Sharing why the concept of Conscious Selling is so important for business growth moving forward is what led me to deliver my keynote, ‘Conscious Selling’ in London last week in The Top Sales World auditorium at the Sales Innovation Expo. 

Part of my journey was via Belfast.  A city, in order to rebrand and market itself after the chaotic ‘Troubles’, created a new spirit, a consciousness around a part of history to which the world has been for decades, emotionally connected.  They relaunched Titanic in 2012 (as my photo shows), ensuring both the city and its people moved towards prosperity for the greater good.

In line with that concept, a couple of years ago I read a book that shifted my thinking around what constitutes prosperity and running a successful business. That book was ‘Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business’ written by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia and it led me to embrace the term conscious  in the business sense eventually coining conscious selling as a framework for results.

Whilst what I read around business ethics generally was inspiring and intriguing,  at a higher level I felt something was missing. It was the specific lack of discussion around the sales function. Especially around the capital part of conscious capitalism and how the sales landscape has turned completely upside down over the past decade completely disrupting the sales role.

I believe SELLING is the key task or role that, when approached from a genuine and conscious capitalistic viewpoint, will impact the world enormously – from a profit perspective, a people perspective and a purpose perspective.

Firstly, when I mention ‘conscious selling’ to people there are a couple of assumptions made as to the meaning:

1. That people are not unconscious and therefore are with us in mind, body and spirit and as a direct result are alive and able to perform their role from an energetic perspective.

2. That people have a consciousness that aligns with either their levels of competence or incompetence and are aware and can adapt to the skills and mindset gap impacting their results.

Both clearly have their place.

But there is another meaning to the world conscious in the context of business.

A meaning with meaning, if you like.

3.  It is the desire and intention to sell on purpose. To align and adjust to what is important in the cut and thrust of this money making role – selling a difference!

And a huge part of that is understanding that earning money is important. After all, if you want to make an impact and a difference and you want to light up your world or even the world, you need to be able to pay the light bill.

As stated by USA Today:

‘Millennials, startups and large companies at the top end of town are embracing this whole concept around purposeful and meaningful business relationships

Those that are, are blitzing those that aren’t by the ratio of 12:1 – numbers that are increasing.

So let’s go back and apply this concept of ‘ selling on purpose’ to the role of the salesperson.

•  How many salespeople are conscious when it comes to truly doing a deal? That have the energy and foresight to be present to the conversation. Not just using the cliched – one mouth for asking curiosity driven criteria questions or two ears to hear what is being said but what is not being said , but who use what I have adapted as the third eye poised for intuition, intention and insights?
• How many salespeople are conscious of what their idea, product or service truly means to the end user or their client? Who have the ability to adapt their conversations on the fly realising business conversations are not about what you sell, but the emotional difference you are selling.
• How many salespeople are truly aware of the responsibility they personally hold? Who have understood the problem behind the problem and know how their ‘deal’ might save a business from going under, might help their client stay afloat, might have a ripple effect to the greater community.
• How many salespeople understand that two degrees of separation is not just a cliche but is a truth that we are all connected.  That we are just one mouse click away from being seen for the value we provide others, online and offline – or not! Who are open to adjusting their old beliefs in order to provide that value.
• How many salespeople can comfortably lose sight of the commission and detach from ‘doing a deal’  and instead offer what is truly right for the client, the company and themselves? Who have the emotional intelligence to bring a whole of self approach to the market,  aligning to common values.
• How many salespeople take time out to improve their personal leadership skills, learn what their gaps are and can leave their ego at the door at a time where the brand that matters is really their own? Vulnerability, transparency, and engagement are attributes conscious salespeople have in spades and that level of authenticity, relevance and intention oozes out of them creating huge deposits in the trust account of buyers.
• Finally, how many salespeople are not afraid to walk away from an opportunity or scenario that is not aligned to their personal values or those of the organisation? Are not afraid to test their money beliefs for a fair negotiated win/win scenario because their need for respect is stronger than their need to discount, their need to avoid asking the hard questions or their need to be liked?

We know the sales environment is changing.  We are constantly bombarded with the fact that the buyer is changing. And slowly the sales approach is too – in many different ways.

But more importantly, the world is changing and these ideas, when taken on board and acted upon, are already creating huge strides forward for my clients manifesting in bigger dollar deals, renewed relationships, co-creation and an overall happier individual.

‘The one thing that stands out about her Conscious Selling Model is how easily it can be woven into the fabric of a sales process to create a new level of thinking which is truly transformational’   Mark Dinunzio – President, MarketPoint Solutions

‘Ability, Awareness, Alignment’

‘Consciousness leads to change and change is what we are all really selling’

Be Bold, Brave and Brilliant

Bernadette McClelland is CEO of 3 Red Folders – a modern day saleswoman and keynote speaker on business growth, personal leadership and sales performance.

BIO: Business environments wanting to increase their revenue and profits, and differentiate themselves in a competitive market, ask for Bernadette McClelland because of her thought leadership on sales performance, her ideas on thinking beyond resilience and her fresh perspectives surrounding personal leadership skills — all designed to master the outcomes that matter.

Bernadette has proudly coached Harvard MBA students on their sales enablement curriculum, been the Master Asia Pacific coach for Anthony Robbins across twelve countries, authored five books on leadership and sales transformation, won a coveted Telstra award for Business Excellence, and continually shares her ideas around behaviour, the brain and business growth on stages in the UK, Europe, Thailand, India, NZ, Australia and North America.

Believing that sales performance is a leadership issue, you will also find her heading Melbourne’s human potential based sales performance consultancy, 3 Red Folders, as she navigates lead generation, message to market and digs deep into sales process activities with her clients in the mid-tier sector as well as founding ‘Women Who Sell’, an initiative designed to bring more women up to speed in their sales success.

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