Sell with Your Authentic Self, with Larry Levine [Episode 709]

Larry Levine, professional coach, podcaster, and Amazon best-selling author of Selling From The Heart: How Your Authentic Self Sells You, joins me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Larry quotes Simon Sinek in his book. “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” Larry filled the book with comments like, “You must lead with the heart and not the wallet.”
• You can’t connect if people are suspicious about your motivations. When you say “but,” you are signaling to the prospect that everything you said up to that point really doesn’t matter but you just really want them to buy today.
• Larry wrote the book to teach the importance of authenticity. Trust is the basis of a healthy relationship. Transfer the trust factors of your personal relationships to your business relationships.
• After understanding overall why you are in sales, learn the ‘why’ of every step and interaction in your sales process. Don’t just learn how to follow the process; understand the why of each step of it.
• Larry defines sales as “the art of the help.” Continually be helping people along the way, which requires continual learning on your part and bringing the goods to your clients. If you do not, you will be replaced.
• Who should pay for your professional development? Workers under age 35 leave jobs when they don’t feel supported. Companies are not stepping up. Reps, invest in yourselves, even if by using free resources.
• Your clients are some of the best sources of help. Understand your contacts’ roles. Ask them to help you understand the metrics that show when they are doing well in their job. Be vulnerable and teachable.
• Take courses in accounting, in marketing yourself, in technology, and more. Should sales have continuing education and professional certifications for sellers? Larry explains how sales professionals pursue development.
• How does being “good” relate to “excellence” in sales? How do you become the best version of yourself? There is no ending destination point. Keep going. Larry compares sales managers with baseball managers.
• Are reps not working as hard or well now as when Andy was “coming of age” in sales? Andy says people are still the same. Larry discusses making excuses for missing quota. You are solely responsible for your outcomes.
• Individuals at each level — reps, managers, and execs — should be improving themselves. Larry talks about CEOs investing in their employees. Andy describes his book club at work that creates an environment of learning.
• Over the years Andy has received many book recommendations from client CEOs. Reading is a necessary habit, on a tablet or in paper form. It is easy today to publish sales content. We need a rating system!