Personal Branding in Sales
Hands up...who receives the same "wondering if you have capacity to handle 15-30 more calls a week" InMail message daily?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's daily at this point.
All the same.
All head right into the trash.
A couple weeks back I participated in a really cool AI in Sales Roundtable, and I there was one comment that really stood out to me, "all of the things in this office were purchased without a person".
Maybe it's an exaggeration. But it's possible. Amazon has made the consumption of goods mostly an automated process. A human isn't required to complete a sale, at least, not in the formal "sales" sense.
But companies still employ a LOT of sales people.
According to Statistics Canada, "Sales and services occupations accounted for nearly one-quarter (23.1%) of employment in May 2021, the largest share of total employment among all industries."
So...in Canada anyway...MOST people who are employed are in sales. And yes, the majority of that is in the retail trade, accommodation and food services industries. Historically IN-PERSON sales.
Where the complexity comes in is the online sales experience.
Now, if I walk into a Furniture Store, a sales rep can assume that I am in the market for a piece of furniture. Likewise, if I visit the website of a Furniture Retailer, I am also likely in the market. But what about on LinkedIn?
Just because I show up on LinkedIn DOESN'T mean I'm in the market for something. And it's been a HUGE hit to the sales industry for people to treat it like it does. All (almost) 800 million users get batched into the category of potential clients. And companies and reps treat us like we're all the same.
Quite honestly, it's annoying, and I'm not sure why sales leaders are still letting it happen, little lone promoting it.
Let's call it what it is...Lazy Sales.
And it makes us believe that's all sales is.
That we might as well automate it away with AI.
But that's not true.
Sales CAN be helpful. It CAN create a personal experience. It CAN even help people THINK; about what THEY need.
But only if it's aligned with who we are. As individual sales reps.
And THAT my friends, is where personal branding comes in.
Personal Branding Pillars
There are three personal branding pillars I like to talk about:
Connection
Content
Conversation
Let's explore how each of these CAN come to life in sales, if we allow them to 😉
Creating Connection
Let's start with the basics here: BEING connected on LinkedIn is NOT the same thing as someone FEELING connected to you.
And honestly, with InMail, you don't even HAVE to meet the requirement of being minimally connected in order to send a message.
Someone seeing your pitch does NOT make them connected to you. In fact, I would argue that no one will even LOOK at your pitch UNTIL they feel connected to you.
Because when someone feels connected to you, it gives them a REASON to read your message. It gives them a reason to read your content. It gives them a reason to believe your testimonial. And it gives them a reason to get on a call with you.
Connection comes FIRST.
And all of us connect in different ways.
Some people (like me), enjoy random connections. Some people (like someone I recently disconnected from) don't.
Some people like to do a lot of research first. Some people don't.
Some people like to connect on problems. Some people like to connect on the weather. Some people like to connect on their culture. Some people like to connect on a similar topic like dogs, D&D, the beach, favorite colors, etc.
And the question isn't about what does you ICP want to connect on? It's...
..WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT ON?
If you're no picking your connection activities based on what feels authentic for you, you'll NEVER build an authentic connection. Simple as that.
And you'll likely not build a dependable funnel either.
Creating Content
So many "experts" talk about content like it's the only piece of the puzzle you need to consider. But remember that thing I said just before?
CONNECTION GIVES PEOPLE A REASON TO READ YOUR CONTENT.
Just creating content doesn't mean that people will read it. With the immense amount of new content being created on a daily basis these days, if people don't have a reason to read it, they won't.
Just use your self as an example.
Now, when it comes to sales, most people leave content for Marketing. But if you, as a sales person, is supposed to be the expert that's going to show me the way to the right solution for me, how am I supposed to know that?
I might trust your company brand, but if I don't trust YOU, you can bet I'm not buying anything.
So, what are you creating that demonstrates to people you know what you're talking about? And it's definitely NOT that templated InMail message that sounds the same as every other person selling what you sell 💡
P.S. YES. Your connection message IS a piece of content that tells someone who you are. Are you treating it that way?
Creating Conversation
This is the pinnacle of sales, right? The conversation? If your current funnel requires you to get people into a conversation to buy, anything that you're doing that DOESN'T lead to a conversation DOESN'T matter.
And again, connection is the number one thing that gets you into a conversation.
YES. Even without content (although it is helpful to have it later).
And a live conversation is the number one place where people can either get behind you and what you do, or not. But they can only do that if YOU are showing up and having a conversation. Not a generic script that your sales leader, or the last sales rep wrote up.
That script WASN'T written for you. It was created to get YOU where you want to go. Even if it did work for someone else.
So, how do YOU run your conversations?
Something that I always found funny in Sales Playbooks was the amount of things I'm supposed to get out of a cold call in a single call. How am I supposed to: 1) build rapport, 2) find the decision makers, 3) understand the problem, 4) identify the budget, and 5) complete a demo in a single 15 minute call?
It's not possible.
Yet, when we create space for reps to do what THEY would do, they can use that 15 minutes (or more) to build rapport. Which gets them a second call. Which allows them to understand the problem. Which allows them to come back on call 3 with a custom demo. Which shows the prospect how we would fix their problem. Which is something they can either get behind, or not?
In our efforts to speed up the sales cycle, we make it SLOWER.
We don't give the right activities the right amount of time.
And a conversation TAKES TIME.
It's an investment. From both parties. But if you're trying to rush through and decrease YOUR investment, what do you think your prospect's going to want to do? Decrease theirs as well.
Decreasing close rates. Decreasing project sizes.
That's a trend I sure as heck don't want to follow.
When each sales rep gets to use THEIR personal brand (what they would do) to build a conversation funnel that matches the brand experience of the company, magic can happen.
But that magic only happens in the SPACE we allow for it 💡
Bringing It All Together
The best sales people - or should I say, the sales people who SELL the most - have always been, and WILL always be, the people who find THEIR way to sell YOUR thing most effectively.
That way is found with space and intention.
Which is pretty much the OPPOSITE of what most AI is selling you.
Less space. Less intention.
So sure, you can follow that trend. But where has it gotten you to date?
Sales has become one of those professions that young people enter because the job requirements are low. And then they get no training, they aren't allowed to be themselves, and then they go get a "real job".
But sales is one of the most amazing jobs on the planet when people get to feel like they're solving problems every day. Especially problems they CARE about solving.
Are you giving your sales reps the time and space to love their jobs?
If you're curious about how to ignite the personal brands of your salesforce, let's chat 😎
