I know what you all are thinking… adjectives, brand, copier sales reps. Over my 28 years inside the copier channel, I have heard many colorful adjectives used to describe copier sales reps. I thought for a moment, “How can I turn this into a teaching moment?”
Adjectives can be used in a positive or negative manner to describe us as copier sales reps–adjectives such as ambitious, energetic, and talented, or on the opposite spectrum abrasive, abrupt, or tacky. Think about this for a moment as you start to build your brand as a copier sales rep.
Understanding how to brand yourself as a copier sales rep begins with uncovering your personal brand. Your personal brand is not a tagline or something you take for granted. It’s a combination of your interests, beliefs, aspirations, values, talents, and skills, along with numerous personal characteristics.
Your brand as a copier sales rep in one word is your PROMISE. It is the “pinky swear” inside the business community. As you pledge allegiance to your prospects and clients think of your promises and your brand.
Uncovering your personal brand and how you use to market yourself is mission critical. Personal branding is not a theater act or a show you put on for your prospects or clients. Your personal brand is YOU to the very core. The qualities and characteristics which comprise your personal brand are unmistakable.
If I were to ask members of your family or your current clients how they would describe you, I am sure they would describe you by using very specific keywords.
How we use our brand as sales reps to open up rich and meaningful conversations will be our fuel to sales success, all inside a vast and highly networked business world.
Use your personal brand to leverage how you open up meaningful conversations with your current clients and prospects, to do one thing: grow your business! To quote a very dear friend of mine Bernadette McClelland in her book, The Art of Commercial Conversation: “The competitor is no longer the business around the corner or the guy sitting in his Porsche down the road. The new competition is the status quo. It’s actually a little word called maybe. What that means is that buyers prefer to stay with what they have, complete with perceived and known misgivings, rather than risk disrupting the status quo and making change happen.”
Think about this as a copier sales rep and how hard it has become to secure profitable net new business. How are you eliminating risk and disrupting the status quo?
My challenge to copier sales reps… I ask you to set aside some quality time, look into the mirror and do some self-reflection. And answer this question: What does your personal brand say about you right now?
Understanding who you are is your launching pad and how this relates to opening up new conversations with your prospects and clients. How you communicate your unique promise of value is what will separate you from your competition.
The time is now! Your personal brand is mission critical. In a matter of seconds, someone can form an opinion of you by simply going to Google and conducting a quick search. Think of these five adjectives as you incorporate them into building your brand.
- Authentic
- Real
- Consistent
- Personable
- Helpful
Authentic
Be a normal human being. I learned the best way to become a great sales professional is not to act like a “salesperson.” Normal human conversation goes a long way. Get to know someone and take the “sales” hat off. You will be surprised how well you open up a great conversation.
Real
Be genuine and not a fake. Prospects know when you’re being yourself. Prospects are more likely to respond favorably and will more likely come back to you again and again when they see you as a real person or even a friend instead of just as salesperson. Ditch the sales B.S.
Consistent
In sales, we over-complicate the process. We fail to do the little things on a consistent basis. Instead of focusing on doing just one or two things exceptionally, we become obsessed with doing everything perfectly. The result is frustration and lackluster sales performance. The key to success in sales is to identify one or two small things we can do well and do them consistently. Think about this when it comes to prospecting.
Personable
In sales, we have to learn how to get along with, enjoy meeting with and speaking with a wide variety of people. You know the old saying, “People do business with people they know, like and trust” therefore be a people person and let your personality shine through. Help to uncover business problems and challenges, solve them, promote your value and just plain be yourself. No one likes dealing with a facade.
Helpful
If you are truly being yourself, instead of being an “all about me” sales rep, you are going to seem like an interested individual, in the minds of your prospect and client, who wants to HELP; not like a sales rep who is looking for another commission check. The foundation of who I am as a sales professional is built around being helpful. Offer to help without expecting anything in return as this will come back tenfold.
I ask all of you to take into consideration and be able to answer:
- How authentic am I?
- How real am I being?
- How consistent is my message?
- How personable am I?
- Am I being helpful to my clients and prospects?
Your brand as a copier sales rep is everything in the business world today. I encourage you to take your online and offline presence seriously. You get one shot to make a great first impression. Observe and pay attention to the people that have large followings and influence for the right reasons. Be real, be relevant, and relate.
As you go to work incorporating the five adjectives into building your brand think of how you portray yourself through your clients or prospects business lens.
“There are two stories that are important to tell. One story is your story and the benefit and value you can offer to others. The second story is the perception of your value through the eyes of your buyer and existing customers. Most sellers only story is the first story” Bernadette McClelland.
As you build your personal brand, I ask you this: “What is the perception of your value through the eyes of your buyer and existing customers?”
If you would like some inspiration I welcome the conversation or send me a message to llevine@socialsalesacademy.net.
