If you’ve been reading anything from me since the founding of ExtraBold Sales, you know I love to use the word integrity. Full of integrity is how we should conduct ourselves while selling. So what does that phrase mean? Why should selling with integrity matter as people are struggling to sell over Zoom right now?

There are 2 aspects of integrity that salespeople should keep in mind. 

First, integrity is about honesty in purpose and practice. It is morality that is consistent over every aspect of what we do in sales. When we act with this kind of uprightness, our clients trust us and are comfortable with us. When we have honorable goals in selling and honesty in communicating with customers, integrity flourishes.

Have you ever heard the word integrity used to describe a structure? This is the second aspect of integrity and selling. If you were out walking in the countryside and you came up on a wooden bridge that had several boards missing, you would question the integrity of the bridge and turn around to find a less risky place to cross the river. In sales, when we lack integrity, we are like that weak bridge. People can tell you’re missing pieces and they don’t want to cross into buying. When we suffer from a disconnect between selfish motivations and pretending to be authentic with flowery language, our message is weakened. We make a potential customer want to run for the door.

In short, if a customer senses dishonesty or selfishness, our lack of integrity is evident and they'll disengage. Our business loses money and develops a bad reputation. But when we’re honorable in motive and practice, our integrity is evident. Buyers feel safe working with us and they’re more willing to tell others the same. How important is this right now when we’re connecting via Zoom and people are feeling disoriented in life and business? Integrity is crucial. Don’t fudge the truth. Not even a little.