Selling with Noble Purpose

Selling with Noble Purpose Plot Summary

Introduction

I remember watching a sales executive walk into the room, her posture defeated and her voice weary as she confessed, "I just can't get my team motivated anymore. They're chasing numbers, but there's no fire in their eyes." This scene plays out in boardrooms and sales floors across the world every day. The relentless pursuit of quotas and metrics has left many sales professionals feeling disconnected from the deeper meaning of their work. The joy of connecting with customers and making a genuine difference has been overshadowed by spreadsheets and forecasts. What if selling could be different? What if the path to better sales performance wasn't about pushing harder for numbers, but about connecting more deeply with purpose? Through years of research and real-world application, we now understand that salespeople who are driven by a desire to improve their customers' lives consistently outperform those who focus solely on meeting quotas. The most successful sales organizations aren't just measuring transactions; they're measuring transformation – both for their customers and for their own people. When we anchor our sales approach in a noble purpose that transcends financial targets, we not only drive more revenue but also create work that makes us genuinely proud, work that lights us up from the inside and creates lasting impact in the world around us.

Chapter 1: The Sales Disconnect: Moving Beyond Quotas to Purpose

Sarah was exhausted. As the top sales representative at her biotech firm for three years running, she should have been proud of her accomplishments. Yet lately, she found herself questioning whether her work truly mattered. During a casual conversation at the Phoenix airport, she revealed something she rarely shared with colleagues. "I don't tell this to many people," she confessed, looking around as if someone might overhear her secret. "When I go on sales calls, I always think about this particular patient who approached me once during a visit to a doctor's office." Sarah described how an elderly woman had tapped her on the shoulder in a hallway and, noticing Sarah's company badge, asked if she worked for the company that made a certain medication. "Yes, ma'am," Sarah had replied. "I just want to thank you," the woman said. "Before my doctor prescribed your drug, I barely had enough energy to leave the house. But now I can visit my grandkids; I can get down on the floor to play with them. I can travel. So thank you. You gave me back my life." Sarah's voice softened as she finished her story. "I think about that woman every day. If it's 4:30 on a rainy Friday afternoon, other sales reps go home. I don't. I make the extra sales call because I know I'm not just pitching a product. I'm giving people their life back. That grandmother is my higher purpose." This singular conversation would become the catalyst for a groundbreaking discovery. After shadowing dozens of salespeople across the country, the researcher realized that top performers like Sarah shared something unique: they had a pronounced sense of purpose beyond just making money. They genuinely believed their work made a meaningful difference in customers' lives. When put to the test in a double-blind study, this insight proved remarkable. By identifying which sales representatives spoke about purpose during interviews, researchers could accurately predict the top performers without seeing any sales numbers. Every representative who conveyed a sense of purpose in their interviews turned out to be among the highest performers in their organization. The evidence was clear: salespeople who sold with a Noble Purpose – who truly wanted to make a difference to customers – consistently outsold those who focused primarily on quotas and revenue goals. This seemingly counterintuitive finding challenged conventional wisdom about sales motivation and revealed a powerful truth: the more you care about something beyond money, the more money you tend to make. This disconnect between what truly drives sales performance and how most organizations approach selling represents a massive opportunity. When companies shift their focus from "How can we hit our numbers?" to "How can we make a difference to our customers?" they create the conditions for authentic engagement, differentiation, and ultimately, superior results. The noble purpose becomes the North Star that guides everything from sales training to customer conversations, transforming transactional relationships into meaningful partnerships built on genuine value.

