What's Your Personal Brand?

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October 2018

Sales is a game that humans have been playing since the beginning of history. Whether it was to justify worth within a community, or gain
greater power and control among followers, persuading another person to “buy” an idea, an object, or anything for that matter, is inherent in our culture around the world. Regardless if a person wants to admit it, for anyone to make it through life, they will likely need to sell someone on something along the way, and likely more than one time. This makes us ALL sales people, even if it’s not our profession. Given the vast number of sales people on the planet (all of us, in case you missed it), it begins to explain why so many of succeed, and yet so many of us fail. In the crowd of millions of others that look like us, talk like us, walk like us, and breathe like us, we need to create a brand, or better yet, a story about ourselves that others can latch onto and “buy”.  What’s your story?

Even though you are a seller, manager, owner, or any other role in a
business, your story is unique, and you offer a distinct view and opinion of the world that cannot be duplicated. This is the fascinating part of each of us that is so subtle at times that only the subconscious of others can pick up on it.  When we hear about sales people that have the “it” factor, or have the “gift of gab”, this isn’t something that is learned through reading or studying sales. Instead, these traits are inherent in all of us, some people are just better at displaying their brand and their story with strangers. This isn’t because of some magic skill, it simply comes down to they know who they are, they know their story, and they know how to highlight it. You can do the same!

In this month’s blog, we want to challenge all of you to think of your brand and story. This isn’t a story about the company you work for, or their vision and brand, but instead, this is the story that makes you unique. This is more than a resume, or a job history too. This is independent of everything but who YOU are and what makes your strengths attractive to others. See, once you have a strong understanding of who you are, as well as an appreciation for how complex and dynamic your story really is, it becomes a lot easier to share that with the rest of the world and make connections you never thought you could make. Being good at a specific type of sales takes practice, but being good at connecting with people, gaining their trust and buy-in, and getting them to listen to you has more to do with your personal brand than it requires any sales ability, period.

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