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Selling With Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud
Since Selling with Noble Purpose was originally released in 2012, McLeod has spoken to thousands of salespeople and worked with over 100 companies. The firms who have operationalized Selling with Noble Purpose have grown revenue, improved retention, and beaten formidable competitors to win their markets. The second edition of Selling with Noble Purpose is their story. It draws from the latest data, case studies, and psychological research to prove that Selling with Noble Purpose drives companies' revenue, makes employees happier, and explores how the business imperative of "purpose" has changed and transformed companies over the past eight years.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published November 21, 2012
69 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Earle McLeod
11 books15 followersLisa 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."
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 12, 2024
Last school book I’ll ever read…wild.
Good points, sorta repetitive at times
Good points, sorta repetitive at times
August 10, 2020
I bought this book 6 years ago and barely got into it. Apparently that was the wrong time in my life. I'm so glad I revisited this book. It's excellent. The author puts into words exactly what I've been leaning toward. It does take a certain frame of reference to be ready for a new concept. I clearly wasn't ready for a new concept when I bought the book and tried reading it the first time. Highly recommended for anyone in sales, marketing, or leadership. It's so easy to disconnect the stated purpose of a company from the perceived purpose of a company. Easy for leadership to assume everyone knows the purpose.
November 29, 2021
I do not know much about sales. To be honest I think most of the sales people I have met are as this book describes - transactional.
As I read the book I realized those that made me want to buy really understood the idea of Noble Purpose. I do not mean sale that came to the office and made pitches. I mean anything significant I’ve ever purchased.
Sales and selling drive our economy and our lives. It as noble a profession as there is, but having a Noble Purpose really seems smart to me.
Excellent book, easy to grasp concepts and strategies to help adopt and adapt.
As I read the book I realized those that made me want to buy really understood the idea of Noble Purpose. I do not mean sale that came to the office and made pitches. I mean anything significant I’ve ever purchased.
Sales and selling drive our economy and our lives. It as noble a profession as there is, but having a Noble Purpose really seems smart to me.
Excellent book, easy to grasp concepts and strategies to help adopt and adapt.
October 21, 2022
Lots of great information and perspective one a broad variety of sales topics such as prospecting, referrals, negotiations, values and purpose statements, company direction, sales meetings, . . .
My only real complaint with the book was too broad in its application. Speaking to salesman, sales managers, business owners, the audience is too broad which hurts the book.
I totally believe in this purpose driven selling concept I think it's well explained in the book and I would be worthwhile for anyone involved in sales to read.
My only real complaint with the book was too broad in its application. Speaking to salesman, sales managers, business owners, the audience is too broad which hurts the book.
I totally believe in this purpose driven selling concept I think it's well explained in the book and I would be worthwhile for anyone involved in sales to read.
March 18, 2023
My second favorite sales book, right after Ninja Selling. Might be a tie. When I first started reading sales books, I searched everywhere for "relational sales" approaches. I found a lot of information on building rapport, showing up, service, and different approaches, but nothing like this: selling shouldn't be the goal. There is a higher purpose, and it is behind every good sales person who believes in their purpose beyond a produce or service. This is it.
January 11, 2019
This book was recommended to me by my sales trainer at the car dealership. He teaches that we need to have a purpose more than feeding our families. We need to focus on our customers and what they need. This book facilitates that understanding. There are a few chapters more geared towards managment but everyone can benefit from understanding why they need to work with a noble purpose.
July 27, 2021
As someone who has deeply embedded negative assumptions about sales and the roles of sales people, I found this book to be very helpful. It is also the rare non-fiction business book that doesn't repeat itself 100 times throughout the book. Each chapter is targeted to a particular application or challenge. I think I'll continue to reference chapters as I need support or inspiration.
October 27, 2017
Wow! Finally sales/life advice you can unabashedly embrace. Practical yet moving, emotionally.
March 26, 2021
قرأته بالعربي . كتاب ممتاز يعلم القيم في التجارة بكل أنواعها، لأن التجارة بلا قيم وهدف واضح يشترك فيه كل أعضاء المؤسسة، تسبب الإحباط
June 13, 2021
⚡Best sales book I know of. I read the updated 2020 version.
February 13, 2022
Helps put the souls back in sales.
April 14, 2022
I'm one of those people who tends to think sales is "yucky", this book definitely changed my mind.
