“Your presence is the most precious gift you can give to another human being.”

Marshall B. Rosenberg

As we find ourselves in the middle of Christmas and New Years, allow our time together to be one huge wake-up call as you're casting your vision for 2026.

How many salespeople along with leadership have been sending their clients gift baskets, logo’d Yeti cups, the generic Starbucks gift card, or the stress ball shaped like a globe that quietly rolls under their desk never to be seen again?

How about bottles of wine, and branded swag wrapped in festive paper, during this holiday season?

While there’s nothing wrong with a thoughtful holiday gesture, let’s not miss the deeper truth this season might just bring to you, and why Marshall B. Rosenberg's quote is powerful, “Your presence is the most precious gift you can give to another human being.”

Here's some festive reality, your clients don’t need another box on their doorstep or in their office, what they need more of is for you to show up fully present, especially in conversations that matter most.

Christmas is a season of attention, not transactions. It’s about slowing down in a world that’s always rushing. When you bring presence into your client relationships, you listen instead of waiting to pounce and speak. What you start to hear are the concerns behind the cheerful we’re all good.

You'll start to notice when priorities shift and when pressure is building beneath the surface.

It's the level of presence that turns routine check-ins into meaningful conversations. It’s the difference between handing someone a wrapped gift and sitting with them long enough to understand what they truly need.

Here’s where sales growth enters the picture.

Presence builds trust, and trust shortens sales cycles, expands opportunities, and creates loyalty that lasts far longer than the holiday season. You can’t automate presence and you can’t delegate it.

No matter how fast shipping gets, you’ll never find any of this on Amazon. As the holiday season winds down, decide how you’ll show up for your clients in 2026.

Why I'm saying this? Because the most valuable gift you can give won’t fit under a tree, but it will pay dividends all year long.

Socks, swag, or something that actually matters.

I’m asking all of you to deeply reflect for a moment... What real gifts will I bring to my clients in 2026?

How about the gifts that grow sales, deepen relationships and makes your clients say, I trust this person.

Your clients don’t need more stuff; they need more meaningful value from you.

Why Is This So Important?

Let's just acknowledge that the sales world is overflowing with noise, skepticism, and client fatigue.

Clients are drowning in vanilla messages, stale value adds, and pitches disguised as helpful insights. They’ve heard the promises, seen the decks and have signed the contracts, only to watch the salesperson disappear the moment the ink dried.

Plain and simple... They’ve been burned.

Which means this is no longer a sales problem, it’s a trust problem.

All of this has led people into not believing you, as they default to protecting themselves.

Every interaction is filtered through past disappointments, broken commitments, and a quiet question they may never say out loud... Can I really trust you?

Every interaction you have with a client is either a deposit into the trust account or a withdrawal from it, there is no neutral ground.

Trust isn’t built in big moments alone; it’s built or broken in the small ones.

How you show up, how you listen, how you follow through, and whether your intent is to serve or to close... This is all in your control.

Are you showing up with gifts that genuinely deposit trust? Or trinkets that quietly scream, I just want the sale?

You know what? Your clients can feel the difference and they respond accordingly.

The Problem with Safe Presents

People don’t remember what you gave them. They remember how seen they felt when you gave it.

Safe presents are easy, safe presents are convenient, and safe presents are what you grab when the calendar reminder pops up and panic sets in.

Safe presents don’t require thought, safe presents don’t require courage, and safe presents don’t require you to know your client.

We've alluded to it already, as safe presents include...

• Branded swag that quietly joins the other branded swag in a desk drawer

• Generic thank-you gifts that say, I didn’t forget you, I just didn’t think about you

• Year-end business reviews that feel more like a hostage situation than a conversation

Safe gestures protect your comfort, while meaningful gestures earn their trust.

Safe presents don’t move relationships forward. They don’t deepen trust, they don’t create differentiation, and most of all, they don’t make you memorable.

All this safeness does is maintain the status quo, and the status quo is the enemy of sales growth.

Your growth in 2026 doesn’t come from playing it safe. It will come from you being intentional. It will come from you creating personalization. It will come from doing the small, human things that signal to your clients... You matter beyond the transaction.

Many of you might telling yourself that safe feels good, but I'm here to inform you that bringing meaning to your client relationships gets you seen as being unforgettable.

The Four Types of Presents Salespeople Bring (Only One Works)

This is going to get a bit serious, humorous, reflective and real. Salespeople tend to bring one of four presents to their clients.

The Transactional Present

Translated... Here’s my product, please buy it.

This is the salesperson who leads with features, pricing, and urgency. Every conversation feels like a pitch and every email has an ask.

Clients tolerate this but they don’t trust it.

Transactional presents create...

• Price pressure

• Short-term wins

• Long-term churn

This isn’t sales growth, this is survival mode.

The Friendly Present

Translated... Let’s be friends, I want you to like me.

This salesperson is likable, fun, and easy to talk to. They know the client’s dog’s name, their favorite sports team, and where they vacation.

Relationships feel good but they don’t go deep.

Friendly presents often stall growth because...

• Conversations avoid hard truths

• Value isn’t clearly articulated

• The salesperson becomes nice but not necessary

Friendship without meaningful value is fragile.

The Expert Present

Translated... Let me show you how smart I am.

This salesperson shows up armed with data, insights, white papers, and business frameworks. They educate, inform, and advise.

This is closer but still incomplete.

Expert presents can fail when...

• They focus on information instead of transformation

• They talk at clients, not with them

• They forget that trust is emotional before it’s logical

Knowledge alone doesn’t create loyalty.

