Of All the Assets….
Of ALL the assets you can possess in business, there is one thing that trumps them all – being an authoritative, influential figure in your space.
INFLUENCE is an intangible asset. It matters more than sales skills, sales training technique or even competence. As assets go, influence trumps all others. Because when it comes down to your buyer’s decision to buy, influence, more than anything, is the single most important thing that tips the scales.
If you have no influence you’re perceived as commodity.
If you have influence and credibility you’re guaranteed an upper hand in negotiations, higher fees, sweeter deals, superior clients, and connections with the most respected leaders in your business.
Influence is entirely different from knowing how to sell . . . or write copy . . . or build web pages . . . or shoot videos . . . or whatever.
All of those are skills, but I am not talking about those today. What I am talking about is your personal reputation and influence. What are you doing to promote and build the brand of You, Inc. In the final analysis, YOU are the product and people are buying you not the product or service you sell.
The best thing you can do is to become the type of person that others want to emulate or become. This is not a sales training issue as much as it is an issue of personal development. Ultimately you want to develop a having a cult following and have people hang on your every word.
Not every sales person or marketer can handle this advanced mental transition and become the person everyone wants to follow. Those who can make this leap will become rich. Those who don’t will, at least in North America, become a 2nd class or 3rd class citizen.
The choice is yours.