Who knew Keith Urban was a philosopher …

I watched him give advice to a young singer on a TV show this week.

He said “… you impress for you, but you inspire for the world.”  

That is such an insightful statement, and it is so relevant to sales and leadership.

Whether you’re selling or leading, you’re really in the business of influencing others towards an idea – a different position than the one they’re currently taking.

Often the sale is undertaken in a way to impress the prospect, but if Keith is right (and I think he is) when we set out to impress others, we’re really only serving ourselves.

If we instead set out to inspire them, we are serving them and the world.  When we inspire the customer, we make them the hero of their own story and when they become the hero, we become the sage that equips them with the wisdom and the tools to tackle their challenge.

Given the choice to impress the customer or inspire them, I know that one is much more powerful than the other.

The problem is that it is easier to impress than it is to inspire.

Inspiring the customer challenges you to sell without ego, pressure or overwhelm.  To move away from a reliance on traditional sales techniques and move towards a more transparent sales approach and greater buyer safety.

That’s why we created the Models Method Selling System.  We saw the hidden power of transparency and buyer safety that visual models bring to the sales conversation.

What do you need to change about the way you sell to shift from impressing the customer to inspiring them?