Self-Investment Yields Monumental Sales Results! Will You Invest?

“Are you prepared to put in the time and energy to create change in your life? Are you prepared to make and keep that commitment? If not you, then who? Invest in yourself.”

Akiroq Brost

As we start off our time together, allow me to throw a stake in the ground on this one... If you struggle to consistently invest in your professional development, then you will struggle to have your clients consistently invest in you.

In a world of me-too, sales sameness and empty suits... excuses separate sales professionals from sales reps.

Do you believe in yourself and your abilities, right now?

Are you willing and committed to invest in yourself, right now?

You must look to yourself to get better results.

Napoleon Hill once said,

"There are many things you cannot control, but you can control the only things that really matter: your mind and your attitude."

Therefore, I believe you can control what you can control, and you can't control what you can't control.

When it comes to your professional development you control this.

Napoleon Hill then went on to say,

"Solutions to most problems come from one source and one source alone: yourself."

How you show up, you control. How you react to things, you control. How you take care of your clients, you control. How you carry out your sales career, you control.

The mirror never lies, only the person looking into it.

You and you alone control your results.

The late American motivational speaker Jim Rohn knew something many people don’t, and quite frankly many in sales struggle with; success is an inside job.

“If you work on your job, you’ll make a living. If you work on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.”

Jim Rohn

Working harder on yourself than your job requires you to pay attention to your mindset, nurture your inner most thoughts, create massive amounts of self-discipline and lastly, become a master of disciplined habits.

In Ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates, would tell his students,

"He who lacks the will or the boldness to get to know himself will never be responsible for his own life." 

Socrates would declare the unexamined life was not worth living. Asked to sum up what all the philosophical commandments could be reduced to, he replied, ‘Know yourself.’

I realize you all want to grow sales. You all want more clients. You all want to become your very best.

So... For this to happen...

You're going to have to self-invest if you would want to become the best.

To become the best, you must take control. You must learn to reach the point where your mind allows you to become the master and not the slave to your sales circumstances.

WHAT DOES INVESTING YOURSELF MEAN?

"Invest in yourself. Your career is the engine of your wealth."

Paul Clitheroe

To help us understand what it means to self-invest, let's first look take a look at what it means to invest. Investopedia defines investment as,

"Putting money to work for a period of time in some sort of project or undertaking in order to generate positive returns (i.e., profits that exceed the amount of the initial investment). It is the act of allocating resources, usually capital (i.e., money), with the expectation of generating an income, profit, or gains."

Investing is to grow one's money over time with the expectation of a positive return in the form of income or price appreciation.

You have the ability to turn yourself into an asset through self-investment.

Self-investment requires commitment and consistency.

With the rapid pace of technological advancement and the constant transformation of industries, you must continuously seek opportunities for growth, challenge yourself, and be open to learning.

Investing in yourself allows you to become more valuable and fulfilled.

Professional development:

• Can boost your confidence and self-esteem.
• Can help you communicate more effectively, making you a better listener and problem-solver.
• Can help you develop increased self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and a more positive mindset.

Investing in yourself is one of the most important things you can do. It bridges the gap from where you’re currently at, to where you want to be.

SELF-INVESTMENT, STARTS WITH MINDSET

High achieving professionals push themselves further and harder than anyone else ever will. They are continually developing and working on their mindset.

They hold themselves to higher degrees of standards and create more accountability than any sales manager ever will.

What say you?

These professionals are committed to reading books, listening to podcasts, attending workshops, working with the right coaches, they have mentors and are lifelong learners.

“The greatest gift you can give somebody is your own personal development. I used to say, “If you will take care of me, I will take care of you. Now I say, I will take care of me for you, if you will take care of you for me.”

Jim Rohn

I'm asking you to think about that quote for a moment and now reflect upon your client relationships.

How important are they to you? How would you feel if your clients started to abandon you for greener pastures and heartfelt sales professionals?

You see, a sales professional who works hard on themselves is a leader who helps others succeed before them.

They develop and hone in on a giving mindset.

They understand in giving, they receive greater abundance and prosperity. This is a universal law and principle that whatever you sow, you shall reap.

At Selling from the Heart, we call this "giving a rip".

As you upgrade your mindset, so too does your bottom line. In sales terms, this becomes financial gains.

