Never Waiver from Your Integrity: Simple Steps to Building Trust
Larry Levine
In a world of empty suits, I’m leading a movement of authenticity, integrity, and trust inside the sales profession
"Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving."
James E Faust
Whether this be in your personal life or in business, meaningful relationships are cemented on trust.
As we start off our journey together around trust building, let's peel the layers back around the above-mentioned quote by James E Faust.
I ask you to insert the following at the beginning of each bullet point below: Are you...
Smash these all together, as these aspects of honesty contribute to fostering trust, integrity, and authenticity in relationships.
Real connections, real conversations, and real relationships are all built on trust.
Cambridge Dictionary defines trust as a verb: to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or something that is safe and reliable.
Simply stated, without honesty there can be no trust.
When people are honest with each other, trust is established, and relationships flourish.
Being honest means adhering to a set of moral principles and with radical consistently acting in accordance with them.
Honest and truthful communication forms the basis of healthy and lasting relationships. This is essential for understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
Trust drives profitable business.
Trust creates...
When it comes to trust, Dr. Henry Cloud goes on to say,
"When we realize that trust is not optional, that all human life is designed and wired to only work when we trust, we begin to treat trust with the utmost of respect."
TRUST AND CONSISTENCY
“Consistency is the true foundation of trust. Either keep your promises or do not make them."
Roy T. Bennett
Consistency is a hallmark, the centerpiece of trustworthiness.
A trustworthy professional is consistently congruent. The walk matches the talk.
Inconsistent behavior or language that creates doubt, uncertainty and suspicion, is a buzzkill, whereas congruency fosters confidence and trust.
Consistent professionals have radical amounts of self-control to maintain their character. They do not wear masks or pretend they're someone they're not just to impress.
They are not self-serving but self-giving.
They consistently show compassion and out care all other salespeople.
They consistently show respect, gratitude and appreciation.
They consistently create and respect boundaries in their relationships.
More importantly, they consistently live with the utmost of integrity.
Sales professionals who are trustworthy are reliable. They do what they say they will do over, and over, and over again.
Hard to gain your clients trust when you're reliable once.
When it comes to consistency, check out what Pastor Craig Groeschel has to say,
"Successful people do over and over what other people do every now and then. Consistent action creates consistent results. It's not what we do occasionally that makes the difference, it's what we do consistently. We are what we do consistently."
Trust begets trust... Are you consistently delivering on your commitments?
CONSISTENT PROFESSIONALS NEVER WAIVER FROM INTEGRITY
"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."
Oprah Winfrey
In a post-trust sales world, integrity is nonnegotiable. You must live it, breathe it and demonstrate it.
Integrity is about being courageous and will keep you at the top especially in a world full of empty suits.
Integrity is the practice and discipline of being honest. It is operating with a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles.
I ask you to please reflect upon the following...
Professionals with integrity demonstrate honesty in their communication, reliability in their actions, accountability for their decisions, and respect for others.
These professionals stand up for what’s right, even when it’s difficult, and they don’t compromise their principles for convenience or personal gain.
How do you think this plays out in building authentic and trusted client relationships?
Integrity...
Stop right now and think about these two questions...
INTEGRITY AND TRUST, A MUST IN SALES
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
Luke 16:10 NIV
It concerns me that the words morals, ethics and integrity; we surely do not think of salespeople.
Integrity will shape your world both personally and professionally.
Take a few minutes to answer the following:
I applaud what Andy Stanley says about integrity...
"People with integrity do the right thing because it is the right thing even if it costs them."
Therefore, a failure of personal integrity adds stress to the people around you.
Apply this to how you interact with your clients... Do you smell what I am cooking up here?
Integrity is a universal expectation – you expect from people around you.
Why do we expect integrity from others even in times that we are not?
Will integrity guide you or will your appetite for commissions guide you?
Will integrity guide you or will you succumb to the pressures of fitting into the sales wolf pack?
Andy Stanley goes onto to say...
"You can’t be yourself as long as you're lying to yourself."
You can’t give your full self to your clients as long as you're lying to yourself. This will all come back to haunt you throughout your sales career. Your reputation is a terrible thing to waste.
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Simply put, your irresponsibility should not become someone else's responsibility.
Questions for you to think about right now...
I'm here to inform you that when you breech your personal integrity, this will impact someone else’s and often this just might be your clients' trust.
In a sales world where your clients and future clients are yearning for trust, think about this...
Sales professionals with integrity are guided by integrity. They refuse not to lower themselves nor waiver from it.
When you sacrifice your integrity to get ahead, I promise you this... You will soon close the door on that opportunity and things will start to come back to haunt you.
Never ever close the door on potential in the now moment.
