned interactions, it’s about building real, meaningful relationships.
The cornerstone of long-term sales success is building authentic relationships. It becomes difficult to build these types of relationships by carrying yourself as an empty suit, someone who appears polished on the outside but lacks substance on the inside.
An empty suit conjures up the image of a business suit without a person in it who truly knows what he or she is doing.
Authentic relationships start with self-awareness and sincerity.
Salespeople, you must do the deep inner work to understand your motivations, values, and purpose before you can truly connect meaningfully with your clients.
Sales isn’t about transactions, it’s about transformation. When salespeople genuinely care about their clients, their relationships start to shift from transactional to transformational.
Transactional salespeople focus on short-term wins and quotas.
Transformational sales professionals focus on long-term relationships and trust.
In Selling from the Heart lingo, it's about truly giving a rip about your clients.
Here are a few practical steps to building authentic relationships:
Be Real: Drop the sales persona and show up as your true self. I believe your clients want to connect to, and do business with, a sales professional who sells from the heart and is real, as opposed to a sales rep who is an empty suit.
Listen with Empathy: Instead of always pushing your products, listen deeply to understand your client’s world. Authenticity isn’t about what you sell, it’s about how you serve.
Be Consistently Present: Relationships aren’t built through a one-time sale, the transactional mindset. Schedule routine and strategic visits. Show clients you genuinely care.
Building authentic relationships creates positive impact:
- Generates loyalty
- Clients spend more over time
- Refer more business your way
- See you as a sales professional, not another sales rep
The best sales professionals lead with the heart. They care deeply, they serve passionately, and they build trust through authenticity.
2. Creating Meaningful Value
In today’s hyper competitive sales environment, being just another salesperson isn’t enough. Clients don’t need someone who simply pitches products, they need someone who delivers real meaningful value and helps them do better business.
I challenge all of you to go beyond features and benefits and instead focus on creating meaningful value that transforms your client’s business and the way they view it.
It is hard to emotionally connect to your clients if your heart is broken.
I believe sales success starts from within. If you're simply going through the motions, without passion or purpose, it’s impossible to forge real, valuable and meaningful connections with your clients.
Traditional sales have long been seen as a numbers game, chasing quotas, closing deals, and moving on to the next prospect.
In today's world, this mindset no longer works and will get you labeled as an empty suit.
Successful salespeople understand that sales isn’t just about selling a product, it’s about serving the client.
It’s about:
- Helping clients solve real problems, and real challenges
- Providing insights that drive business betterment
- Becoming a trusted sales professional instead of a product pusher, an empty suit
You can deliver meaningful value by:
Understanding the Client’s Business: Invest time in learning their industry, challenges, goals and business initiatives.
Offering Insights, Not Just Products: Share knowledge, strategies, and perspectives that genuinely help the client. Become educated to educate.
Being a Business Partner, Not a Vendor: Trusted partners who bring meaningful value and business substance become irreplaceable. Being viewed as a vendor will always get you replaced.
Meaningful value creates positive impact:
- Clients trust more and will rely on you for sage business advice
- Clients buy more and make larger long-term investments
- Clients refer more business because they see you as a strategic asset
The best sales professionals don’t just sell, they help their clients win.
If you want to grow your sales, stop focusing on selling and start focusing on serving.
When you create meaningful value, clients see you as an indispensable asset rather than just another salesperson.
3. Leveraging The Trust Formula
In today’s post-trust world, where people are skeptical and salespeople are often viewed with suspicion, trust is the single most important currency in sales. Without trust, sales become transactional, short-lived, and ineffective.
In the wonderful book, Trust & Inspire, by Stephen M.R. Covey, he notes,
"Trust is a learnable skill that can be a competitive advantage."
Question becomes... What's your competitive advantage?
Allow me to introduce you to The Trust Formula as a framework to build deep, lasting relationships with your clients.
Without trust, it will be impossible to sell anything to anyone on a consistent, long-term profitable basis.
The Trust Formula
(AR + MV) × IE x DH = Trusted Relationships
AR - Authentic Relationships
MV - Meaningful Value
IE - Inspirational Experiences
DH - Disciplined Habits
This formula breaks trust-building into four essential components, each of which plays a critical role in establishing credibility, deepening client relationships, and driving long-term sales success.
Trust is not something you ask for—it’s something you earn through consistent and congruent actions.
Breaking down the four components of the Trust Formula
Authentic Relationships (AR): Being genuine and truly caring about clients. It's about the human connection.
Meaningful Value (MV): Bringing insights and solutions that matter. Always be educating your clients. Leave them in a better place.
Inspirational Experiences (IE): Create moments that deeply connect with clients. Create emotional moments that make you memorable and irreplaceable.
Disciplined Habits (DH): Consistently showing up and following through. Keeping promises and delivering on commitments. Building trust through reliability and dependability.
Applying The Trust Formula
Deliver on Promises: Always follow through on commitments. This builds credibility.
Create Personalized Experiences: Make every client interaction memorable and meaningful.
Stay Disciplined: Sales success comes from daily habits, not occasional inspiration.
Applying The Trust Formula differentiates you from competitors, increases conversion rates, and builds a sustainable pipeline of loyal clients. The Trust Formula creates long-term sales sustainability.
Final Thoughts: Selling from the Heart is the Future of Sales
In a world where buyers are bombarded with pitches, the only way to stand out is to be real, relevant and relatable.
I believe the message is clear:
- Ditch the empty suit: Stop relying on outdated, scripted sales tactics that lack sincerity. People can see right through them.
- Build deep, authentic relationships: People buy from those they trust. Focus on genuine connections rather than quick wins.
- Create meaningful value: Go beyond just selling products. Become that trusted sales professional who helps clients succeed.
- Develop trust through consistency and care: Trust isn’t given; it’s earned. Show up, follow through, and always put the client’s best interests first.
Sales isn’t just about hitting quotas, it's more than that, it’s about helping people, solving problems, and making a difference.
To win in a post-trust world, you don’t need more sales tactics; you need to be a better you.
If you’re ready to elevate your sales game, embrace authenticity, serve with heart, and build trust. That’s the real secret to long-term, sustainable success.
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