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B2B Sales

The power of personal branding

What’s the power of personal branding for you?

Most sales people don’t realize is that they have now become commodities – most buyers think all sales people are the same, and that makes you replaceable. However, by creating a unique personal brand, you can differentiate yourself from the crowd, positioning yourself as someone with unique value to offer your buyers and your currnet and future employers. 

The future is for those sales professionals who can differentiate themselves with a personal brand that sets them apart from all of the other sales people out there, and who are able to convey a unique promise of value. The future is for digitally savvy sales people who use all the channels they can to connect with their target customers, share unique insights and establish their position as a key person of influence in their industry. 

Transcript

What’s the Power of Personal Branding for you?

That will depend on what you’re trying to achieve.

For me it has been to make prospecting easier – to generate warm leads.

I thought you might like to know how I’ve done this?

I’ve engaged with thousands of potential clients via my personal branding activity and built the beginnings of a trusted relationship with many of these.

As an example – I have never met or spoken to a large proportion of the thousands I am connected with on LinkedIn. Most are in my target market because I’ve been very careful to connect with the right people.

A large proportion of my LinkedIn connections feel they know me – despite not having met me.  They have some understanding of the value I can create for them.I regularly share thought provoking content – content that is relevant to their job or business.  In some cases they have read my comments in a LinkedIn group – particularly in the one that I manage – the Strategic Selling group.

I try to give – without expecting anything in return. I never sell on social media.

Because I have connected and shared high quality content of specific and relevant value – many have developed a level of trust in my ‘promise of value’. This is validated in the reaction I get – when I call a connected person for the first time  – to set up a meeting – and generally after identifying a trigger event.

Typically I get a response something like:  “Great to hear from you John – yes let’s meet” – and that’s often before I have explained why I want a meeting.

That’s the power of Personal Branding for me.

What is it for you?