You have to stand out. You’ve got to be naked.

No one cares about you if you’re just a number. Salesperson No. 5679 from company ABC123. ‘Sorry, I’m not interested, we are happy with our current provider. Goodbye!’ Clunk goes the phone. Does this sound familiar? Well, try selling things differently and better than everyone else.

Do you communicate exactly the same way as your competitors? What do they say and do? I can tell you without hesitation that they’re just like you. They have the same value proposition, the same people, the same customers and more than likely the same mission: survive and then profit.

Do you take an interest in your customers? Or are you sailing to your own wind, hoping the winds of success miraculously pick you up and blow you away from the hazardous rocks and towards your ‘Big Break’? The Break never comes, mind you, unless of course you get lucky — like through winning the Powerball. Don’t bank on luck, ever! I don’t trust it because it’s impossible to replicate; instead, I get back to basics and get buck naked!

Most salespeople are below average. Sure many dont have the right support or leadership, but that’s not a good enough excuse. They all go to the ‘Mediocre Bar’ for Friday night drink o’clock. For those yet to frequent this bar, it’s on the corner of Frustration and Despair Streets and there’s a big flashing neon light out the front that says ‘Free Entry’. Anyone can get in, but there is a dress code: ‘same’! Here, the patrons exchange war stories about the big account that got away. Some complain about prospects vanishing into thin air after months of pre-sales. Others whine about having no leads and their sales mangers being on their backs. Many are looking for new jobs and some are just hanging around waiting for redundancy.

This is not an inspiring place to be if you’re naked. If you aspire to be the same, expect to be average. If you were happy in that place, great; but I know you picked up this book because you want to be more and you desire to have more. Deep down we all do, but it takes courage. It takes getting undressed and being comfortable in your own skin.

We resist change and embrace sameness because it is safe. Same feels right because deep in our psychology we fear being different will be detrimental. ‘Hey, all the other salespeople are doing it!’ What would your team mates say if you were different? You’d be an outcast, a social and business misfit, a heretic burnt at the stake or banished from the tribe! So you must fit in. You must be the same. Same is good, same is safe.

NO!

If you run with the herd, you will never be heard. Will you offend some people by being naked? Sure. But will others really embrace you and what you stand for? You betcha! And these loving souls are your real customers. These are the people you want to help and contribute to in your own unique and meaningful way because you genuinely care about them and you’re not afraid of giving them more of the real you.