I could share a number of sales strategies that I’ve used successfully over the decades as I built my own legacy business, but I would be doing you a disservice. Don’t mistake my message — the strategies I teach my Celeste Giordano Coaching clients are central to ensuring your sales approach and business strategies are effective and lucrative. But without this one core persuasive sales tool, little else matters. That sales tool is integrity.

You don’t have to take it from me. Multi-millionaire and renowned American author, salesman and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says it more emphatically:

“The most important persuasion sales tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”

Why?

Billionaire Warren Buffet says that when you encounter a person in business you look for three things: intelligence, energy and integrity. If the person doesn’t have integrity, he says, there’s no sense in bothering to evaluate or search for the other traits. They are rendered meaningless.

Integrity means doing the right thing in all circumstances and at all times, whether or not anyone is watching, and irrespective of the consequences. It’s worth spelling out that it’s not always easy to do the right thing regardless of the consequences. It can take real courage, and require years to build. Like trust, integrity can be destroyed instantly. The decisions you make and the way you conduct yourself on a daily basis – both in your personal and professional life – impact whether people perceive you as a person who lives with integrity.

Unfortunately, we live in a world in which many are taught that the end justifies the means. If you’ve been in sales for long, you know that in order to meet their monthly quotas, too many sales people overpromise and under deliver. Entrepreneurs overestimate their pro formas in order to secure the highest possible valuation from prospective investors. Customer service agents don’t take ownership of mistakes – and indeed cover them up – out of fear that clients or customers may take their business elsewhere. I could go on and on.

For most, that dishonesty or urge to cheat the system doesn’t  come from a place of “evil” or desire to take advantage of people. Business owners convince themselves that they have good, logical, justifiable reasons for doing the things they do, and saying the things they say. That dishonesty may provide attractive short-term gains, but the long-term losses are steep. The moment you compromise your integrity, you declare yourself to be an individual who cannot be trusted. And make no mistake about it – word spreads.

If you act with integrity in business, people – existing clients, prospective clients, colleagues, employees, investors and more – talk. And likewise, when you act without integrity, people talk and word spreads quickly. Profit in dollars or power can be easily regained, but when a network of people perceives you as a person with – or without integrity, that is forever.

When you earn that trust and develop a positive reputation, your business will flourish. People will want to do business with you (rather than seemingly doing everything possible to avoid doing business with you!) and the possibilities will be endless.

It’s also important to take care to associate with people with integrity. If you surround yourself with people who lack integrity, they will inevitably rub off on you and people may assume that you share the integrity of the company you keep. If your friends or associates are always cutting corners and taking advantage of people to get ahead, it may be wise to consider hunting for a new social circles.

I pride myself on striving to act with integrity both at home and in my professional life. The next time you’re preparing to make a sales pitch or follow up call, ask yourself: What can I do to ensure that I am acting with integrity. I can promise you that even if being honest loses you the sale in the short term, you are bound to win in the long term.

At Celeste Giordano Coaching, you can learn how to sell with integrity using techniques that will get you real results. Ready to “Double-Plus” your income this year without telling any white lies or cutting any corners? Contact me today.

Go on and ask yourself, would the people you deal with on a day to day basis vouch for your integrity? If you have any doubts, it’s time to dig deep, ask why, and work towards rebuilding.