Most people I come across in my work (clients, fellow coaches, podcasters, authors, students etc) are terrific people, with values such as integrity and truthfulness high up in their list of priorities.
Which is awesome, because it’s great to deal with people who share the same values as we do.
But the more people I meet, the more it seems that the higher on the scale of integrity someone is, the more conflicted their relationship with selling – and as a consequence, the lower their success rate in terms of signing on clients.
Do integrous people sabotage their own results?
I don’t have enough data to say yes or no, but it sure does look like it.
I call it the ‘good egg-problem’, where high integrity is (seems to be) correlated to low sales results.
But listen: if you live by values, then logically the work that you do is good, worth the money, and something that people ought to buy, right?
They buy, you serve, and that’s how you make your money. Right?
Then why not take the sting out of ‘selling’, and let your values guide you?
As in: if integrity matters to you, and you want to do right by people, then helping someone make a decision *is* doing right by people.
I mean, you’re not going to force anyone into buying anyway, because integrity says we don’t do things like that.
So you’re there to have a conversation about a choice the other person is considering.
You help them get clarity, identify desire, discuss doubts and objections, and figure out if your thing is right for them, at this moment.
And, since integrity is central to your life, you happily accept yes or no, depending on what’s right for that other person. The only outcome that you’re attached to, is the right decision for that individual.
This way, you turn ‘selling’ into an act of service… something that’s actually quite aligned to your values.
Does that take the sting out of selling for you?
Cheers,
Martin