Chapter 2: Crafting Your Noble Sales Purpose: A Framework for Impact

Doug Williams, CEO of Atlantic Capital Bank, sat in his office contemplating a difficult truth. Despite founding the bank a decade earlier with the intention of creating an exceptional institution that truly cared about customers, they had gradually become just like other banks. The daily pressure to hit financial metrics had shifted their focus away from client impact, and their once-distinctive approach had become commoditized. During an extensive review involving interviews with teammates, managers, customers, and executives, a powerful insight emerged: everyone shared Williams' desire to be different, to make a meaningful impact. Working with the executive team, they crafted Atlantic Capital's Noble Sales Purpose: "We fuel prosperity." In an industry where competitors talked about building personal wealth, they chose prosperity because it communicated a more holistic commitment. The leadership team immediately began integrating this purpose into every aspect of the organization. They created purpose maps articulating their target customers, points of differentiation, and leading indicators of success. They incorporated their Noble Purpose into recruiting, hiring, onboarding, marketing, and sales behavior. Most importantly, they trained their sales team to connect with clients in a deeper, more meaningful way. Kurt Shreiner, executive VP and cofounder, observed the transformation: "We changed the way our people think. You focus on the client and helping them achieve their dreams, versus I'm going to sell another product. Our internal and external conversations are entirely different." Within a year of launching their Noble Purpose initiative, Atlantic Capital Bank's year-over-year continued operations before-tax income increased by 81%. They were voted a Best Place to Work in Atlanta based on anonymous employee surveys and were chosen as one of the Best Banks in America by American Banker Magazine. Williams himself was featured on the magazine's cover, recognized for his team's dramatic transformation. The Noble Sales Purpose framework begins with three critical discovery questions: How do you make a difference to your customers? How are you different from competitors? On your best day, what do you love about your job? These questions reveal the impact you have, your unique approach, and what personally energizes you about your work. When crafting your Noble Sales Purpose, simplicity and specificity are essential. A purpose statement should be both aspirational and concrete, articulating both your aim and your lane – the impact you aspire to have and where you intend to do it. This gives your team something meaningful to rally around while providing clear direction. The most powerful Noble Sales Purposes are both compelling and concrete. They speak to your most noble calling as a sales organization while being easy to understand and repeat. Your NSP announces your intentions to the world and drives your sales behavior. It's your organization's strategic center, pointing your team toward deeper, more meaningful dialogue with each other and with your customers.

Chapter 3: Customer Intelligence: The Critical Information You Need

James walked into the customer meeting feeling confident. As an experienced salesperson for an automated order-processing system, he knew his product could make customers 20% more efficient – a selling point he'd emphasized hundreds of times before. He'd done his homework, identifying who the buyer was, what their budget looked like, and which competitors he was up against. After uncovering this standard information, he launched into his presentation about how his solution would improve efficiency by 20%. Meanwhile, across town, Maria was preparing for a similar meeting with a different prospect. Like James, she represented a company selling automated order-processing systems with 20% efficiency improvements. But Maria's preparation looked quite different. Before her presentation, her manager had asked her about the customer's environment, goals, challenges, and what success looked like for them. Maria knew her manager would require this information, so she had conducted a more thorough discovery process, involving more players and taking more time than James had invested. When Maria delivered her presentation, she started by saying: "I know you're in a competitive market where customers focus heavily on delivery times. Your primary objective is growing market share, and slow turnaround time is costing you customers. Improving efficiency will give you a competitive advantage that will help you grow market share. If you can't improve efficiency, you're likely to lose customers. Our solution will help you win more customers because your system will be 20% more efficient." The difference was remarkable. While both salespeople were selling identical products with identical benefits, Maria created a compelling case that directly linked to the customer's high-priority goals and challenges. By understanding five critical categories of customer information – environment, goals, challenges, what success looks like, and what lack of success looks like – Maria was able to present her solution in a context that created urgency and showed specific value. Customer intelligence is the hidden obstacle that most sales teams overlook. When salespeople fail to establish a concrete link between their solution and the customer's most compelling goals and challenges, they quickly become commoditized. It's rarely the closing skills that are lacking; it's the depth of customer understanding. This deeper approach to customer intelligence requires salespeople to look beyond purchase requirements and understand the customer's complete business environment. Top performers spend more time in the fact-finding stage of the sales cycle, which reduces objections, generates urgency, strengthens relationships, and connects to value. This ultimately increases their close rate and shortens their sales cycle. The questions we ask as leaders become the questions our salespeople ask their customers. When managers focus exclusively on customer order history, contact information, and buying patterns, salespeople are much less likely to gather the customer intelligence needed to make a compelling presentation. But when managers ask about the customer's environment, goals, challenges, and what success looks like, they prompt salespeople to look for that information during discovery. By gathering robust customer intelligence across these five critical categories, salespeople can create presentations that connect their solutions to the issues customers care about most. This transforms generic pitches into compelling value propositions that resonate on both rational and emotional levels, ultimately driving more sales at better margins.

