Show me an egotistical person, and I will show you a person who isn’t listening. If someone feels like they have all the answers and know it all, then why should they listen to anyone else? Primarily, to an ego driven person, everyone else is purely there to make them look good. That’s it!
Big ego equals poor listener. I can’t say it any simpler than that. This confirms that the person with the big ego will never be a great salesperson nor will they ever be a great leader.
Sales and leadership is about connecting with people, and this means listening to people. The only person an egocentric individual wants to listen to is themselves. The first universal thing of every egotistical person is that they are quick to view everyone else as stupid and not hesitant to say it out loud to whoever is listening. Second, they always loathe doing whatever it takes to ensure that they are the center of everything.
Sadly, I see the results of a big ego play out in sales with a high degree of churn among customers and fewer referrals. The egocentric salesperson will consistently have a lower lifetime value from their customers than the humble salesperson.
In leadership, the ego driven person will always be plagued by high turnover and lower productivity from their salespeople. Ask yourself, would you want to work for a person who doesn’t value others?
Sales leadership is thinking of others more highly than yourself by putting them and their needs first. It’s about ending each conversation with earning the privilege and the honor to meet with that person again.
Check out this 40-second video: What is sales? It is people connecting with people.
Also, be sure to read my blog post from last week where I write about the need to be both authentic and transparent.
Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results
