Authenticity Wins the Business

I was on a sales call the other day… this prospect had been presented to last year by my company but chose a much smaller regional competitor, so I asked her why she chose the competitor?

“Your sales representatives were so professional… so polished. [The other company’s] people were more like us…”

Too polished! Too professional!!!

I immediately removed my coat and promised her I could use profanity if need be.

What’s more is that she was experiencing some issues with the vendor she chose, but since they were her kind of people she was happy to let them work it out before considering us.

The thing is, I agree with her one hundred percent! I hate people that come across so polished- almost phony. I think most of us do. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for being extremely polished- especially in sales, but it can be a fine line between polished and phony.

Ultimately you have to be authentic.

Bass Pros will take brand new lures out of the box and alter them for this reason. Maybe they’ll add a red paint mark under the gill or some other seemingly minor detail. The goal is to take something that may be too polished and give it some authenticity.

It’s a lot easier to add a dash of paint to a lure than it is to infuse authenticity into a salesperson, but I think it can be done. Just think about this on your next call. Is it more important to have a superior look and presentation or to have a real and authentic exchange with your prospect?

And know when you should leave the jacket and tie in the car!