Chapter 4: Building a Purpose-Driven Culture of True Believers

When the sales team at G Adventures, the global leader in adventure travel, gathered for their presentation at a major travel conference, they knew they faced a challenge. They had just seven minutes to make an impression on a room full of the world's highest-volume travel agents. They were one of 20 vendors presenting that day, wedged between big-name tour operators, cruise lines, and hotel chains with impressive resources and elaborate presentations. The hotel group that had presented just before them had passed out champagne in fluted glasses to everyone in the audience. Instead of following the standard approach with a product-focused presentation, the G Adventures team did something radical. The VP of sales stood up, faced the room full of agents, and asked a simple question: "How many of you have ever booked a trip that changed someone's life?" Almost every person in the room raised their hand. "Instead of talking about us, let's spend the next five minutes talking about you," he continued. "Turn to the person next to you and describe the trip you booked and how it changed the life of your client." The entire room suddenly came alive with energy as agents enthusiastically shared stories about booking golden anniversary trips to the Eiffel Tower, post-cancer recovery treks through Scotland, and love-at-60 honeymoons to Bali. The same agents who had looked bored while sipping champagne just minutes earlier were now fully engaged and animated. With just two minutes of their allotted time remaining, the VP called the room back to order. "The way you feel right now is the way we want you to feel every single day. You give people memories that last a lifetime, and we don't ever want you to forget that. Our team of Global Purpose Specialists has been trained to make you feel like this every time you interact with us." He closed by saying, "Here's a video to remind you why your work matters. If you'd like to talk about discovering more passion, purpose, and happiness, come meet us at our booth." The presentation ended with a video showcasing travelers experiencing joy around the world, set to Queen's "Somebody to Love." The result was remarkable. The G Adventures booth was swamped immediately after the presentation. The team had to run to their van for more brochures and lined up sales calls for weeks to come. By activating their Noble Purpose – "We help people discover more passion, purpose, and happiness" – in the moment rather than simply proclaiming it, they created a transformational experience that resonated deeply with their audience. Building a culture of true believers requires more than just declaring a purpose; it demands consistent reinforcement through daily practices, language, artifacts, and metrics. The G Adventures team embodied this approach in everything they did, from renaming their sales representatives as "Global Purpose Specialists" to creating purpose cards that started meaningful conversations with travel agents about the impact of their work. Purpose becomes powerful when it's woven into the fabric of everyday business. Sales meetings transform when they start with customer impact stories rather than revenue reports. Recognition changes when it celebrates how a salesperson made a difference to customers rather than just highlighting their numbers. Coaching conversations shift when managers ask, "How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?" instead of simply focusing on closing techniques. A purpose-driven culture creates a shared identity that transcends individual goals or departmental silos. It gives people something meaningful to belong to and reinforces the significance of their work. When your entire organization is aligned around making a difference to customers, you create a tribe of true believers who show up differently in the marketplace – more passionate, more resilient, and ultimately, more successful.

Chapter 5: Purpose in Practice: Tools for Sales Leaders

Rachel was preparing for an important sales call with a financial services prospect. Typically, she would review her presentation, check the customer's buying history, and perhaps research their organization structure. But today, her manager Mark asked her an unexpected question: "How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?" Rachel paused, unsure how to respond. She could describe their products and services, but articulating the specific impact on this particular customer was more challenging. Mark guided her to think about the customer's environment, goals, and challenges. Together, they explored what success would look like for this customer and what failure might mean for them. By the time Rachel finished the call, she had delivered a completely different kind of presentation – one that connected their solution directly to the customer's most pressing business issues. The prospect was so impressed by Rachel's understanding of their situation that they immediately scheduled a meeting with their CEO, something that rarely happened on initial calls. This transformative approach began with a single question that changed everything: "How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?" This game-changing question shifts the focus from internal concerns about closing deals to external focus on customer impact. It's a deceptively simple question that transforms both mindset and behavior. When Fiserv, a global leader in payments and financial technology, implemented this approach with their sales enablement team, they saw immediate results. Lisa St. Germain, VP of Sales Engagement, explains: "This took our demos from product-oriented to client-oriented. With our team aligned around empowering success, we were able to transform what was once a micro-detail run-through of features to a strategic conversation about business results." Another powerful tool for sales leaders is the "you-me-you" call opening technique. Rather than launching immediately into a product pitch, salespeople start with something relevant to the customer ("you"), briefly establish their expertise ("me"), and then ask an insightful question that prompts the customer to share their perspective ("you" again). This simple framework creates more engaging conversations that position the salesperson as a trusted advisor rather than just another vendor. Customer impact stories provide another essential tool for building belief in your Noble Purpose. Unlike testimonials or case studies, these stories describe in vivid detail how your solution affected real people. When the team at Supportworks, a foundation repair company, shares stories about helping families return to mold-free homes after flooding, they create emotional connection that inspires their team to go above and beyond. One team member was so moved by their purpose of "redefining our industry" that he had the word "Redefine" tattooed on his arm. Technology can also be leveraged to humanize customers rather than reduce them to data points. By customizing CRM systems to capture more meaningful customer information, sharing impact stories via internal messaging platforms, and creating libraries of client stories for presentations, sales leaders can ensure their teams remain focused on the human beings behind the numbers. These practical tools enable sales leaders to activate their Noble Purpose in daily operations, transforming abstract concepts into concrete behaviors that drive results. By consistently reinforcing customer impact in coaching, meetings, and systems, leaders create the conditions for purpose to flourish throughout their organization.

