“If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.” – Zig Ziglar
The Importance of Personal Branding in Sales
As B2B sales professionals who represent companies, we, by default, tend to become associated with the company’s brand (makes sense). I call this personal branding by association. Being the brand ambassador is a very large and important task for the B2B salesperson, but despite the obvious viewpoint that you are the company personified, we also need to become very clear that we are distinctly separate. A company within a company. The brand of the company is very important…yes, but the brand of the sales professional; your personal brand is exponentially more vital to your long-term career success.
Companies have brands; they often spend time, energy, and money (sometimes millions) developing them. Their brand may take a stand around things like quality, price, fun, selection, or fashion to name a few. The larger the company, the higher the likelihood they have developed a detailed brand identity. We all have brands we love for various reasons. Some that I enjoy are Apple, Lululemon, Amazon, Costco and for various reasons such as product quality, innovation, and selection. I am confident you have a few favorite brands of your own.
I mention company brands to give us a baseline understanding that we all associate with certain brands, and we do so because we perceive that the company aligns with certain values we have in common. We have thoughts and associated feelings about the companies we love. We might see them as a market leader in technology, a promoter of a healthy lifestyle, or a venue for the best price and selection. From these thoughts, we will connect to their associated emotions. The good feelings like the pride of owning some cutting-edge technology, joining in a health revolution or just getting a good and timely deal.
“If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” – Howard Schultz
The Impact of Personal Branding on Career Success
Just like companies, people carry with them a personal brand. When we think about various important people in our lives, we also have thoughts about them; trustworthy, smart, caring, hardworking, or on the flip side, forgetful, disorganized, deceitful, and lazy. From the various thoughts, we have associated feelings that form our overall opinion (and gut feeling) about those people.
When thinking about the best ways to understand the personal brand, one of my favorite definitions from Jeff Bezos comes to mind. “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” Let that sink in for a moment. This quote is not only true for companies but also holds true for people. Take a moment and think about why what people say about you when you are not around holds key importance in your sales professional career.
When we first start out in our sales career, our personal brand is likely the least of our concerns as we mad scramble to find our way around the company, its products, and the customers. The company itself will likely already have a brand in the hearts and minds of its customers and we are just along for the ride. You might get lucky and represent a company with core values similar to your own, helping business and personal brands to line up and naturally feed one another, but that is rarely the real-world reality.
When I started my career in B2B sales the first company I represented was not a top-tier company; in fact, it was the worst in the industry. As a newly minted B2B sales representative, I was ready to make my mark. As I energetically traveled around the territory introducing myself, the response I received was…you seem good, but the company you represent kinda sucks.
Their brand was clearly tarnished by years of mismanagement, poor service, and very high turnover. On the flip side, my brand was a blank slate, totally undefined. It could truly be anything. I find human nature in most endeavors leads us down the path of least resistance. The temptation to hook our brand wagon to the company we represent is extremely hard to resist. If the first company, you land with is less than stellar it can be a slippery slope to a failed career.
After approximately six months of taking bullets of criticism and feeling like the laughingstock of the industry, I had a decision to make. Do I pack it in and decide this is not the career for me, or do I dig in and find ways to succeed within a flawed system (all companies have challenges). I decided to dig in by choosing to experience a shift in perspective. Instead of seeing my low-ranking company as something to work against, I decided to see them as my partner in success. I could not control the company, but I could control myself and at that moment I decided I would be the best representative in my industry.
My personal company within a corporate company started to take shape as I held myself to the highest standard. From the perspective of focusing on finding the best within myself, I also started seeing the key strengths and opportunities in the company I represented. In holding myself to a higher standard, those around me, from company management to customers, started to do the same.
My territory’s sales started to build and not only went from last to first in the branch but last to first in the entire company in many key categories. I found many opportunities in adversity and within a short period of time earned the respect of my customers, my managers, and even my competitors, not because the company had changed, but because I held myself to the highest standards of communication, professionalism, and follow up and thus built a personal brand of integrity and collaboration. The company did not change, I did.
As I built my personal brand on the foundation of conversation, presentation, and transaction, I started to strongly influence, even control what others were saying about me when I was not in the room. So much so that about six years later, the largest and most prestigious company in the industry reached out and asked me to be one of their directors. By accepting this position, I launched my career into the stratosphere and became one of the youngest executives in one of the largest companies in the North American marketplace.
As professional salespeople, we are always companies within a company. Keep this in the forefront of your mind. My decision to be the best in my industry regardless of circumstances beyond my control, set my path for career success that was truly beyond my imagination at the time. It was the focus on my personal brand, the only thing I truly have control of, that kept me grounded when times get very tough (and they always do).
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett
Hopefully, you now understand the key importance of your personal brand for your career success as a sales professional, so what is yours?
I was young and my default position was to be the best, but a personal brand is more nuanced than that. Being the best can mean very different things to many people. To some it could mean top sales volume at any cost, to others, it might mean to be a proficient and clear communicator, and to some, it could mean providing the best service. In my opinion all of these (and many others) could be correct when describing the best of the best of sales professionals.
In my evolution as a B2B sales professional what “being the best” means to me is to conduct myself with high integrity and to be a trusted collaborator of mutual success. The core values of integrity and collaboration are what anchored my brand and still influence my decisions daily.
As I stated earlier, we love companies with brands that share our personal values, so it should be no surprise that the same holds true for the personal brands of salespeople and their current and potential customers. By living your core values, you will attract like-minded people to your words and actions.
Defining Your Personal Brand
Enough about me. Let’s take a moment to discover your core values that will significantly inform your personal brand and influence how your customers (and others) will see you and speak about you when you are not around. Some ideas about your core values may already be starting to take shape in your mind but let me give you a few to help get your started.
Pick only two from the list provided or come up with two on your own. I know it will be tempting to pick ten, as we all want to embody all the good values, but the truth is that by only picking two, they will be easy to remember, and you will use them as key guideposts when making almost all daily decisions.
Because professionals tend to stay with a company for only five years on average, you will very likely work for multiple companies during your sales career. What will always travel with you consistently, company after company, will be your personal brand. Your personal brand, beyond almost any other professional achievement, will be one of your most powerful assets in your sales toolbox. Build it consciously and consistently with the same reverence given to the most powerful brand in the world and it will pay dividends time and time again. Treat it with the respect it deserves, as it will make you, or in some cases, break you.
“You too are a brand. Whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not. – Mark Eckō
Your core values ____________________ + ______________________
Dave Fyfe
Business Success Coach and Strategist
Comments