September 11, 2023
I am leading a change initiative at my company, and part of this change includes reconnecting our organization with our noble purpose. I was so inspired by Lisa’s TED Talk on Working with Purpose, that I considered hiring her as a consultant. I was not given funding to hire her, but I believe in the principles she lays out in this book so much that I’m trying to implement what I can on my own. Every day I ask myself « what would Lisa do? »
January 14, 2022
Chapter 1
* All of the questions are about when and how we're going to collect revenue from the customer. Very few managers ask about the impact the sale will have on the customer's business or life.
* In many companies, there is a disconnect: companies expect their salespeople to focus on the customers' needs, but all internal conversations are about revenue.
* When managers get caught up inside the pressure cooker of daily business, their desire to improve the customer's life is eclipsed by quotes, quarterly numbers, and daily sales reports. This results in salespeople who don't have any sense of a higher purpose, other than "making the numbers."
* Customers can tell the difference between the salespeople who care about them and those who care about their bonuses. If a customer is just a number to you, you become just a number to the customer.
* Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) is about how you make a difference in the life of the customer, why you are in the business in the first place. NSP should drive every decision you make and every action you take. You are not in the business to make profit – profit is the result of your work, not the sole purpose of your efforts.
* Humans, by their nature, seek purpose. Top-performing salespeople are driven by purpose, but the company leadership never discusses purpose.
* If your salespeople are not passionate about the impact you make on customers' lives, they will not have a sense of strong affiliation with your organisation and they would not be able to differentiate you from the competitors – their work is just a job.
Chapter 2
* Beyond basic needs such as food and shelter, human beings have two core emotional needs: connection and meaning. We want to be connected to other people, and we want to know that what we're doing matters to someone. Our deepest desire is to make a difference in the world, and our darkest fear is that we don't.
* People are desperate to be part of something bigger than themselves. When you know that your job matters to people, you come alive.
* An NSP answers three questions:
1. What impact do you and your company have on customers?
2. How are you different from the competition?
3. On your best day, what do you love about your job?
An ideal NSP is not full of bravado or bluster; it's not something you hope to do. It's something you can do right now. It doesn't require explaining or defending, because it taps into what you're already doing and what you want to do more of.
* Mission and vision statements can be compelling, but more often than not, they are internally focused.
* It's not what you sell, it's what you stand for: PURPOSE is the difference you're trying to make. MISSION is how you do it. VISION is how you see the world after you've done your purpose and mission.
* Ask yourself: "When did I make a difference to a customer?"
Chapter 3
* When leaders believe that their sole purpose is to produce profit, they view their customers are anonymous targets and prospects whose sole purpose is to help the company make money.
* They way leaders talk about customers matters. When you emphasise short-term profit over long-term customer satisfaction, employees get the message loud and clear. The internal conversation becomes the external conversation. It shows up in how your people treat your customers.
* All of the questions are about when and how we're going to collect revenue from the customer. Very few managers ask about the impact the sale will have on the customer's business or life.
* In many companies, there is a disconnect: companies expect their salespeople to focus on the customers' needs, but all internal conversations are about revenue.
* When managers get caught up inside the pressure cooker of daily business, their desire to improve the customer's life is eclipsed by quotes, quarterly numbers, and daily sales reports. This results in salespeople who don't have any sense of a higher purpose, other than "making the numbers."
* Customers can tell the difference between the salespeople who care about them and those who care about their bonuses. If a customer is just a number to you, you become just a number to the customer.
* Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) is about how you make a difference in the life of the customer, why you are in the business in the first place. NSP should drive every decision you make and every action you take. You are not in the business to make profit – profit is the result of your work, not the sole purpose of your efforts.
* Humans, by their nature, seek purpose. Top-performing salespeople are driven by purpose, but the company leadership never discusses purpose.
* If your salespeople are not passionate about the impact you make on customers' lives, they will not have a sense of strong affiliation with your organisation and they would not be able to differentiate you from the competitors – their work is just a job.
Chapter 2
* Beyond basic needs such as food and shelter, human beings have two core emotional needs: connection and meaning. We want to be connected to other people, and we want to know that what we're doing matters to someone. Our deepest desire is to make a difference in the world, and our darkest fear is that we don't.