What do you want to be known for in sales, out in the community and with your clients?
INTEGRITY KEEPS YOU PERCHED AT THE MOUNTAIN TOP
It's quite unfortunate as we live in this cancel culture. Where a little bit of bad, erases a whole lot of good.
Integrity determines your reputation.
"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them."
Proverbs 11:3
Integrity guides you from becoming an empty suit.
A single bad choice to destroy a lifetime's worth of integrity.
It can be said that people with integrity have the same characteristics - they're humble, have a strong sense of self, they have high self-esteem, and ooze self-confidence.
These characteristics become mission critical, because, in sales, you'll be under intense pressure from others to make the wrong choice.
And this is why Proverbs 10:9 is to be taken to heart,
"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out."
Sales professionals who carry themselves with integrity win, and those who do not, get exposed as being empty suits.
STEP INTO INTEGRITY TO BUILD TRUST
"Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity."
W. Clement Stone
Please key in on this for a moment... If you're quick to abandon your integrity then you must ask yourself, "What's really driving me?"
Why is it in sales that many are more concerned with looking good than being good?
In Selling from the Heart fashion, if you commit to leading with integrity, it won’t be how well you behave that gets people’s attention it will be how well you love that gets people’s attention.
I will leave you all with a quote from Dr. Henry Cloud,
"Trust is the fuel for all of life."
Mark Carpenter is a serial storyteller. Even as a child, he loved to tell stories (mainly to get attention). He leveraged that ability into a career in marketing communications and public relations, then as a college professor and corporate facilitator.
Now, he teaches people how to more intentionally tell stories that teach, lead, sell, and inspire to accomplish business and personal goals. He is the co-author of the best-selling book “Master Storytelling: How to Turn Your Experiences Into Stories that Teach, Lead, and Inspire” and co-creator of the Master Storytelling Workshop. Leveraging a 20-year career in corporate communication, 10 years working as an adjunct professor of communication, and 15 years facilitating training, Mark couples a lively, engaging style with purposeful, impactful learning.
When he’s not training, speaking, coaching, or creating new content, Mark is likely hiking or snowshoeing in the mountains near his home in Utah, playing the piano, bragging about his grandchildren, or writing children's books.
SHOW SUMMARY
In this episode of Selling From the Heart , we are joined by Mark Carpenter, the serial storyteller and co-author of the best-selling book, "Master Storytelling." Together, they explore the profound impact storytelling can have on sales, leadership, and building authentic connections. From weaving personal experiences to influencing leadership decisions, learn how storytelling can elevate your sales game and create lasting impressions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Connect as Humans: Selling from the heart is about connecting as human beings, not just transactions.
Storytelling Structure: The key storytelling structure includes an introduction, conflict, and change to effectively convey messages in a concise manner.
Intentionality in Storytelling: Be intentional about the purpose of your story and the lesson you want to convey.
Repeatable Stories: Reuse and repurpose stories intentionally for different contexts, audiences, and lessons.
Building Trust: Stories trigger the release of oxytocin, the trust hormone, in the brain, fostering genuine connections.
QUOTES
"Selling from the heart is about connecting as human beings."
"The story is not about you; it's about the point you're trying to make, the lesson learned, and how it can impact the listener."
"If you're intentional about the destination, you're going to take that story start to finish in a straight line."
"Look for those moments where you have an emotional reaction. There is a story embedded in that with something to teach, lead, sell, and inspire."
"Storytelling builds trust by increasing oxytocin, the love hormone, fostering genuine connections between people."
Learn more about Mark Carpenter:
LinkedIn:
/ mark-carpenter-0b55221
Learn more about Darrell and Larry:
Darrell's LinkedIn:
/ darrellamy
Larry's LinkedIn:
/ larrylevine1992
Please visit BarnesandNobles to order your copy of the rerelease of the Selling from the Heart book.
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C-Suite Executive | Sales Leader | Client Advocate | Risk & Insurance Professional | Asia Specialist | I deliver competitive advantage by sharing unique insights and via access to leading risk and insurance solutions
9moGreat article Larry. I was actually starting to pen an article myself on the trend of deprioritizing integrity by employers when hiring. Barely hear it mentioned anymore but as your correctly identify it is the basis on which trust is built
Heart-centered leader. Service to others is the secret to happiness and fullfilment.
9moTrust is everything both in my business life and personal life. Although I really don’t believe there is much separation between the two.
Unleashing the Untapped Potential of Individuals, Companies, Organizations, and Communities through Inspired Ideation and Creativity | Chief Dream Officer at Web Collaborative ☁️
9moAbsolutely essential for sustaining success in business! 🔒
RN
9moCan't think of anything more true, in all areas of life, trust is an absolutely required building block. Great piece!