Attention Sales World... Does The Talk Match The Walk?

larry levine Apr 18, 2022
Attention Sales World... Does The Talk Match The Walk?
"Most people will talk the talk, few will walk the walk; be amongst the few"
Dr. Steve Maraboli

In a sales world where trust and credibility are at anemically low levels, are you leading your sales life with congruency?

Does the walk match the talk?

Does the way you carry yourself online match the way you carry yourself offline?

Does the way you carry yourself out in the community match the way you carry yourself with your clients?

Some of you may be wondering about congruency, what does this have to do with sales?

Well, when thinking of congruency, let's look no further than to Carl Rogers to help bring this into a sales context. Carl was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. He was widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research.

In psychology terms, Rogers went on to say, "a therapist should be in a congruent state to best serve their client within the confines of that therapist-client relationship."

Are you carrying yourself in a congruent state in order to best serve your clients?

Carl Rogers went onto say,

“It means avoiding the temptation to present a facade or hide behind a false mask of professionalism or an attitude of superiority. It’s certainly not simple to achieve such a reality. Being genuine involves the often challenging task of becoming fully acquainted with the flow of experiencing that’s going on within oneself”. 

Now, let's loop this back into trusting relationships within sales.

Trust can be earned through your actions. How many of your clients are watching your actions or for that matter your in-actions?

Please key in on this...

If your actions are not congruent with what you say you then how legitimate are you through the lens of your clients' eyes?

If you say that your clients are important and you value building meaningful client relationships, then you must spend quality time with your clients cementing those relationships.

Congruency isn’t about big actions. It's about the little things.

Congruency leads to connection, deep conversation, and attraction. I ask you to think about how salespeople are perceived, now think about what it means to be congruent.

The more you know about yourself the more you grow, plain and simple, yet so difficult.

What makes you tick? What makes you come alive? What do you really know about yourself?

CONGRUENCY MATTERS

Let's peel back congruency even more.

Derived from the Latin word “congruere”, which means ‘to meet’ or ‘to agree’, congruence is the point at which your principles and beliefs align with your thoughts and actions. 

Congruency will keep you at the top, especially in a world full of empty suits.

This will require you to personally reflect upon yourself, your actions, your thoughts, and how you carry yourself. This will require you to become hyper-vigilant and observant.

Allow this quote from Nathaniel Branden to sink in,

"Integrity is congruence between what you know, what you profess, and what you do."

At times, congruency will be tested within the confines of your work environment. Think about all the incongruent, mismatched, and misaligned moments that happen in any given day, week or month within your working environment.

Often, we do what we are told, and we continue these patterns over and repeatedly without giving it much thought. Sounds like sales autopilot to me.

Sales is an emotional rollercoaster. It tugs on our heart and wears on our minds. However, to be truly fulfilled in sales, we must act from a place of congruency.

To be congruent, who you are, what you say, and what you do must be aligned.

Please key in with what I'm about ready to share... Spend any amount of time in sales and you will have been faced with "what is right versus what is wrong" actions and behaviors.

When you find your heart and mind being pulled in opposite directions, or when your deeds collide with your thoughts; your body senses it and you start to experience the effects of incongruence.

Stress, inner conflict and disease thrive when congruence is threatened. I know you all get what I am cooking because we all have experienced it.

E.E. Cummings wrote,

"To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."

With trust and credibility constantly being challenged, practice congruency and lead your sales life in an authentic manner.

HOW WILL YOU CARRY YOURSELF?

Someone who lives with congruency carries themselves in direct accordance with their vision, dreams, values, mission, beliefs and goals.

Will you carve out your own unique path paved by a deep understanding of you?

The road to self-discovery will unlock a treasure trove of opportunities. This could be one of the single hardest things you do.

Reflect for a moment...

  • What inspires you?
  • What are your strengths?
  • What is your personal mission statement?
  • What are your core set of values?

Leading with congruency... Amazing things start to happen and you notice:

  • Your confidence soars.
  • Your desire to make a difference becomes apparent.
  • You start to feel a sense of calmness.
  • Things start to fall into place with your sales career
  • Your client's start to notice.

I will ask you again... Does your walk match your talk?

When your actions match your values, it gives your clients and future clients the confidence that you lead authentically and act with integrity. And isn't this what you want?

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