Integrity has always been a requirement in business.  The buzzword of the moment for this right now is "trust".

I've always believed in the term "my word is my bond", if somebody agree to something, then they must keep their word.  Or come to you and explain why not.

The problem for most sellers is that .... you are just another sales person.  You can be the most trust worthy person in the world, but people will group you with the shafters and manipulators. 

Salespeople have a bad rap, we have all been lied to or know where people have tried to manipulate us to try and get a "yes".  I know somebody who writes calling scripts which he guarantees if you use his script, you will get to a "yes".  Really?

This is manipulate and people who do this need to look at their moral compass.

The problem for sales people is that legacy sales methods "force" them to do this because .... nobody wants to talk to a salesperson, so they feel they need to be manipulative to just get a sale.

The other issue we have in sales, is we have to try and run around, wasting time, talking to people who will say no.  Selling, using legacy sales methods (email, cold calling, etc) is all about throwing shit at the wall and hoping it will stick.

We all know hope was never a strategy.

I've just walked out of the meeting today, with a large company.  The company would be a dream for me to sell too, but how do I get into it, when I am just another salesperson?

The meeting opens up with the person says to me "I had to meet you having read your LinkedIn profile".  They then "sold back to me, our value proposition in his own words" based on my Linkedin profile and the content they had consumed.  He literally told me how our products and services will work for him.  It's worth saying this isn't a one off, it happens a lot!

The output is that he is going to help me, sell into this big company.

Just think about the transformation your sales team would have, if they were not just another salesperson, but already "oozed" integrity and trust online. 

Instead of bullying and manipulating people into buying, prospects freeing supported, taking you into companies?

I bet you would make more sales.  You certainly wouldn't spend time talking to people who wouldn't buy from you.  You might even sell bigger deals.

This is what social selling transformation is all about.  It isn't about a personal brand.  It's about getting a profile that is authentic (not written by profile writers) and you will find it's magnetic.

If your Linkedin profile shows you to be trust worthy and to have integrity .... so not a spammer, then you will get more inbound and people you are talking to are more likely to buy!