* People are desperate to be part of something bigger than themselves. When you know that your job matters to people, you come alive.
* An NSP answers three questions:
1. What impact do you and your company have on customers?
2. How are you different from the competition?
3. On your best day, what do you love about your job?
An ideal NSP is not full of bravado or bluster; it's not something you hope to do. It's something you can do right now. It doesn't require explaining or defending, because it taps into what you're already doing and what you want to do more of.
* Mission and vision statements can be compelling, but more often than not, they are internally focused.
* It's not what you sell, it's what you stand for: PURPOSE is the difference you're trying to make. MISSION is how you do it. VISION is how you see the world after you've done your purpose and mission.
* Ask yourself: "When did I make a difference to a customer?"
Chapter 3
* When leaders believe that their sole purpose is to produce profit, they view their customers are anonymous targets and prospects whose sole purpose is to help the company make money.
* They way leaders talk about customers matters. When you emphasise short-term profit over long-term customer satisfaction, employees get the message loud and clear. The internal conversation becomes the external conversation. It shows up in how your people treat your customers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2016
The way I became a fan of Lisa was backwards from the way I usually become a fan of any writter. Usually, I hear about a book, read its reviews, buy the book, read the book, become a fan, and follow the author and her work. By the time I got Lisa's book in my hands for the first time, I had already had a very interesting two hour conversation with her, I had somebody take a picture of me with her, listened to her lecture, and gotten my copy of the book autographed by her. By then, I was already a fan, and I hadn't even read her book yet. So with great anticipation, I rewrote my "books to read" list, pushed the first 3 down the list, squeezed Selling With Noble Purpose in the top slot, and started to read it right away.
I wasn't disappointed at all. The book explains that sales people that have a nobler purpose other than just make money, usually do better, and even make more money, than those who don't. That nobler purpose could be saving lives, helping others to be more productive, or simply caring for your customer more than you care about making the sale. She calls it Noble Selling Purpose, or NSP.
She tells detailed stories about succesful sales people that have their own NSPs, and gives detailed instructions on how to write, build and practice you own NSP. This books serves well for people who want to discover their own NSP, as well as for managers and corporations that want to define an NSP for their sales force.
As Daniel Pink sugested in his book Selling is Human, and Darren Hardy repeatedly talked about in his editorials in Success Magazine, like it or not, we are all in sales. So even if you job title does not say "Sales", you are constantly trying to explain about your point of view, trying to convinve others, and selling yourself. Children try many different methods to convince their parents to have their way, and even parents have to explain to their children why they won't. You are constantly selling yourself, if not any other product or service. And I agree with Lisa, that you would be better off having a nobler porpuse other than getting your way when you do.
I highly recomend this book to everyone, and can't wait to read Lisa's next book, Leading With Noble Purpose.
I wasn't disappointed at all. The book explains that sales people that have a nobler purpose other than just make money, usually do better, and even make more money, than those who don't. That nobler purpose could be saving lives, helping others to be more productive, or simply caring for your customer more than you care about making the sale. She calls it Noble Selling Purpose, or NSP.
She tells detailed stories about succesful sales people that have their own NSPs, and gives detailed instructions on how to write, build and practice you own NSP. This books serves well for people who want to discover their own NSP, as well as for managers and corporations that want to define an NSP for their sales force.
As Daniel Pink sugested in his book Selling is Human, and Darren Hardy repeatedly talked about in his editorials in Success Magazine, like it or not, we are all in sales. So even if you job title does not say "Sales", you are constantly trying to explain about your point of view, trying to convinve others, and selling yourself. Children try many different methods to convince their parents to have their way, and even parents have to explain to their children why they won't. You are constantly selling yourself, if not any other product or service. And I agree with Lisa, that you would be better off having a nobler porpuse other than getting your way when you do.
I highly recomend this book to everyone, and can't wait to read Lisa's next book, Leading With Noble Purpose.
August 14, 2013
I really loved this book! As a sales person, I always want to know that what I do makes a difference for my clients. This books shows how this way of thinking is better not only for your clients, but for you and your organization as well. Interestingly, though, I almost didn't read it because the title made me think it would be preachy or 'holier-than-thou', but it was far from it. Lisa Earle McLeod really emphasizes that anything we do can be of benefit to another, if we approach it in the right way with a purpose of mutual benefit. An excellent book to listen to on audiobook. The author reads it and does a terrific job.
