What comes to your mind when you think about “sales representative”?  Worst case scenario, manipulation and phoniness are the first words to pop out, based on stereotypes or on bad personal experiences.  If not, then most probably you think about extrovert people briming with confidence that can talk to anybody.

This cultural expectation runs deep into the minds of sales professionals as well.  When it comes to doing activities necessary to sell such as calling prospects, giving presentations and meeting with customers, we feel that we must put on a façade.  This is mainly the case with people that are new to selling, as they attempt to adopt the persona of a successful salesperson, like they have it in their minds.  The principal reason for that is lack of confidence, since they don’t think they are good enough.  Unfortunately, clients can sense that, so the result is far from successful.

Most of us hate it when we are expected to act like someone that we are not.  Even more than that, we despise to be manipulated and pressurised by salespeople pretending to be someone that they are not.  One of the reasons that sales professionals fail to reach their targets is because they are trying to resemble to those that hit their numbers.  Rather than looking for a magic combination of a sales persona and sales tactics, we need to understand that if we want to sell, we must start from being ourselves.  

Authenticity in sales refers to being genuine and transparent with our customers, building trust through open and honest communication.  Instead of faking a sales personality, as sellers, we should focus on developing our unique selling points and highlighting them to our customers.  Apart from that, as sales professionals we should invest in learning and training that will assist us to build confidence, better understand customer needs, and conduct business practices in an ethical way.  Once we learn to sell in a way that suits our personality and style, then we will be perceived as authentic.

When we are ourselves, we are more relatable, and more trustworthy. We can build rapport with the clients and connect with them on a deeper level. This can make them feel comfortable asking questions, discussing their concerns, and ultimately, making a purchase. Trying to be someone or something we are not can be detected from buyers, and it can damage the trust they have in us.

If we show up as the opposite of the stereotypical sales representative, then people will treat us as a person, not just a salesperson, and on our part, we start to view those that we are selling to as real humans, not just prospects.  Sales is about connection through communication, so we need to constantly remind ourselves that after all, people buy from people.