Way back in 2013 Jill Konrath asked what the 7 deadly sins of sales would be. She got me thinking about it and I recently found my response. You’ll probably not be surprised that I went to the original list for my inspiration:
Wrath – the vengeful anger we feel when things don’t go our way with our prospects or customers (learn to lose gracefully & look for lessons learned).
Greed – the selfish desire for MORE than is needed. I typically think of a college professor who says in his classes “greed is good, money is good” and smile. As a sales sin it is probably when you are looking at the money for you vs. what is best for the prospect or customer (make sure you truly believe what is best for the prospect or customer is what’s best for you).
Sloth – disinclination to action. I think this may be my #1 sales sin. If we don’t take action – move forward – get better – nothing will ever happen in our careers (you have to be willing to work both hard AND smart to be a sales success).
Pride – inordinate self-esteem; all I have to say is don’t cross the line between self-assured & cocky. (it is one thing to believe in yourself, do that inside yourself and you’ll shine).
Lust – unbridled longing. In sales when looking at a huge potential account, if you’re drooling instead of figuring out if what you do will really help the prospect…. it’s a sales sin (you can long for something, if you are willing to put in the effort to see if you’re a good fit & win their business).
Envy – resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another COUPLED with the desire to possess the same advantage. I’ve seen envy destroy a sales career as the salesperson looked at what everyone had and resented the fact that they didn’t have that too, complained & was mean inside their sales team, eventually no one wanted to be around them… including their prospects & customers (looking for inspiration is NOT the same as envy).
Gluttony – excessive indulgence. I see this as a sales sin when the salesperson tries to squeeze out every last farthing from a deal (If you want to have flowers next year, leave some today to go to seed and you’ll never run out of flowers).