“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Leo Buscaglia

Let's all just imagine for a moment... What could a smile, a kind word, a listening ear or the smallest act of caring do for your client relationships?

I believe it could change the course of the relationship and your sales results.

The simple act of caring has transformative outcomes.

These small acts may seem insignificant or inconsequential to many in sales, but they can have a transformative effect on your sales circumstances.

Caring:

1. Encourages resilience with your clients - Simple acts of kindness can help people feel supported during tough times. And we know there will be tough times in sales and with your clients.

2. Promotes connection with your clients - Building relationships through small gestures fosters community and a sense of belonging with your clients. These type of connections build trust.

3. Inspires change with your clients - A single act of kindness can motivate your clients to pay it forward to their clients, creating a chain reaction of positivity.

What concerns me is that the words love, cherish, adore, idolize and worship are seldom used within the sales profession and especially as it relates to one's clients.

Caring, a term not often associated with many in sales. Defined as, displaying kindness and concern for others.

Just for a moment, think about caring, now think about your clients.

Dale Carnegie nailed it:

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

Your mirror moment:

• What do you really know about your clients?

• What do they really care about?

• What makes them tick?

You see, sales is serving and serving is sales. To serve is to care. It's caring about your clients, the people who buy what you must sell.

Listen up... if you're looking to increase your sales then I encourage you to capture the hearts and minds of your clients.

"People don’t care what you know until they know that you care."

Theodore Roosevelt

Truly caring is about "giving a rip" and helping your clients solve their business challenges, goals, initiatives concerns. Showing you care, it's not about "pixie sticks and rose petals", it's about being human, being real and being your authentic self.

Does your care talk match your care walk?

CARING... JUST DO WHAT YOU SAY

Caring is not just about expressing your feelings; it’s about translating those feelings into actions that reflect your commitments.

By doing what you say, you're reinforcing trust, respect, and emotionally connecting. All this does is ultimately enriches your relationships by fostering a supportive environment for your clients.

We all have a responsibility to care for one another. But in a fast-paced and often chaotic world, it’s easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget about this most basic duty.

"I follow three rules: do the right thing, do your best, and always show people you care."

Lou Holtz

Don’t get me wrong. Most people know what it means to care for others, being kind, compassionate, and supportive of those around us.

We know that caring for others has the power to uplift spirits, mend hearts, and create lasting change. However, putting the concept into practice isn’t always easy.

In a sales world desperately seeking trust and credibility, I would like for all of you to think about what could be going through your client's mind, "Can I trust you?", "Are you trustworthy?" or "I know at some point I will be let down."

Let's break each one of these down:

1. "Can I trust you?" - This is such a fundamentally basic question. Some of your clients may be wary due to past negative experiences or general skepticism towards salespeople.

2. "Are you trustworthy?" - This thought reflects a deeper level of scrutiny about salespeople's character and intentions. Some of your clients might be assessing not just the product or service, but the integrity of you, the person selling it.

3. "I know at some point I will be let down." - This pessimistic outlook suggests past disappointments or a general lack of faith in sales promises. It indicates a need to overcome preexisting biases or negative expectations.

Please hear me out on this one... No trust, no consistent and sustainable sales.

Deliver on the promises you've made. No excuses and no lip service... just care. Do what you say you're going to do.

How do you feel when someone breaks a promise to you? Now go ahead and place yourself in your client's shoes... How do you think they feel?

Stay true to yourself and keep your word. Don't ever waiver from it. Care enough about yourself and commit to doing what you say you're going to do.

This builds...

• Trust

• Reliability

• Integrity

• Respect

• Self-worth

Mean What You Say, Do What You Say.

By ensuring transparency in your speak, accountability with your walk, and adherence to promises, you and your clients benefit from a more trustworthy and collaborative environment.

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CARING BUILDS MEANINGFUL CONNECTION

"From caring comes courage."

Lao Tzu

Connection is a powerful force and one we can always build and improve.

Staying client centric, I believe when you focus on forming a deeper, more meaningful connection, you grow the relationship into a more collaborative, trusting and supportive one.

