The Love Economy: How Outrageous Acts of Empathy Drive Sales Growth.

The business landscape has changed so dramatically over the last decade that sellers hardly know how to act.

There has been an explosion of new technology and tactics — ways to research buyers and buying activity that has never been available before.

And instead of creating better relationships, we’ve evolved into a soul-less generation of product-pitching, smooth-talking exhibitionists.

We’ve forgotten the radical power of “love”…

Even now reading that, you might find yourself with mental whiplash — wondering how the heck a discusion on kick-ass, goal-crushing strategy has anything at all to do with with the idea of kindness.

Maybe that’s the problem.

We’ve made it inconceivable that anything less than red-meat-eating, take-no-prisoners sales behavior is a sign of weakness.

That we’re leaving money on the table.  That we’re not “closing”as fast as we could.

And it’s sad, neurotic behavior that limits our ability to achieve greatness.

The very greatness that we think we are pursuing.

The difference is love.

We call it a lot of things — kindness, empathy, compassion — but it’s really all the same thing.

It’s about selflessness.

About love.

And it’s the single biggest way for you to catapult your business.

Here are some thoughts for you:

1.  When you love more, you give more.

In spite of your amazing products, the  support ninjas answering your emails, and the self-proclaimed list of ways that you are dominating your industry, one thing is clear — buyers don’t care a lick.  They don’t.  They smile and nod but they don’t really care.

What breaks through is other people caring about them.  More specifically, you the seller genuinely giving kindnesses to the buyer.  If you want outrageous success then you need to love more, to give more.

Buyers care about what you can give  them.  And when you love others, you give more than you ever thought possible.

2. You can’t think of yourself and others at the same time.

The selling process is pretty selfish at times.  We expect that buyers selfishly want the best deal possible.  But it’s gotten nutty.  Sellers rush madly at prospects like crazed 12 year old tweens fighting in line over the next Justin Bieber CD signing.  It’s frenetic “look at me” behavior.

The current selling environment lacks the tolerance for product pitches.

It’s all about people pitches.

It’s actually always been about people, but limited access to data has historically allowed sellers to create thriving businesses around product superiority.  Those days are past.  You now need to obsess about the buyer.

And when you love, you can’t help but keep the buyer squarely in your sights.  It’s inevitable that your kindness builds outrageous success.

3. The more you give now, the more you get later.

The biggest results take time to appear — which flies in the face of sales as a key performance indicator.

Sales is, in fact, a trailing indicator of  the love you have for your buyer.

And yet we don’t do anything about that.

We measure calls and email volume.  We track pipelines and demand quarterly quotas.  And while those aren’t bad things, they no longer result in outrageous acts of business growth.  They quite often yield mediocrity — uncreative follow-the-pack tribalism.  It’s all soul-less affectation.

And here’s what we forget.

To live later, we have to love now.

It’s denied gratification.  And we suck at that.  It’s “me” and “now” and “how dare you”.  And it’s stealing our dreams and destiny.

It’s The Love Economy.

A new era of being the kindness we wish others felt toward us.  Of acting like service is more than intellectual prostitution.  Of tears and hope and empathy.

Staying relevant in the new economy isn’t about what you want (or the products you sell).  It’s about the outrageous acts of kindness you can deliver.

It’s really all about “love”…