Sales, Assets, Leadership, Business, Strengths
022 Selling from “Strengths” - Anthony Iannarino
Summary
We all have strengths and weaknesses. And, while improving certain weaknesses are important, we generally want to lead from--and WITH--our strengths. We’ll discuss that in our Thought of the Day. And later, in today’s interview, sales teacher extraordinaire Anthony Iannarino shows how our strengths apply to sales success. That and more on today’s show.
Bob's Thought of the Day
- Recently, while watching a boxing match on television, I noticed that one of the fighters had a better left jab than the other. They were mostly equal in skill, yet a superior jab made all the difference. You see, with a good enough left jab (for a southpaw, it would be a right jab), you can virtually control the fight. Practically all the boxing greats in history had great jabs.
- What does this have to do with sales, or with success in life in general? We all have a fundamental “punch” or “jab,” so to speak. As Mike Litman calls it, our “asset of value” that you bring to the table. It’s the frame from which all good things proceed. Of course, your jab doesn’t harm the other person, but helps them in every way that a sales professional helps a customer, or one human being helps another.
- You left jab, or main strength, might be a warm smile, a sense of empathy, an ability to ask questions that draw out information, or another valuable skill. Whatever your jab is, keep working on it and refining it.
- So what is your left jab? Did you come by it naturally, or did you have to work hard to develop it? Perhaps both.
- The final question: Do you help others in your life understand and develop their jab so they can help more people as well?
Interview with Anthony Iannarino
- In order to be effective, you must lead from your strengths. Some salespeople will do very well in some areas, but do poorly in other areas.
- The larger a deal is, the more typical “closing” behaviors tend to work against you (i.e. the “always be closing” mentality).
- Empathy and trust become more valuable when risk and the strategic outcome goes up. Other valuable skills in this context include negotiation and being able to show people the tradeoffs they are making.
- If you’re not others-oriented, selling will be hard no matter what sales level your skills are.
- If you’re a manager, you need to help people develop the skills they need. You have to provide them with a set of experiences to help them.
Interview Links
The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino
TheSalesBlog.com
Follow Anthony Iannarino on Twitter
Resources
GoGiverSalesAcademy.com
The Go-Giver Leader
TheGoGiver.com
GoGiverSpeaker.com
Burg.com
How to Post a Review
