Those good ol' college days... What to bring, a six or twelve pack? Case or Keg? Those BYOB quandaries. This quandary had me thinking, is it appropriate to BYOB to your own sales party? Of course it is as you should always be Building Your Own Brand.
"Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms." Simon Mainwaring
We all agree, a company's brand is one of the most important factors to its ongoing success. It's the crowning touch to corporate identity; prepared, packaged and presented in such a way to be aesthetically pleasing, recognizable and attractive to prospects along with recurring clients.
Companies are not alone in the quest for solid branding. Personal branding, the art of building a one and only brand around yourself as an individual, is just as important. Personal branding necessitates you to find a signature image, a unique voice, a recognizable standard your followers, prospects, and clients can grow to recognize.
As sales professionals, you are front and center, the face of the business. The development of your brand allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust and interaction, usually accomplished through social platforms such as LinkedIn.
People do business with people they know, like and trust. Creating, cultivating and communicating a strong personal brand on the frontline of your sales process can dramatically improve your sales conversion rates. The goal... drive more sales revenue.
The question becomes, how do you become more recognizable? How do you build your authority? How do you build becoming the subject matter expert? How do you create your following?
In a previous post "Are your salespeople providing a reason to be hired?" I encouraged management to coach and lead their sales team; guide them to create their professional brand by helping them build their credibility, trust and value through their website; their LinkedIn profile. Foster a "brand magnetized" sales culture. Creating brand magnets directly influences and can escalate your corporate brand as well.
Google has forever altered the sales profession. For it is what people find or don't find about you online as to how their opinions are formed.
Help your sales team create their unique brand and rise above the noise! Help and guide them to answer, "How do we differentiate ourselves enough that they (prospects) want to talk to us and not feel they are getting the same story they hear from every other company?"
Five creative ways sales reps can become brand magnets
1. Be your authentic self
How hard would it be to build a brand around a facade? Some do, as you would have to act a certain way, appear a certain way and even communicate a certain way. We can refer to this facade as Milli Vanilli syndrome.
Your brand must be a reflection of who you are. You must believe it. You must own it. You must know what it stands for. You must know your strengths and your weaknesses. Wear those emotions on your business sleeve.
People connect with other people. It is all about the personal connection. If you are "blowing smoke" at people what is the likelihood they will come to trust you?
Constructing your personal brand is first and foremost about developing an understanding of your true self; then sharing this out with the business world. Take off the mask. Don't be afraid of being vulnerable.
“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
― BrenÉ Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection
2. Speaking engagements
Consider looking for speaking events in your area. Local business groups or not for profit organizations provide the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise while connecting with new audiences.
This helps in developing your communication skills. If you speak in exactly the same manner others do, you will never stand out from the crowd and rise above the noise.
Think about teaching as you speak from a place of knowledge. Show you know what you're talking about, and answer questions in a way which serves your audience.
3. Write and publish articles or blogs
In a previous post, "Salespeople can right, oops I meant write" I point out writing attracts prospects and builds you up as a credible resource. Salespeople can compile lists of top questions they hear from clients and prospects during sales meetings and answer them in a blog format. Potential prospects researching for those answers online could end up finding your blog posts.
Providing educational content is one the best ways to build a brand and reputation online. As your prospects or clients look for information, they tend to go back to sources most helpful to them. If you can become a trusted source of information through your educational content, over time you'll become collectively known as a subject matter expert within your field. You can start by incorporating the section "publish a post" within your LinkedIn profile.
4. Build your Online Presence
Have you ever "Googled" yourself? Do you know how you're appearing and coming across online? With a strong, engaging online presence you can reach a wider target audience. Why is this important? Your clients and prospects are online!
Unless you have spent the last 25 years underneath a rock, a large portion of your target audience uses the internet. These days, it’s hard to find someone who does not use the internet.
As a sales professional your online presence starts with your LinkedIn profile. Positioning or repositioning your LinkedIn profile is critical as your prospect's first impression of you maybe a digital one.
If you would like my Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn, please send me an email to llevine@socialsalesacademy.net
Just as you are conducting research on your prospects, they are conducting research on you. Your LinkedIn profile is one of the first links to appear in a Google search of your name. Therefore, it is imperative your profile speaks to and provides to prospective clients you are qualified to help them. Your LinkedIn profile is a great way to promote your credibility to your prospects online before you meet with them face to face. Thus, they will be more likely to take you seriously when you begin the conversation.
Help your sales team. Provide and guide them in how to build sales credibility.
5. Promote, Promote and Promote Yourself - Network
Attention salespeople, integrating the use of social media is one huge key to sparking growth to your personal brand. Whether online or face to face promoting yourself fuels professional growth.
Attention! Building out a "rock star" LinkedIn profile and doing absolutely nothing with it is like hanging out in the broom closet at a networking event.
How you cleverly capture, converse, collaborate and connect with the executive buyer will determine your sales success in the 21st century.
Engage with other individuals in your industry, social influencers who have many connections, friends, family and even clients as these people are extremely valuable in helping you spread the word about your expertise.
Professional networking events can be a great way to meet influencers in your area, as well as within the online community. Engage in community discussions whenever you can. A great place to start is uncovering and joining industry related networking groups within LinkedIn. The more opportunities you have to meet people and talk, the better.
Your personal brand is like a garden. Once you lay the groundwork, plant the seeds, fertilize along with continuous water; you'll be in a great position to eventually reap the benefits of your hard work.
“All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” – Tom Peters in Fast Company
Maintain a positive mindset, it takes time and dedication to nurture and expand your brand creation. As you continue to develop your personal brand, stay consistent turning your routine into a daily habit. Pay close attention to how your audience responds to your educational content. Continually refine and perfect your direction until your focus becomes crystal clear.
If you enjoyed please share your comments. Look forward to connecting and starting a conversation.
Check out more at the Social Sales Academy blog site.
Please enjoy my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy
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