The Trust-Building Present

Translated... I’m here to help you win even if it doesn’t benefit me today.

This is the gift that changes everything.

This salesperson brings...

• Authentic relationships

• Meaningful value

• An inspirational experience

• Disciplined follow-through

They ask better questions, challenge when needed, listen deeply, as they serve first.

Guess what?

These are the salespeople who grow accounts, expand relationships, and generate referrals without begging for them.

The Greatest Present You Can Bring is Meaningful Value

Many salespeople completely miss the mark when it comes to clearly articulating meaningful value.

Meaningful value is not something you present, push on someone or even discount.

Meaningful value is not...

• A polished product demo

• A beautifully designed slide deck

• A checklist of features

• A last-minute price concession

Those things may support a decision, but they rarely earn trust.

Meaningful Value is the result of a salesperson showing up with intentional responsibility to solve a client’s problem with excellence.

It is the compounding effect of curious conversations, deep preparation, and the courage to speak the truth to help a client move from where they are to where they need to be.

Meaningful value is something far more human and far more powerful...

• Helping clients uncover blind spots they can’t see on their own

• Bringing perspectives they haven’t had the time or space to consider

• Connecting dots across their business that feel disconnected to them

• Protecting them from decisions that look good short-term but hurt long-term

• Challenging assumptions thoughtfully, respectfully, and with their best interest at heart

This kind of value requires preparation, curiosity and courage. This means being willing to say what needs to be said, not just what’s easy to say.

Clients don’t need more information. What they need is extreme clarity.

Meaningful value doesn’t help clients buy differently, it helps them think differently.

When you help clients think differently, when you help them see their world more clearly, you give them something far more valuable than a product.

Meaningful value is delivered through unguarded presence. By giving your full, undistracted focus, you communicate that the client matters right now, which makes them feel valued beyond the transaction.

You know what? That’s a present worth opening.

Why Sales Growth Is a Reflection Problem, not a Tactic Problem

Clients don't buy what you sell; they buy the version of the future you're helping them build.

Sales growth rarely stalls because of a lack of tools or techniques; it stalls because of a lack of authenticity.

Your growth accelerates when you're willing to ask...

• Am I truly adding value or just staying busy?

• Am I listening to understand or listening to respond?

• Am I playing the long game or chasing short-term wins?

The quality of the presents you bring reflects the quality of your presence. Clients don’t just hear your words; they feel your intentions.

When you lead with sincerity, empathy, and a genuine desire to serve, you stop being a salesperson and start becoming a heartfelt sales professional they trust.

Selling from the Heart isn’t a strategy, it’s a commitment. A commitment to show up real, add real value, and build relationships that outlast quotas.

Wrap your sales in sincerity. Your clients will feel the gift of genuine care long after the holidays.

The Present of Courage, Saying What Needs to Be Said

The greatest present you can give a client is honesty wrapped in courage.

One of the most meaningful gifts you can give a client isn’t a discount, a proposal, or a clever pitch. It’s courage, the courage to lead with honesty when it matters most.

It's the courage to call out misalignment even when it’s uncomfortable. It's the courage to challenge poor decisions even when it risks the deal.

It's the courage to push back when something won’t work even if it costs you revenue. It's the courage to recommend against your own solution because integrity matters more than commission.

This is where trust is born. Nothing screams authenticity louder than... I don’t think this is the right move for you and here’s why.

Selling from the Heart means caring enough to tell the truth even when it’s hard.

Consistency, The Most Underrated Gift of All

The heart of a consistent professional is found in the quiet moments of follow-through, not the loud moments of the pitch.

Anyone can bring a great present once. In sales, this is the flashy demo or the high-energy first meeting. However, few bring it consistently. Selling from the Heart requires you to show up with the same level of integrity on the tenth call as you did on the first.

True consistency isn't just a schedule; it’s a commitment to your clients...

• Following through when it’s inconvenient - Integrity is measured by what you do when there is no easy path to the sale.

• Showing up when there’s no immediate upside - This is the essence of a heart-centered relationship, providing meaningful value and support even when a commission check isn't on the line.

• Keeping promises, especially the small ones - Trust is not built in a day; it is built in the small ones, the tiny commitments that prove you're listening and that you care.

Anyone can bring a great present once, but few bring it consistently.

Ask yourself: Am I providing a present today that I am willing to sustain for the next year?

If you're fueled by the heart, you aren't looking for a quick win; you are looking to be a constant, reliable presence in your client's life.

Consistency is how you turn a transaction into a transformation.

Trust with your clients' compounds, so does neglect.

Your Mirror Moments and Gut Check

As you're peeking out into 2026, make a commitment to yourself that before your client interactions, you will ask yourself...

What insight am I bringing that helps my clients win?

How am I making my clients life easier, not mine?

What question could I ask that no one else is asking?

How am I reinforcing trust in this moment?

If you can’t answer those questions clearly, you’re probably bringing socks to your clients, and nobody remembers socks.

The Ultimate Question

As we bring our time together to an end, we find ourselves back at the original question... What kind of presents are you bringing to your clients?

Clients don’t grow relationships with...

• Vendors

• Pitch artists

• Empty suits

They grow relationships with...

• Trusted business advisors

• Courageous heart-centered professionals

• Authentic professionals who care deeply about their success

When you bring those presents, sales growth becomes a byproduct, not the goal.

When you sell from the heart you focus on serving, and when you focus on serving, more revenue follows.

Now that’s a gift worth giving, wouldn't you agree?

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.