Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most influential of them all?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most influential of them all?

Written By Jeffrey Gitomer
@GITOMER

KING OF SALES, The author of seventeen best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His live coaching program, Sales Mastery, is available at gitomer.me.

This is part two of  “How to become a power influencer.”

Based on an inane statement about how to become a power influencer, purported by an “expert,” I decided to clarify the process in detail, so that you could have a shot at becoming one.

Last week’s elements of a power influencer included: smart, shrewd, knowledgeable, successful, a winner, full of answers, someone with ideas that work, creative, a thinker, someone with a great reputation, someone with great timing, and someone with a great attitude.

There’s a lot to becoming a person of influence. But the rewards will last a lifetime.

Here’s the rest of the list.

A power influencer is:

Well read. Influence comes from a combination of thinking and reasoning that’s not just based on experience. Reading will help you better understand and clarify your own thinking, even refine your own thinking, and it gives you an additional resource to draw from as you’re building your influential base.

Published. For the past 15 years, I have published a weekly article – more than 800 individual writings that have helped and influenced others in their thinking and in the actions that they take. If you seek to influence, you must do it in a multitude of formats. I promise that if others are influenced by your writing, they will also be influenced by the words you speak.

An author. Write a book that has both influence and prestige. Articles become books. Books become read. And the people who read them will be influenced by the person who wrote them.

Service driven, not sales driven. Salespeople are only able to influence temporarily. Power influencers lead with service and their service leads to sales.

Friendly – well liked. All things being equal, people want to be influenced by their friends. All things being not quite so equal, people still want to be influenced by their friends. While friendly is not always the best case for influence, I believe it is the best case.

Someone who has gained the customer’s (other people’s) confidence. The more you perform, the more successes you have, and the more wisdom you convey over time, the more confidence others will have in you. Confidence only comes as a result of performance over time.

Tells the truth all the time. You can influence temporarily with a lie. But once the lie is uncovered, you can never influence again.

Gets the job done no matter what. People of influence are also performers. They DO, not just say. They walk their talk. They don’t make excuses because they don’t have to. They’re the one person who is counted on in a time of need. They are reliable and relentless. They don’t leave the job until the job is done.

Trusted. All of the already mentioned elements combine to form trust. One of them can break trust. If you lie, trust is gone. If you quit a job in the middle, trust is gone. No one element builds trust. But the lack of one element can destroy it.

Long-term oriented. Influence is determined by relationship and long-term thinking precedes relationship. It’s not about your quota. It’s not about the end of the month. It’s about doing what is best for others over an extended period of time regardless of your self-imposed deadlines.

Not greedy. If there are givers and takers in the world, people of influence are seen as givers. People who are always thinking about or talking about money are not as influential as people who are always talking about ideas and serving others.

A fit.” One of the most powerful but least talked about elements of relationship, trust and influence is how comfortable people feel with each other, how easy it is to do business with each other, and how natural the relationship is formed. You don’t have to force it because it’s a fit.

This list contains elements of the IDEAL influencer. All people of influence do not have to have all these qualities, but the more they possess, the greater their power to influence.

NOTE WELL: This list does not contain the words, “has money.” Having money and being influential are mutually exclusive. Maybe money gives you a slight advantage, but all the other elements outweigh it. By a ton.

While this list only took a few days to compile, it will take you years to master each element of influence. That’s the good news for you, if you are dedicated to become a power influencer. Most other people will quit after reading this list. “Too much work,” they’ll say. “Not worth the effort,” they’ll whine.

GREAT! More room for you at the top.

Free GitBit

If you missed last week and want BOTH parts of this column, go to www.gitomer.com, click Access Gitbit, register, and enter the word INFLUENCE in the GitBit box.