Chapter 6: Taking Fear Off the Table: Building Resilient Teams

Kyle had been one of the top performers on his sales team for years. But today, sitting in his car outside a customer's office, he could barely breathe. His heart was pounding, his palms were sweaty, and his mind raced with worst-case scenarios. The pressure to close this deal was overwhelming – his quarterly numbers were lagging, and his manager had made it clear that his job depended on bringing in more revenue. As Kyle finally forced himself to enter the building, his fear was palpable. Throughout the meeting, he focused more on pushing for a commitment than understanding the customer's needs. He interrupted when the customer raised concerns, fearing any objection would derail the sale. When the customer hesitated on price, Kyle immediately offered a discount, afraid of losing the deal entirely. By the end of the conversation, both Kyle and the customer felt uncomfortable, and no progress had been made. This scene plays out daily across sales organizations worldwide. Fear – of missing quotas, of disappointing bosses, of failure – creates a fight-or-flight response that undermines effective selling. When salespeople are afraid, they don't show up with purpose; they show up with angst. And customers can read it instantly. Fear makes salespeople frantic when they need to be focused. It activates the amygdala – often called the "lizard brain" – which triggers primal self-preservation instincts at the expense of higher-level thinking. Salespeople who are driven by fear tend to product-pitch rather than listen, think about themselves more than the customer, worry about covering mistakes rather than fixing them, and ultimately fail to connect in meaningful ways. One sales leader at Salesforce described how he takes fear off the table: "When you look at these big revenue targets, it's easy to be afraid. You think, how am I possibly going to get this kind of revenue out of this customer list? Instead, I put my number aside and look at each potential client through the lens of a bigger purpose. I look at each customer and ask: How can I help them? How can I get creative? How can we empower them to connect with their customers in a whole new way? I list all the things we could do for them. By the time I'm through the list, I have my revenue number." Purpose gives salespeople courage to act in the face of fear. When they're focused on making a difference to customers, they become more resilient in the face of obstacles. Patrick Hodges, president and general manager for Blackbaud, says, "When a deal is going south is when salespeople start to panic and think smaller." Instead, Hodges coaches his team to think bigger during these moments, pointing them toward customer impact and their North Star of purpose. The most effective sales leaders build resilience by providing extensive training – including mindset training, sales skills, and product expertise – and by building commitment to the team and purpose through shared stories and belief-building exercises. They celebrate rebounds after setbacks, recognize persistence in the face of challenges, and continually reset their teams toward the noble work of improving customers' lives. By taking fear off the table, leaders create the psychological safety needed for salespeople to bring their best selves to every customer interaction. When people feel secure in their purpose and supported by their team, they can focus outward on serving customers rather than inward on self-protection. This shift from fear to purpose doesn't just improve sales performance – it transforms the entire experience of work.

