Quite often, I come across a belief that limits a salesperson's behavior. These beliefs often seem reasonable and are accepted without question. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes evident how they hinder a salesperson's performance.
One of the most common negative and limiting beliefs is this: I have my own sales style. This is one of the most pernicious of all because it absolves the salesperson of any responsibility to improve. More salespeople have remained stuck well below their potential due to this limiting belief than any other.
Let me explain.
Like many limiting beliefs, this one contains a kernel of truth. In a sense, everyone does have their own sales style because we are all unique individuals, each with our own combination of knowledge, wisdom, and life experiences. No two people are alike.
The problem arises when a salesperson uses this belief to dismiss management and sales experts' efforts to help them sell better. The thought process goes like this: "Since I have my own sales style, I don’t need to listen to or value what anyone else tries to teach me. They don’t understand my style, so their advice is irrelevant."
"My own style" thus becomes an excuse that absolves the salesperson of any responsibility to improve their sales skills. And because they retreat into the psychological fortress of their style, nothing can penetrate it.
For example, their manager sends them an article that impressed their boss. The salesperson deletes it without reading it because they have their own sales style. No one can teach them anything.
A highly recommended seminar comes to town. The salesperson says they're too busy to attend, but what they really mean is, “I have my own style. I won’t learn anything at the seminar.”
The company buys a copy of a well-regarded book for all its salespeople. It gathers dust on the salesperson’s shelf because they have their own sales style. There’s nothing in the book that could help them. The author doesn’t understand their sales style.
The company introduces a new product line and directs the sales team to begin promoting it. The salesperson doesn’t bother because it doesn’t fit their sales style.
"My own sales style," then, becomes the mechanism that absolves the salesperson of any responsibility to improve their sales skills, consider more effective strategies, or refine their tactics.
Best Practices
In every sophisticated endeavor, some people perform better than others. Some of these people are reflective and analytical, identifying the practices that yield the best results. Since these behaviors are identifiable, others can replicate them and achieve similar or improved outcomes.
These behaviors are called best practices. They are proven methods that deliver better results.
Every sophisticated human activity eventually develops a body of best practices. Since the world changes rapidly, this body of knowledge is dynamic, and serious professionals regularly study their profession’s best practices, integrate them into their routines, and repeat this process indefinitely. This is how professionals stay relevant and valuable to those who rely on them.
For example, teachers attend workshops; doctors go to conferences; pilots complete refresher courses; ministers, social workers, psychologists, managers, HR directors, and accountants all regularly expose themselves to the latest best practices in their fields.
I like to compare this process to cultivating corn. At one point in human history, no one cultivated corn—it was gathered. I’m sure some gatherers were better than others at spotting corn stalks and knowing when to harvest. These individuals were considered skilled and valuable gatherers.
Then, one day, someone thought differently and decided that corn could be cultivated intentionally. After some experimentation and trial and error, a set of best practices emerged. For example, planting corn at a certain depth, spacing the seeds a certain distance apart, and planting at a specific time of year yielded better results. Adding water and fertilizer improved the harvest even more.
Before long, these best practices were replicated worldwide, resulting in miles of cornfields. Millions of people who would have starved were fed, and humanity, in general, thrived thanks to best practices in corn cultivation. Countless farmers and laborers made their living by studying and implementing these practices.
Every profession follows this process—except one. Sales. Despite sales being the most prescribed profession, this remains true. Look at the number of sales books published yearly compared to other professions. The volume of sales books far exceeds that for lawyers, ministers, social workers, nurses, teachers, etc.
Like any other profession, sales has a body of content consisting of a set of best practices. The issue isn’t the content—it’s engaging the salesperson with that content.
Can you imagine boarding a plane and hearing the pilot announce they have their own flying style? Or your CPA telling you they ignore all the best practices of accounting because they have their own style? Or a surgeon informing you that they haven’t updated their skills since medical school because they don’t need to—they have their own style?
Can you imagine interviewing for a sales job at one of the industry’s leading companies and telling the interviewer you have your own sales style?
A salesperson hiding behind the smokescreen of "their own style" hinders their career and deprives their company of untapped potential that could have been realized but never will be due to this limiting belief.
On the other hand, when salespeople are exposed to the best practices of their profession and are motivated to incorporate them into their routines, the results are often dramatic and career-changing.
Sadly, few salespeople do this, and few sales leaders insist on it. Why? Because they, too, have their own sales style.
Best regards,
Dionisio Melo
📧 Email: dionisio.melo@dionisiomelo.com
🌐 Website: www.dionisiomelo.com
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