Integrity + Skills = Success

by Ben Lai | Feb 15, 2017

Integrity + Skills = Success. Here at Sales Ethos, it’s our mantra. Interestingly, it’s refreshing to see that more employers nowadays are hiring for attitude and training for skill. This trend recognises that positive people generally outperform negative people in the long-run. Skills can be taught, while attitudes are much harder to impart… But are good attitudes alone enough for success?

Good Attitude, Poor Integrity

Imagine for a moment that you are a sales manager, and hire a candidate with a great attitude (let’s call him John). He is ambitious, hard-working, and easy to get along with. John picks up product knowledge quickly, and as a result is closing sales in a matter of weeks.

A few months in, you notice something isn’t quite right with the sales figures and actual revenue. Upon further investigation, you discover that John had found a loophole in the CRM, and had been exploiting it to boost his commissions… What went wrong?!

Solid Integrity, Lacking Skills

Imagine now that you hire Mary. She is a trusted childhood friend who has a copy of your house keys. Mary has a great attitude, but no experience in sales. Remembering that attitudes are more important than skills, you take a chance on hiring her.

A few months pass, and Mary is struggling to make appointments, let alone her numbers. She makes hundreds of calls every week, but isn’t getting results… What should you do?

Integrity + Skills = Success: Take-Home Lesson

The lesson from these two stories can be summed up this way: Integrity trumps attitudes, and attitudes trump skills, but you need all three to succeed in sales. If you were to build a house using these materials:

– Integrity would be the foundation

– Attitudes would be the supporting beams, and

– Skills would be the walls and roof

The house would be unliveable without any element, but importance must be assigned proportionately to each.

Integrity + Skills = Success: Application

“Integrity is what you do when no one is looking” – C.S. Lewis. Doing what is right, even when it hurts, is the beginning of good character. As sales consultants, we must work twice as hard to earn back the trust which is destroyed by dodgy salespeople. We can achieve this by being honest, transparent, and keeping our promises.

Do you ever listen to your “inner dialogue?” What attitudes do you foster about yourself, work, and clients? Pay attention to your thoughts. Weed out negativity and plant positivity. Make it a habit to express gratitude at every opportunity you have.

What was the last book you read? When was the last time you attended a seminar? Make a point to “Work harder on yourself than at your job” – Jim Rohn. All it takes is a few minutes every day to make an exponential difference in the long-run.

What will you build today?

How to Build an Unshakeable Character in Sales
What Does Sales Integrity Mean?
A New Era of Sales: Integrity Selling