Digital Dealer - June 2019 - 40

S A L E S & VA RIABL E OPS: Sales Technique

By Mike Hirschfield
CEO,
Assured Influence

10 Core Beliefs of
Highly Influential
Sales Leaders
Influential sales leaders
are unmistakable. They
are people of interest,
people of insight, people of
purpose, people of direction, people of value, and
people of now! They
seamlessly garner the
support of those inside and
outside the dealership, their
customers appear to readily
flock and follow in-step, and
they rarely suffer a bad
month because they attract
a constant supply of
opportunities that seem to
just fall in their laps.
There is no doubt that
influential sales leaders
possess something very
powerful that puts them
in a position to win more
sales again and again. It's
not some sixth sense or a
secret superpower; it is the
right core beliefs.
We noticeably all have
different beliefs, that control
different emotions, that
result in different behavior. There is nothing that
influences our behavior
more than our beliefs!
Unfortunately, too many
professionals never stop to
acknowledge and question
their own beliefs. Instead,
much of what directs their
behavior day in and day out
is formed unconsciously.
40

JUNE 2019

Make no mistake, highly influential sales leaders enjoy
unrivaled results because
they have developed superior core beliefs. Below are
ten of the most prevalent.
BELIEF 1: It is not
what you know about
your products that
matters most; it's what
you know about your
customers.
Customers don't care
what you know if you
don't know them! Highly
influential sales leaders
recognize they are in the
business of providing
solutions, and the only way
they can properly position
those solutions is to really
know their customers. They
believe that customers
buy for their reasons, and
not ours. In turn, they go
to special lengths to learn,
lead, and leverage what
really drives them. This
includes learning who
their customers are, their
character and values;
where their customers are,
their attitude, skills, and
knowledge; and where their
customers want to go, the
change they most want in
their family, occupation or
recreation.
BELIEF 2: Opportunity
is created by how you

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

manage your customers'
expectations.
It's not what happens, but
what is expected to happen,
that matters most! Influential sales leaders are careful
about what they put their
focus on throughout the
sales process. They believe
that what they put their
focus on determines what
their customers put their
attention on, and what their
customers put their attention on becomes what they
take action on. Influential
sales leaders recognize that
while things can happen
which frustrate customers,
as long as their expectations are properly managed
throughout the process,
customers will seek to move
forward despite unforeseeable challenges.
BELIEF 3: What a
customer says in the
beginning isn't always
critical in the end.
You can be dead right,
but if your customers do not
feel that you are right, your
deal is as good as dead!
Highly influential sales
leaders do not get sidetracked or bail on a deal just
because their customer is
way out in left field early on
in the sales process. After
all, every customer is in the

market for a reason. They
resist the urge to argue
with their customers. Influential sales leaders are
persuaders, not debaters,
and they believe that doing
right is more important
than being right. They
stay the course because
they know that what their
customers experience
throughout the process
changes everything.
BELIEF 4: Customers
are not motivated by
what is on paper.
A sale is not business,
it's personal! Some sales
professionals spend a lot
of time presenting and
hashing out their proposals with customers. Influential sales leaders take a
different approach. They
believe that just explaining
the features, facts, and
figures is not really leading, and it is certainly not
selling. What's on paper
may be unique, but it is not
compelling alone. Influential sales leaders don't rely
solely on the facts, features, and figures; instead,
they create value that isn't
found in a brochure or
on a website. In this way,
they make the transaction
bigger, more meaningful,
and more compelling to
their customers.
BELIEF 5: They are the
number one reason why
their customers buy.
To win sales, you
don't need to have the
best price or even the
best product, but you do
need to create the best
experience! It's you and
your efforts that make the
difference.
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Digital Dealer - June 2019

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