Chapter 7: Measuring What Matters: Incentivizing Purpose, Not Just Revenue

After a record-breaking quarter, Blackbaud's sales leadership faced a dilemma. Their traditional approach would have been to reward only the top performers who had exceeded their quotas – a small percentage of the team. But Patrick Hodges, who ran a large team with many people in their first sales job, knew this "winner-takes-all" model had limitations. "As sales changes, customer relationships become even more important," Hodges observed. "You want your people to develop those skills and you want to reward them for it." He also recognized the high cost of replacing people who became discouraged when they couldn't reach the top tier. "You need to help your 50% and 70%ers to get better." Hodges implemented a tiered incentive system that rewarded progress at multiple levels. Salespeople who met preset criteria – including completion of training, validated comprehension through testing and role-plays, and baseline sales performance – could earn additional money and interim promotions within their role. This approach gave people "forward career momentum" while ensuring they were developing the customer-focused skills that would create long-term value. This approach reflects a profound understanding of human motivation. In the famous Stanford marshmallow experiment, children were offered a choice between one marshmallow immediately or two marshmallows if they could wait. The children who delayed gratification scored better on various life measures later, including better ability to handle stress and better social skills. But subsequent research revealed that the ability to delay gratification wasn't just about self-control – it was about confidence in the environment. Children from stable backgrounds where adults kept their promises were more likely to wait for the second marshmallow. The same principle applies to sales incentives. When you create an environment that rewards progress toward purpose – not just short-term results – you build confidence that playing the long game pays off. Kyle Porter, founder and CEO of SalesLoft, calls this "hitting our revenue numbers with momentum." He wants his team to reach the finish line with "more energy, more capabilities than ever before," not exhausted and depleted from a sprint focused solely on numbers. Purpose-driven organizations expand their definition of success beyond traditional sales metrics. They reward customer results, recognize interim behaviors that demonstrate purpose in action, celebrate customer retention, and honor exemplars who embody their Noble Purpose. SalesLoft publicly recognizes "Lofters" who put customers first and show bias toward action, sharing their stories on social media for friends and family to see. These organizations also understand the power of meaningful recognition. Zach Selch, principal of Global Sales Mentor, still remembers an award he received over 20 years ago – a custom golf shirt created to commemorate a record-breaking deal. Although he made a substantial commission on the sale, what he remembers most is how he felt wearing "the shirt" that marked his achievement. The physical symbol of recognition made him feel like "a freakin' rock star." Purpose-driven incentives create sustainable motivation that transcends the fleeting dopamine hit of closing a deal. By rewarding behaviors that create long-term customer value, recognizing progress at multiple levels, and celebrating purpose in action, leaders build cultures where people are motivated by something more meaningful than just hitting their numbers. This approach doesn't diminish financial incentives – purpose-driven organizations still compensate their people well for results. But they understand that people want more than money; they want to know their work matters. By aligning rewards with purpose, these organizations create the conditions for both financial success and personal fulfillment – a combination that produces remarkable results over time.

Summary

Throughout these stories and insights, we've seen a profound truth emerge: selling is not merely about transactions; it's about transformation. The most successful sales professionals and organizations are those who have discovered a Noble Purpose that transcends financial goals. They've realized that focusing on making a difference to customers doesn't diminish revenue – it dramatically increases it while simultaneously making the work more meaningful and fulfilling. This journey toward purpose-driven selling begins with a simple yet powerful shift in perspective. Rather than asking "How can we hit our numbers?" we ask "How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?" This single question changes everything – from how we gather customer intelligence to how we structure presentations, from how we coach our teams to how we celebrate success. When we orient our entire sales ecosystem around customer impact rather than internal metrics, we create the conditions for both exceptional performance and genuine pride in our work. The evidence is clear: salespeople who believe they are making a meaningful difference consistently outperform those focused solely on quotas and commissions. By implementing the frameworks, tools, and practices shared throughout these pages, we can transform not just our sales results but the very experience of selling itself. In doing so, we restore nobility to a profession that has often been misunderstood and undervalued, creating work that makes a difference to our customers, our organizations, and ultimately, to ourselves.

About Author

Loading...

Lisa Earle McLeod

Lisa Earle McLeod is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, business consultant and inspirational thought-leader. Her newest book is The Triangle of Truth: The Secret to Resolving Conflicts Large and Small (Penguin). She conducts workshops and seminars worldwide and is a sought-after keynote speaker. A repeat guest on Good Morning America, Lisa lectures internationally and lives in Atlanta. Sign-up for her free weekly newsletter at www.TriangleofTruth.com."

Read more