April 13, 2015
I like the core message that a great sales team ensures they're making a difference and reinforcing purpose leads to more success and fulfillment. This is a good starting point for companies that have lost such perspective or never had it. I don't find this ground breaking. I've learned the value of framing work around purpose and preached many of her messages to sales staff years before reading this book. I do think this book helped clarify and put in words some of this. I think the book could've spent less time selling this idea and more time giving more examples or tips to develop or choose between these purpose statements.
May 6, 2013
I really liked the premise of this book . . . businesses, sales reps, and people in general are successful when they are clear about and linked to their "Noble Purpose." I listened to this book via audible. I liked it well enough that I will likely both re-listen to the book and purchase the book to mark up and annotate. The author makes the argument that most people really want to make a positive difference in the world. I will add more to this review as I continue to think about the material.
January 9, 2014
In spite of its grand title, the book is actually a grounded text that uses some pretty compelling evidence to demonstrate 1. That we all want to make a difference and 2. That we are more effective and more successful in the long-term when we do 'the right thing'. It skilfully and convincingly challenges the (IMO) outdated view that sales professionals are all 'coin operated' using real-life examples many of which the author has been directly involved with. Well-written too.
March 23, 2014
I wish I had written this book. Lisa puts into words what I've historically seen... great salespeople aren't just doing it for the quota. They have some special sauce or magic, and that magic is in their noble purpose. Great book, and it's out at time when people are hungry for a deeper meaning in the jobs that they do. I'll be recommending this book to a number of executives and sales leaders.
January 15, 2015
For anyone that is in sales or sales management, this book does a phenomenal job of dispelling the poor salesmanship practices that we have all experienced in our lives. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is in the business of helping sell an idea, a product or anything. Emphasize the customer and their needs... Huh! What a noble concept!
January 27, 2014
Lisa shares ideas that will transform not only the sales force, but the whole organization. I especially love the idea of incorporating internal case studies to help the whole sales organization leverage sales successes.
October 24, 2014
The book is a bit long-winded (for a short page count) and the last chapters seem add-on's, but the basic premise and steps for implementing the idea are solid. Focus on the difference your product makes for your customers and what your customer actually needs rather than on profits.
July 29, 2015
Great read for anyone in sales, and anyone else as well. Having a noble purpose for your company helps your team feel like there is meaning in what they do. Good to read alongside The Challenger Sale and SNAP Selling.
August 29, 2019
Highly recommended
This book has easy to apply practical applications and an emotional punch that makes it a great read. It was on my list for two years and my only regret is that I didn’t get to it sooner.
This book has easy to apply practical applications and an emotional punch that makes it a great read. It was on my list for two years and my only regret is that I didn’t get to it sooner.
August 27, 2016
If only a little more salesman adapted this strategy...
January 20, 2019
Good, inspiring!
Good tool for sales team and entrepreneurs!
Practical guide with examples and materials
Useful to deploy the purpose definition very soon.
Good tool for sales team and entrepreneurs!
Practical guide with examples and materials
Useful to deploy the purpose definition very soon.
April 27, 2017
There are some good pages to remind me of some sales techniques.
Read
September 12, 2018So, I didn't actually finish the book. I heard an interview of the lady who wrote it and picked it up used because I was interested. You really don't need to read more than the title to get what the message of the book is. And it's a great message. If you don't have purpose you don't have any business selling stuff to people and you certainly can't be successful at it.
She walks you through why purpose is essential for companies. I fully agree with this premise. Not only in sales but in any business and in life. Purpose is the fire that gets us going and allows us to internalize goals in all aspects of life. That being said, purpose is just one aspect of a successful sales team.
Then she gets tactical with how to find and verbalizes your purpose and how to work it into your selling and then I got bored.
So - I may come back to it, but I need something right now that holds my attention better.
Chris Russell June - 2108
She walks you through why purpose is essential for companies. I fully agree with this premise. Not only in sales but in any business and in life. Purpose is the fire that gets us going and allows us to internalize goals in all aspects of life. That being said, purpose is just one aspect of a successful sales team.
Then she gets tactical with how to find and verbalizes your purpose and how to work it into your selling and then I got bored.
So - I may come back to it, but I need something right now that holds my attention better.
Chris Russell June - 2108
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