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Character, integrity, and why the salespeople who win long-term aren't always the smoothest talkers.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: you can learn every technique in this book, master every closing strategy, and still fail miserably if people sense you're full of it. Buyers have incredible BS detectors. They might not be able to articulate why they don't trust you, but they feel it in their gut. And that feeling kills more deals than bad pricing ever will.
Zig gets brutally honest here. He talks about salespeople who cut corners, overpromise, or say whatever it takes to get the signature. Sure, some of them hit their numbers this month. Maybe even this quarter. But their careers are built on sand. Eventually, the lies catch up. The reputation crumbles. The referrals dry up. And they're starting over somewhere else, wondering why success keeps slipping through their fingers.
But here's what really separates this chapter from generic "be honest" advice: Zig explains that integrity isn't just about not lying. It's about doing the hard right thing when the easy wrong thing would make you more money right now. It's about walking away from deals that aren't right for the customer. It's about admitting when your competitor's product is actually a better fit. That kind of integrity is rare. And it's worth its weight in gold.
Key Takeaways:
Your reputation is your most valuable asset – it takes years to build and seconds to destroy
Short-term wins from shady tactics create long-term career destruction
Customers remember how you treated them way more than what you sold them
The best salespeople turn down deals that aren't right for the buyer
Integrity under pressure is what separates professionals from amateurs
Every interaction is either building trust equity or draining it – there's no neutral
People talk – word spreads faster about who screwed them than who helped them
Your character shows up most when nobody's watching
Your Action Plan:
First, do a gut check on your last ten deals. Be brutally honest with yourself. Did you oversell anything? Downplay a limitation you knew about? Push someone into something because you needed the commission? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, that's information. Fix it going forward. Call those people if you need to. Make it right.
Second, create a personal code of conduct and write it down. What lines won't you cross, even if it costs you a sale? What promises will you always keep? What level of service will you deliver, no exceptions? This isn't corporate values poster nonsense. This is your line in the sand for when times get tough and you're tempted to compromise.
Third, start tracking how you make people feel, not just whether they buy. After meetings, ask yourself: did that person feel respected? Did they feel heard? Did they feel like I cared about their outcome or just my commission? The buyers who feel genuinely cared for become your army of referrals. The ones who feel used become your reputation problem.
Fourth, practice the hard conversations. Role-play telling someone your product isn't the right fit. Practice admitting you don't know something instead of faking it. Get comfortable saying "I need to check on that and get back to you" instead of making something up on the spot. These conversations feel like you're losing in the moment, but they're actually building the foundation of trust that wins you the next five deals.
Fifth, find someone in your industry who's been successful for decades and study how they operate. Not the flash-in-the-pan top performers who burn out or get fired for ethics violations. Find the person everyone respects, who gets referrals without asking, who clients call years later just to say thanks. Watch how they handle tough situations. That's your blueprint.
Sixth, and this one stings: apologize to anyone you've wronged in your sales career. If you overpromised and underdelivered, own it. If you pushed someone into a bad decision, acknowledge it. This isn't about feeling good about yourself. This is about cleaning up your side of the street so you can move forward with a clear conscience and a clean reputation.
The big takeaway? Zig's telling you something most people don't want to hear: there are no shortcuts to real, sustainable success. The techniques in the previous chapters work brilliantly – but only if they're built on a foundation of genuine integrity. Without that, you're just a con artist with better scripts.
The market rewards character in the long run. Always. The sleazy salespeople you see winning today? Check back in five years. They're either gone, starting over in a new industry, or stuck in the same place because nobody trusts them anymore.
Meanwhile, the person who does right by people even when it's expensive? They build momentum that compounds. Referrals multiply. Reputation spreads. Trust becomes their unfair advantage that no competitor can copy.
This isn't motivational fluff. It's math. Integrity is profitable. Not next week, but over the course of a career. And you're not building a career on quick wins. You're building it on thousands of moments where you chose to do the right thing even when the wrong thing was easier.
People feel the difference. And they remember.
Be the salesperson you'd want to buy from.