Great salespeople know they have a personal brand separate from the products and services they sell. They understand their brand is the basis for developing and growing relationships with their clients. Whether or not you intentionally create your brand you are one in the eyes of your customers. So as long as you will be branded, create one yourself.
Great Salespeople Have A Recognized Personal Brand
Image by John Hain from Pixabay
What Is A Personal Brand?
When you see a red soda can with white lettering most likely you will identify it as a product of a particular company. And you will assign certain attributes to the product. Seeing a three-point star in a circle on the front of an automobile you form an opinion about the vehicle and maybe the driver. Similarly others you meet see certain characteristics in you. Physical appearance, cadence and resonance of your voice, attitude, emotional strength, knowledge and other recognizable traits taken together create your personal brand.
Why Is It Important?
People buy from salespeople they like, respect and trust. As humans we quickly judge one another looking for those characteristics. Great salespeople know their brand helps prospects like them. Which brings an opportunity to build trust and respect. Think of the salesperson who begins and ends every conversation about themselves and their “fantastic” product. Does that characteristic of their brand endear them to the prospect? How about the salesperson who sits and listens intently to the prospect describe the problem that keeps them awake at night? Being perceived as more interested in the needs and wants of the customer is valuable characteristic of the personal brand.
How To Create A Personal Brand
Well some parts of it you are born with. Your parents contributed to your gene pool to determine your physical characteristics. True you can affect them by lifestyle choices but mostly they are set. What you can change is your mental attitude, daily activities and behaviors which are reflected in your brand. Are you kind? Always prompt? Follow through on commitments? Knowledgeable about the issue being discussed? Dressed appropriately? And any other of the long list of your attitudes and behaviors. All of these characteristics about you create your brand. Put another way they affect how people think about you. Great salespeople continually polish their personal brand.
Take A Personal Brand Inventory
Think about how your customers perceive you in these categories:
- Will you keep your commitments? Are you truthful?
- How do you seek to understand your customer’s needs and wants? Do you ask good questions and actively listen?
- Are you making assumptions rather than seeking the facts?
- Do you always do your best regardless of the circumstances?
John Ruskin in the late 1800’s said: “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.” So great salespeople pay attention to your personal brand and work hard to create a quality impression of yourself.
What You Can Do Right Now For Your Personal Brand
- Recognize you have a personal brand
- Consider the elements of your brand
- Determine those elements which need change
- Set about upgrading your personal brand
To learn more sales secrets see Chapter Six, Characteristics of Successful Salespeople, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales encouragement, join our FREE Sales Club! “See” you next week.
Good selling!
Don Crawford