By Michael Simpson
From, “The Sales Cookbook”

“If you work just for the money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing
and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” 

RAY KROC, Founder of McDonald’s Corporation

Passion is such an important and essential ingredient, I sometimes wonder how any sales professional could even consider not liking what they sell. Passion may be the most underrated and underutilized ingredient in our recipes either because it is too hard to measure or because no one has bothered to teach the importance of passion in the sales process. 

Selling is about transferring the passion you have for your product or service into the heart of a prospective customer. Passion is a magic ingredient because it isn’t artificial and can’t be faked for a long period of time. It is displayed in sales professionals who genuinely are concerned and want to take the time to serve their customers in whatever manner is necessary. Passion comes from an authentic belief of wanting to help the customer whether things are good or bad. It is at its truest form when things are not going well for either the sales professional or the customer and the sales professional is still willing to serve first and sell second. Having passion does not mean you’re giving up profit, it means you are willing to sacrifice short-term gain, but when you are committed to having passion for your customers, you will achieve a higher level of long-term profit; not only from the customer you’re serving, but also from the repeat business they will bring you.

When you have passion, you will speak with conviction, act with authority, and present with zeal. Passion will compel you to communicate with total confidence and certainty the specific attributes of your product and listen to the concerns of your customers. It is passion that allows any challenge or roadblock in the sale process to be overcome.

Top sales professionals consistently demonstrate characteristics of passion when they take the time to listen to their customer and they attempt to really understand what it is they are looking for. It is displayed not only in the questions that are asked, but also in the tone of voice and body language that are used during a sales presentation and the follow-up after the initial sales call. Sales professionals who have passion are able to create long-term profitable relationships with their customers and consistently benefit from referrals from their existing clients.

Do not create passion based on your product alone. It may be hard to be passionate about certain products, but you can certainly be passionate about what you personally bring to the table, the level of service you as a sales professional provide, the intelligence and knowledge you offer and the satisfaction that you are an expert in your field. You can certainly be passionate about gaining expertise in the art of persuasion and the handling of a wide range of customer dispositions; this will serve you well your entire sales career.

“When you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life.”

- Confucius

Unfortunately in our culture today it seems odd to love what you do for work or to portray the appearance of enjoyment during our working day. When I was a kid growing up work was pretty much defined as not-fun. We grow up with this perception and believe that this is inevitably the way things are.

Successful people win because they love what they do. All of them have a very strong desire to succeed. They have passion for their field, their business. Passion is the single fastest way to spur you to massive success. It is something you love. Something you’re excited about. Something you get up early to work on or to stay up late.

Nothing sells better, faster or stronger than passion. Passion is one of the most powerful weapons in your Recipe; it is an unfair advantage you have over your competitor. Passion for a specific product or service allows you to know and feel more than most people. Your passion will drive you to research and want to learn more about your offering. Passion will allow you hang in there when times are rough or when you are first starting out in the sales profession.

Passion is all around us every day and drives successful people to achieve the seemingly impossible. Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Jack Canfield, and many others focus on their passion with strong conviction. You must focus on your passion and integrate this powerful weapon into your recipe so you can unleash its power and operate at your sales peak every day. This is when greatness begins to creep into your legacy. Everybody loves someone who is passionate about something. Passion is a secret ingredient in sales of any type.

I had a deep passion to share my years of sales experience with the world. This drove me to write “The Sales Cookbook”. Without passion this would not be possible. It truly is a magic ingredient.