Building these meaningful connections is largely about feeling listened to. Here's a quick tip, if you want to get better at building meaningful connections with others, then start to become a better active listener.

In Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he shares insight into how we communicate, teaching us that,

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

Stephen Covey then goes on to say,

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Just for a moment... Imagine approaching conversations without any preconceived notions or biases with your clients.

What would happen if you allowed them to express themselves fully before you raced to express yours?

Do you have the courage to start caring for your clients? I mean really start caring about your clients.

Here's your mirror moment:

• What if you stopped caring for your spouse, your significant other or for that manner, your closest of friends; what would happen to those relationships? It would be a gut punch of reality and rightfully so.

Caring is deeply rooted in fulfilling relationships. Apply caring to your clients and watch what happens to your relationships. Watch how fast you truly start to connect with them on an entirely different and wonderful manner.

A few questions for you to ponder:

• What ties your client relationships together?

• What keeps them from drafting apart?

INTENTIONAL CARING, DRIVES RESULTS

Could caring with the utmost of intentionality transform your sales results?

Year after year, the nursing profession has been ranked at the top of the trust meter.

Why? They lead with empathy, and they truly care about their patients.

Digging a bit into the nursing profession, I came across the phrase Intentional Caring.

Intentional caring was coined by Jean Watson. She is an American nurse theorist and nursing professor who is best known for her theory of human caring. She is also the founder of the Watson Caring Science Institute.

The nursing profession has embraced the theory of Jean Watson’s Caring Science. Caring Science is about embracing the positive energy that flows from an integrated mind, body and spirit and is mutually rewarding to both the patient and the nurse.

She believes nurses are optimally positioned to be the heart of healing. By actively engaging in caring through authentic presence and intentionality, nurses are equipped to be able to optimize their patient’s ability to heal from within.

Dr. Watson’s Theory around Intentional Caring is grounded by 10 Processes known as the “Caritas Processes” - a link if you care to review all ten.

It's these 10 statements that help to provide an ethic or philosophy from which nurses practice.

Caritas comes from the Latin word meaning to cherish, to appreciate, to give special, if not loving attention to. It represents charity and compassion, generosity of spirit.

It suggests something very fine, something precious that needs to be cultivated and sustained. Now, think about how this could be applied to your client relationships. Need I say any more?

Here are two processes for you to reflect upon:

1. Caritas Process #2: Being Authentically Present: Enabling, Sustaining and Honoring Faith and Hope.

2. Caritas Process #4: Developing and Sustaining a Helping-Trusting Caring Relationship.

Here's another mirror moment:

• Could intentional caring become the difference in building or not building meaningful client relationships?

• Could an authentic presence change the course of your client relationships?

Become the difference maker. It’s what you say and do, and how you say and do it.

Caring, it's about unveiling your true thoughts, feelings, and attitudes that allows you to live more authentically in your relationships.

"Caring is the essence of nursing"

Jean Watson

Could intentional caring be the essence of sales?

Imagine for a moment how intentional caring could play out with your clients...

• Become interested in your client’s ideas and pursuits

• Become an advocate for your client's, promote and champion their direction of growth and interests

• Become cooperative and flexible with your interactions

• Become willing to let them know when they are going in a direction that is potentially harmful to their business

Caring is a day-to-day and moment-by-moment opportunity for you to create a long-lasting meaningful and joyful relationship with your clients.

CARE ABOUT YOUR CLIENTS, THEY WILL CARE ABOUT YOU

Your success in sales is not just about closing more deals, where you sit on the sales totem pole, or the size of your last commission check; it’s about demonstrating you deeply care about the needs, interests, and desires as you help guide your clients to do better business.

Authentically caring about your clients is the key to sales and your success.

If you don’t genuinely care, neither will your clients.

I encourage you to authentically care about what's truly most important to the people you'd like to do business with and just do it.

"The more you care, the stronger you can be."

Jim Rohn

By embracing your capacity to care, you will not only enrich your own life but also empower yourself to face challenges with resilience and determination. And we all know this, there will be challenges inside your sales journey.

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.