“He who has control of the conversation is the one who is listening. Listening is the ultimate posture of authority.”

Chris Voss

This quote speaks directly to the importance of sales posturing and first impression management.

There are way too many salespeople walking into conversations believing they need to establish authority by talking more, demonstrating expertise, or controlling the agenda.

The reality is that true authority is established long before a salesperson ever delivers a so-called pitch, it begins with how they show up.

Clients and prospects are forming opinions about salespeople within the first few moments of an interaction. They're evaluating not just what a salesperson says, but how they say it, how they carry themselves, and whether their intentions feel genuine.

I believe your sales posture communicates your intentions before your words ever do.

A salesperson who enters a conversation with confidence, humility, curiosity, and a genuine desire to understand creates an entirely different first impression than someone who enters trying to prove how much they know.

The most powerful sales posturing isn't about appearing important, it's about making the buyer feel important.

When salespeople listen with intention, ask thoughtful questions, and resist the urge to dominate the conversation, they demonstrate a level of confidence that doesn't need to announce itself.

They establish their credibility through curiosity, authority through understanding, and trust through authenticity.

This is the essence of Selling From the Heart.

Before your next sales conversation, ask yourself...

• Am I entering this conversation to impress or to understand?

• Does my posture communicate confidence without arrogance?

• Am I more focused on what I want to say or what I need to learn?

• Will the buyer leave feeling that I listened to them or simply talked at them?

Authority isn't established by taking control of the conversation. It's earned by demonstrating that you understand the person you're having it with.

This is how first impressions become lasting relationships, and this is what you learn in our journey together.

To prime the reflection pump... Are you forgettable or worth remembering?

If five of your competitors walked into your client's business this week, what would make you stand out?

Being good at what you sell doesn't automatically make you someone clients want to listen to.

Objective Management Group (OMG) defines Sales Posturing around a salesperson's ability to make a strong first impression, differentiate themselves from competitors, and be memorable to a prospect.

It's not about being flashy, charismatic, or pretending to be someone you're not. It's about how you position yourself, how you engage people, and whether you give clients a reason to invest their time in a conversation with you.

Being another nice salesperson in a massively crowded sales space isn't enough, you must become someone worth remembering.

The Problem, Too Many Salespeople Sound the Same

• We offer great service

• We have competitive pricing

• We're committed to your success

I know inside you're laughing, as it sounds all too familiar, right? And your competitors are saying the same things.

As an example, consider a foodservice salesperson walking into a restaurant and asking... Do you need anything today?

The interaction may be friendly, but has the salesperson created any meaningful value?

Have they demonstrated an understanding of food costs, labor pressures, menu profitability, or the restaurant owner's business goals?

Now imagine opening with this question... With food costs and labor putting pressure on restaurant margins, where are you seeing the biggest opportunity to improve profitability?

This simple adjustment changes the entire conversation and quite frankly, the outcome.

This is the power of sales posturing, it creates an opportunity to be seen differently before a product is ever discussed.

Your mirror moment... If you removed your company name and product catalog, what would make a client choose to spend time with you?

Why OMG's Sales Posturing Competency Deserves Attention

OMG assesses sales-specific competencies rather than relying solely on personality or general behavioral profiles. Its posturing assessment examines attributes that can influence the impression a salesperson makes and their ability to engage prospects effectively.

Among the attributes highlighted in OMG's sample assessments are...

• Good self-image

• Quickly develops rapport

• Sales optimism

• Sales assertiveness

• Sales empathy

• Appropriate amount of patience

• Healthy skepticism

• Will build trust

These attributes work together, and none is a substitute for the others.

A salesperson can be optimistic but lack assertiveness. Another can be empathetic but so eager to preserve the relationship that they avoid asking difficult questions.

Someone else can have a strong self-image but fail to develop rapport quickly because they spend too much time talking about themselves.

This is why we need to look beyond whether a salesperson is friendly, experienced, or confident.

The real question is whether their behaviors create the conditions for productive business conversations.

OMG's assessment framework provides a useful way to examine those behaviors. Its publicly available sample reports illustrate individual competency results, but they're not population-wide benchmarks.

We shouldn't confuse a sample candidate's score with the percentage of all salespeople who possess a particular attribute.

Sales effectiveness is made up of individual competencies, and the way you position yourself is one of the pieces worth examining.

You might have excellent product knowledge, you might have years of experience, you might have a large client base, but if you struggle to make a positive impression, differentiate yourself, and earn enough credibility to open a deeper conversation, how much of your capability will a prospect or client ever experience?

The Attributes That Make a Difference

OMG evaluates sales competencies that influence how salespeople engage prospects.

Sales Posturing includes attributes such as self-image, rapport, optimism, assertiveness, empathy, patience, healthy skepticism, and the ability to build trust.

These attributes work together, and they influence not only the impression you make but also whether you can turn that impression into a meaningful business conversation.

1. Self-image and confidence

Do you believe you have something valuable to contribute, or are you simply hoping the customer gives you a chance?

Salespeople who see themselves as order takers often behave like order takers. They hesitate to challenge assumptions, avoid difficult questions, and compete primarily on price.

Confidence doesn't mean arrogance, it means believing you can help while respecting the customer's knowledge and experience.

2. Rapport and empathy

Rapport isn't just small talk, remembering birthdays, or being friendly, it's creating enough genuine connection for a customer to feel understood and willing to engage.

Empathy means understanding the customer's reality without automatically accepting every objection as the end of the conversation.

