Personal Brand

What would your customers say if they were asked to describe your brand? Not the company's brand, your personal brand?...

At the end of the day, what we should be most concerned about is this ever-so-critical question...what is our brand?.

Our personal brand is the overall experience our customers get when doing business with us. There are lots of competitors, lots of other reps calling on these same buyers/owner/whatever. We, as salespeople, must go above and beyond to be 'the guy' in whatever it is that we do.

Things change. Products change. Industries change...heck, industries can be born or completely destroyed overnight, in our political environment and with rapidly advancing technology. Therefore, our personal brand has never been more important to our long-term success in our business endeavors. You may have a competitive advantage with the products you represent today, but tomorrow, your advantage could disappear. With that mind, we can't sit around and rest on our laurels. We have to strive to be the most valuable resource our customers have, regardless of what we sell them today.

So, what is our brand? How do we build a great brand?

I'll outline...

APPEARANCE/IMAGE -- Your overall look and image. Do you show up dressed to the nines or are you disheveled and frumpy(Dockers that are too big with bad brown boots or casual dress shoes....terrible!)?

I'm a huge believer in dressing in high quality gear. I go out and invest in clothes that are not only sharp, they fit me well. I buy great gear and have it tailored.

Your customer, whether they are conscious of it or not, are going to make some deductions about who you are and what type of a partner you'll be the second you walk through the door. Are your shoes sharp and polished? Is your shirt pressed? Do your pants have good crisp lines? This stuff is critical to your image.

Your vehicle...is it clean and organized? Or do you come rolling in in a hoopty with dirt caked all over it? I'm telling you, pay attention to this stuff. People who go that extra mile and invest in their own image and self-worth are usually a high-calibur person, who's capable of taking their work and YOUR BUSINESS seriously, deadly seriously. A guy who wears dumpy clothes, drives a filthy car with fast food bags everywhere...is this a guy I want to partner with? No.

ATTITUDE -- When you come bouncing into the owner's office and your biggest prospect, do you lighten the room with confidence, charisma, and a positive aura, or do you come in afraid, doubting yourself, eager to chime in on the whining about how bad business is and how tough the economy is? You either lift people up or you bring them down. You decide.

CONTENT -- This is the content of who you are. Are you a man of substance, who is in the know in your industry? Are you the go-to guy when it comes to your product? Your competitors' products? Marketing ideas? Best practices? This comes down to how much time you're putting into your own development in your spare time. Your prospect is going to sum you up quickly when he starts asking you questions and you jump straight into your products and how they're better than what he's got presently. He'll know you're in it to sell him something instead of being a great resource for his overall business well-being.

EXECUTION -- Do you do what you say you'll do? Does your brand represent prompt answers to questions or does it represent call backs two days later? Can you solve problems? Can you be trusted with inside information? Are you a good rep or are you average? The world is small. Your actions will catch up with you at some point, good or bad. Do you look to find problems and solve them for him? We have to solve big problems..the bigger the problem we solve, the bigger the paycheck for solving it.

The bottom line is that we all have brands, whether we want one or not. Decide if you want to be an elite brand or a run of the mill average brand...like 97%. It takes work and consistent action and improvement. Ultimately, it requires investment in yourself.

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