Sales - Good and Evil

I just finished a very good book titled “The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett.  This is a great story that takes place in England during the Middle Ages.  The story is about Kings, Knights, Lords, Monks, Priest, Bishops, and Peasants and their struggles between good and evil.  While the author wrote this because of his love for Cathedrals built during this era, he included all the things that make for interesting reading: love, mystery, sex, war, murder, and the constant struggle between good and evil.  While this book is a page turner and shouldn’t take too long to read, it is not a quick read (973 pages).   

  

So what does this have to do with the Salesnet Blog? Let's focus on two themes in the book: the struggle between right and wrong and the cunning of one of the main characters in the book, Monk Phillip.  Phillip is a very honest monk surrounded by people inside and outside the church that are truly evil and will do anything to advance their agenda including lying, cheating, stealing, and even mass murder.  While Phillip struggles throughout the book, he stays honest to doing want is right and in the end good wins out over evil.         

Ok, so what does this have to do with Sales?  As most of you would agree, sales people have a bad reputation when it comes to being honest.  I have always believed that if you want to succeed in sales over the long term, you have to be honest.  You even have to be more honest than the average person because you have to overcome the stigma that comes with being in sales.  Always tell the truth and do what is best for the customers even if it means you don’t get the order today.  In the long run it will pay off.  One of my first sales managers many years ago said that I was a Boy Scout and that this was going to get in the way of my success in sales.  I wear the title proudly and have been able to be very successful in sales without losing my Boy Scout approach.  I’m not saying I never was less that fully honest with every client I have ever worked with but to the best of my ability I have always tried to be honest with the customer and do what is best for my customers.   I truly believe that in the long term this approach wins over the short term scorched earth approach.  

   

The second theme is the cunning of Phillip.  Phillip was constantly out thinking his adversaries.  He started as just a monk then became a Prior and then a Bishop.  He was able to build the tallest and most magnificent Cathedral in all of England and outlast and overcome multiple evil Kings and Earls.  He was almost always one step ahead of the enemy and while he didn’t win all the battles, he won in the end.  As sales people, we have to decide what type of sales person we want to be and if we want to be in it for the long haul.  If you are in it for the long haul, being honest is just as important as your cunning.     

Good Selling.