Instead of immediately accepting, We can't afford to make changes, you might ask, Is the bigger concern the cost of making a change or the uncertainty about the return?

You demonstrate that you truly care while opening the door to a more meaningful business discussion.

3. Assertiveness and healthy skepticism

Way too many salespeople prioritize being liked over being useful.

They accept vague answers, avoid challenging customers, and mistake agreement for relationship building.

Assertiveness means having the courage to ask thoughtful questions, while healthy skepticism means recognizing that the first answer isn't always the complete answer.

When a prospect says they're happy with their current supplier, don't immediately retreat.

Simply respond by saying, That's great to hear. I'm just curious, if you could make one slight improvement, one thing about the current arrangement, what might that be?"

You're not attacking the competition, you're exploring whether an opportunity even exists.

4. Optimism and patience

Customers need salespeople who bring constructive energy without ignoring reality. They also need professionals who respect their decision-making process without allowing opportunities to drift indefinitely.

Effective patience isn't passivity, and optimism isn't pretending everything is perfect.

Both require the discipline to remain constructive, ask for clarity, and help customers move forward when the time is right.

Your mirror moment... Are you confident enough to challenge a customer respectfully, empathetic enough to understand their concerns, and disciplined enough to keep a meaningful conversation moving?

What Does the OMG Research Tell the Sales Community?

All too often, sales leaders focus on revenue, pipeline, calls, conversion rates, and quota attainment. Albeit, those metrics matter, but they don't always reveal the behaviors behind the results.

OMG's 2026 Criterion Validity Study covered more than 3,000 salespeople. They reported that only 27% had strong Sales DNA, the beliefs and behavioral tendencies that influence whether salespeople consistently apply their skills under pressure.

That statistic refers to Sales DNA overall, not Sales Posturing specifically. It shouldn't be presented as the percentage of salespeople who are strong at making first impressions or differentiating themselves.

The important lesson to note, is that knowing what to do and consistently doing it are two different things.

A salesperson may understand consultative selling but still avoid difficult questions. They may know the importance of rapport but default to small talk. They may understand differentiation but continue leading with the same product pitch as everyone else.

That's why sales development must go beyond product training. Salespeople need assessment, practice, feedback, coaching, and accountability to turn knowledge into consistent behavior.

Sales leaders must ask... Are we merely demanding better numbers, or are we developing the competencies that help our people earn better conversations?

From Sales Rep to Trusted Consultant

This is where sales posturing connects directly to the Selling From the Heart Trust Formula.

• Authentic Relationships - Show genuine interest in the person and the business, not just the next transaction.

• Meaningful Value - Bring insight, perspective, and questions that help customers think differently.

• Inspirational Experience - Leave customers feeling understood, challenged constructively, and confident that progress is possible.

• Disciplined Habits - Prepare for meetings, practice your questions, follow through, and continually improve.

You don't become a trusted consultant by calling yourself one, you earn that position through the experience customers have when they work with you.

When you consistently demonstrate business understanding, ask thoughtful questions, challenge assumptions respectfully, and deliver on your promises, customers have a reason to see you differently.

My Challenge To You... Take an Honest Look in the Mirror

If a random sample of your customers were asked to describe you to another business owner, what would they say?

Would they describe you as being knowledgeable, helpful, and responsive? Would they say you bring a different business perspective?

Would they say that you understand their business? Would they say you challenge them to think differently? How about, that you help them uncover opportunities they might otherwise miss?

Or would they describe you as a nice person who sells a good product?

There's a huge ginormous difference, and that difference matters immensely.

Being nice may earn you a place in the building. Being reliable may earn you another meeting, and being competitive may earn you a transaction.

However, the combination of authenticity, meaningful value, confidence, curiosity, and disciplined follow-through can earn you something much more valuable... The opportunity to become a trusted business resource.

Here are a few mirror moments worth wrestling with...

• Do I make a strong first impression, or simply another first impression?

• Can customers clearly explain how I am different from my competitors?

• Am I confident enough to challenge their thinking?

• Do my conversations create insight, or do they simply exchange information?

• Am I practicing and improving how I show up, or assuming experience alone will make me better?

• When was the last time I deliberately practiced and improved the way I open a conversation?

For the sales leaders reading this... Are you coaching your people to make more calls and sell more products, or are you helping them become the kind of professional's customers genuinely want to engage?

You can demand more activity, bigger targets, you can introduce new technology and refine your sales process, however; if your salespeople remain indistinguishable from the competition, you're asking them to win in a crowded marketplace without addressing one of the most important ways they can stand out.

Become Worth Remembering

Over the next week, make sales posturing a deliberate area of personal development.

Before your next meeting, prepare one thoughtful business question, identify one assumption you may need to challenge, and think about the impression you want to leave.

After the meeting, reflect on whether you created a meaningful conversation or simply completed another sales call.

Practice opening conversations that demonstrate relevance, work on being assertive without being aggressive, empathetic without being passive, and confident without being arrogant.

You don't need to reinvent your personality, what you need to become is more intentional about how you position yourself, how you engage customers, and how you contribute to their success.

The goal isn't to be remembered by everyone, it's to be remembered by the right people for the right reasons.

Your customers won't measure your value by how impressive you believe you are, they'll measure it by the experience of working with you and the difference you make in their business.

When you walk away from your next customer conversation, will that customer have another salesperson to remember or a trusted consultant they want to hear from again?

This all begins with how you show up.

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.