I was reading this business article that talked about America being Thirsty for True Leadership and I couldn't help thinking that consumers, clients and prospects are thirsty for that too - especially when they look at the sales professionals they are often forced to interact with.

When you look at the Definition of Leadership you can clearly see that sales people, more than ever need to display leadership qualities. One expert's definition said that "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." Do you and your sales people do that? Are leadership skills demonstrated at every interaction?

When leadership is not displayed people are left wanting and will tend to look somewhere else. So from a sales perspective we lose the business to a competitor or they just fail to "vote" for us and decide that no decision is better than a bad decision. Let's go back to that definition and look at the two key points related to the need for leadership.

1) Creating a way - although you are not usually reinventing the wheel with every sale, prospects love to feel as if "only you can make this happen". They like the feeling of being special, being cared for, being adjusted to and tailored to. They want to know that you are going above and beyond. True leaders are able to do this even with mundane things.

2) Making something extraordinary happen - if you have been selling what you sell for a long time then it could be you are bored with your offering (or at least you sound bored) don't be! With every sale leadership qualities will help you to infuse a belief that what you do, the problems you fix and the goals you help me achieve are extraordinary.

Although not part of this definition, when we think of leadership we often think about being led out of a crisis or a problem. We think about being given hope and clear direction (think about Churchill or Roosevelt providing stirring radio speeches during world war two)

Bottom line - when prospects meet with someone they are often looking to be impressed and they are often expecting to learn why you are an expert. Experts lead people to the right decision - think Doctor, Accountant, Financial Advisor and Lawyer - who tells who what to do in those interactions? If you are not pushing back, saying no and disagreeing with your prospects (tactfully of course) then you are not offering them true sales leadership.

So if America really is thirsty for true leadership and if by extension your prospects are thirsty for true leadership the take time to assess your methods, skills and tactics. Have someone listen to you on a call, practice by means of role play and de-brief regularly after your interaction with potential clients - did you lead? Did you provide what they were looking for? Were you a Trusted Advisor or just another vendor that failed to impress?