So you want to be a great salesperson? I'll re-frame that question: Do you want to be a great salesperson or do you want to do great things as a salesperson?

If you're a manager reading this article, here's a question for you: Do you want to be a great manager or do you want to do great things as a manager? How about this one: Do you want to sell at higher prices or do you want to deliver greater value to your customers? These are not unrelated concepts. In fact, like threads in a rope, delivering value and earning profit are linked inextricably. Your being follows your doing.

So often at the sales meetings at which I speak, the message from management is: "Let's get out there and sell these products." The emphasis is on increasing revenue. Selling is about facilitating product out of the door, but that is a narrow definition of what salespeople do.

What if management were to change its message?

"Let's get out there and discover ways to re-create and deliver even greater value to our customers." Selling is more than extracting maximum value from relationships with customers; it's about contributing maximum value to those customers who value what you bring to the table. This is win-win, customer-oriented selling at its best. This philosophy is analogous to the product manager who challenges the troops: "Let's get out there and create a need for this new product!" One might argue that a better message is: "Let's get out there and understand a need and create the right solution."

I was in Cleveland, riding to the airport terminal on the car rental shuttle bus, as I overheard a conversation between two young businessmen who had just attended a company meeting. The first said: "Boy, the pressure is on this year for profitability, isn't it?"

The second young man responded: "That's not what I heard. I heard that the emphasis this year will be on our performance and customer satisfaction. I heard management say that our profitability will be tied to how well we perform this year."

The first conceded: "Yeah, I guess that's what they said."

The second young man got it. He understood that profit follows performance. He knew that if they did great things for customers that their reward would parallel their actions.

Focus your energy on the area over which you have maximum control—your behavior. If your primary focus is on how you can do great things for your company and your customers, you will become a great salesperson. Your recognition as a great salesperson will result from your performance. As your being follows your doing , your profit follows your performance.