Your greatest sales fortunes are those developed over time. Success is a journey and requires staying the course. It requires patience, persistence, planning, preparation and practice.

One of the greatest Napoleon quotes ever...

“Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve.”

Are you become a believer?

If you want to grow your sales, you must be willing to dig in deep. You must be willing to get to know and grow yourself.

Think about this Tony Robbins quote,

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” 

Therefore, the quality of your sales life is tightly connected to the questions you are willing to ask yourself.

Better questions lead to better answers. Better answers lead to better actions.

Better actions lead to better outcomes.

As salespeople, you ask questions to other people, you ask questions to your clients and future clients, therefore... how often do you take the time to look within and ask yourself questions?

If you struggle to connect, communicate and collaborate with yourself, you will struggle to do the same with your clients.

WILL YOU BEGIN THE JOURNEY?

If asked what your strengths are, what would you say? You should be able to provide an immediate answer. With confidence and clarity, you should be able to give a detailed answer of exactly what you do best.

If you stumble and bumble needing paragraphs to explain, you may not clearly know your strengths. If you struggle to explain what you do best in a few sentences, then quite possibly you haven't taken the time to become conscious of your strengths.

Imagine a client asking you, "Why should our company continue doing business with you?" or furthermore, a potential client asking, "Why should our company invest in you?"

Folks, the key word in these two sentences is YOU.

To know thyself is to value thyself.

Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, renowned as one of the legendary Seven Wise Men once said,

"If you don’t take the time to clearly know yourself, you won’t be able to raise your influential value."

Therefore, if you want to grow your sales then raise your influential value.

Raising your influential value will grow your client relationships. Growing your client relationships builds upon your community. Building upon your community grows your referral opportunities.

Are you starting to smell what I am cooking when it comes to self-investing?

"When you're able to be honest with yourself about who you are and finally can present your authentic true self to the world, you feel so much better about yourself, and it makes it easier for everyone else to feel better about you."

Gus Kenworthy

Self-investing keeps people coming back for more and more and more.

Could you be sabotaging your sales growth? I will let you think about that one.

SELF-INVESTMENT BUILDS THE REAL YOU

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your self-worth determines your net worth. This all starts with the investment you make in yourself.

Believe me or not, you are front and center, the face of the business. You are the CEO. The development of the real you allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust.

Creating, cultivating and connecting with the real you can dramatically improve your win rates, while skyrocketing client retention.

How do you become more recognizable? How do you build your authority? How do you build becoming the subject matter expert? How do you create your following?

If you want to dramatically increase your sales, you must bring the real version of yourself to the business table.

Are you willing to ditch the sales facade and the mask?

"Be real, because a mask only fools people on the outside. Pretending to be someone you're not takes a toll on the real you, and the real you is more important than anyone else."

Alex Gaskarth

Mask wearing may protect you, however; if you're not bringing the true version of yourself to the business table then I'm here to inform you that you'll get exposed.

You may not believe me just yet, but I promise at some point it will happen.

Mask wearing is a huge drain on your mind and your soul. It's a hard act to constantly pretend to be, or feel like you need to be, someone else. Similarly, it's draining to regularly act like you feel one way when you really feel another.

We admire those who bring their heart to the forefront. We admire those who are honest and transparent and stand up for what they believe in. Conversely, we poke holes and see right through those we see as fake or phony.

Invest in you. Build yourself up. Care for yourself. Give a rip about developing yourself.

INNER WORK FUELS OUTER SUCCESS

"The real difficulty is to overcome how you think of yourself."

Maya Angelou

I believe your clients can tell when they're in the presence of an authentic human being, one who isn't "putting on a sales show," they're just true to their humanness.

One can say they are Selling from the Heart.

This comfort is heartfelt because in their presence everyone can sense it. This authenticity brings out in the best in conversations.

Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher said,

 "Whoever knows others is wise; whoever knows themself is enlightened."

Are you willing to travel down the road called betterment?

Are you willing to do the work to become the best version of you?

Are you willing to invest in yourself?

The time is now to take responsibility for your sales success.

This is your life. This is your career and everything you have or do with it is your responsibility. You are the person who makes decisions about your life.

Whatever you have now and at whatever position you are now is the result of your decisions and your work.

Question to leave you all with... Are you ready to self-invest?

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.