Good morning!
When you sell, do you believe you are being yourself or does someone else temporarily invade your body and mind, someone less interesting, more formal, a lot stiffer, and most importantly far less authentic?
When we first started out, I think all salespeople have an image of who they are supposed to be, who they need to be, in order to be successful. The opposite is also true, that we have an image of how the icky sales person acts and presents him/herself (think used car salesman). So, we set out to be that person instead of just being ourselves in a grown up and professional manner.
In the end, people buy from you. This really weird after a few transactions, you drop the facade and show your real self. Your sense of humor comes out (provided you have one). You feel comfortable sharing an opinion. You are more honest.
One of the things I absolutely adore about my daughter Emma is that she is always, always, always herself. Emma is and always has been a free spirit, a Monty Python and Bob’s Burgers quote-spewing, wise cracking chip off of the old block who brings her incredibly insane personality to her doctoral work in the science lab at Cornell University every day. That’s not exactly the place you’d expect comedy to live, but Emma makes it happen. She offers no airs, no alternative personality. Her philosophy is this: Like me or hate me, I like myself and who I am.
We all want to be liked, you included. Just know that you can be professional and authentic at the same time. Some people will respond positively and some….not so much. But the ones who don’t like the real you aren’t your customers anyway, so who cares?
Be yourself. I think you’ll like the difference.