Branding Your Own Brand

 

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well. – Jeff Bezos

 

There are several brand definitions one can find, but these two are the one I like the most. “A brand is a singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of a prospect.” Al Ries. And “a particular identity or image regarded as an asset.” Google definition.

• A brand exists in your mind. It means something to everyone
• A brand is based on associations, as it makes feel something.
• A brand means a natural choice. “Let’s have a cup of coffee at Starbucks.”
• A brand states clear differentiations. I want a BMW

 

What’s the reason behind establishing a brand?

Organizations spend enormous amounts of money, effort and time building their brands.

A brand identity is a perceived as a promise or a guarantee to deliver on the offer. Advil is  ” Advanced medicine for pain.” Advil Owns the idea of the ultimate promise of ” Advanced Medicine” promise–Advanced is always ahead of anything else. A brand affects your audience and clients on how they visually see you as an organization in term of a mix of trust, dependability, optimums, balance, strength and leadership. It also portrays expertise, innovation, competitive standing, and professionalism. Good brand names are huge intangible assets that represent significant tangible financial value.

 

“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.” – Richard Branson

 

How do you build a strong Brand?

To create a strong brand name requires consistency of real client’s feedback, internal unified, disciplined behavior to deliver a superior experience and constant focus on building a cult of followers that act as ambassadors of dissemination of trust via advanced transmedia storytelling technologies, social media platforms and through word of mouth.

A strong brand identity either inspire confidence and trust in the client to invest in your products and services or tells your potential customers to save time and effort and keep looking for an alternative. A Brand name provide us with the intelligence necessary to make a decision or move away when the risk and investment are too high. Branding is the heart of the organization; it’s the vital connection between loyal clients, followers or lost opportunity. This branding topic is fascinating at the organizational level. In this post, I will focus primarily on how can an individual salesperson build a solid brand equity.

 

“In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.” – Howard Schultz

 

Does a Salesperson brand name matter?

Is branding at the individual level more of a buzzword? The old marketing maxim states “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” The new doctrine could be “Nothing happens until you brand a lifestyle into the mind of a prospect.”

Let’s explore.

In B2B decision makers buy business solutions that resolve a current or potential problem or gap. The most knowledgeable trustworthy salespeople demystify the complexity and deliver it in a simple easy to swallow chunks. It’s much easier for these B2B leaders to do business and purchase business solutions from companies and salespeople that possess a high brand equity. The more recognized the brand leader, the easier the decision.

“You never get a chance to make a first impression.” Is an adage that still holds true today. The branding should not pertain only to the company name in the marketplace, and every employee is a brand ambassador. Therefore, everyone should be fully invested as a professional that enhance and add value to the branding of the company. Apple users say that Apple is a better product than PC, but the PC makers will say that PC is better because more people believe in it. Building a high perception of quality is the key to creating a powerful brand name.

Building a brand identity takes enormous effort and money. One may ask is it worth the effort?

Brand identity is all about capturing a share of mind—the better known the brand, the easier the reach. However, branding is not just about awareness creation; it’s about engraving brand equity within the buyer mind. Brand equity refers to the premium price that a product command over similar product—say Starbucks cup of coffee over a generic cup of coffee— the consumer is more willing to pay more for a Starbucks coffee based on perceived value (taste, environment, cult culture, etc.)

“Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something – to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in your brand. When you create a compelling brand you attract people who want the promise of your brand – which you deliver.” – Dave Buck

Brand Equity principle applies to high performing sales people as much as to organizations. The higher the brand equity, the higher the trust factor and the return on loyalty relationships.

 

Organization with Strong Brand Name	Salesperson with Strong Brand Name	Salesperson Relying on the  Organization Brand Name
Major Brand Equity Positive financial benefit Pinpoint brand meaningful difference Establish focused long-term vision Strong Cooperation with market leaders Take advantage of loyal brand ambassadors Benefits from positive reputational snowballs effect generated by word of mouth and social media Pressure to spearhead innovation Focus on Better marketing strategy to stay relevant Allocate massive resources to R&D Hire the best talent	Strengthen the brand name and command higher margins Higher revenue generation due to ability to sell more comprehensive solutions Meet less resistance selling higher ticket items. Can upsell and cross-sell regularly Perceived as a growth partner Strengthen credibility and reinforce company reputation Full cooperation with senior management and cross-functional teams Uniformity of cost-effective client engagement experien	Easily swayed to sacrifice margin to make a sale Recourse to discounts and partial solutions to win Meets stiff resistance attempting to sell higher ticket items. Rarely can cross sell additional products Perceived as small fixes on-call discount agent Has low credibility and often erodes company reputation due unexpected offered discounts Lack of consistency and difficulty in achieving organizational involvement

 

The salesperson with higher brand equity is better positioned to command higher rewards, higher margins, and a better ROI. The higher the brand equity of a seller the higher their credibility factor, believability and expectancy to deliver on their promises.

In 1970, IBM Salespeople were considered to be among the most educated, knowledgeable and skilled professionals in the USA. They projected the image of corporate IBM and enjoyed an incredible brand equity within the information technology space. Buying an IBM product was the safest bet at the time. You may recall the concept “You won’t get fired for buying IBM.” IBM didn’t embrace the PC revolution which did change its winning dominance.  However, the lesson here is IBM unique Salesforce showed us that brand equity matters in term of being a huge differentiating factor.

 

How can you create your brand within your space?

What are the competitive advantages that you have over your competition? Pinpointing what set you apart should be at the center of your brand image. You are the face of your company, what you say and do matters. Your positioning statement and offers should be aligned to meet your client objectives.

 

“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But a brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.” – Elon Musk

To enjoy a high brand equity, you will need to focus on the following fundamentals:

1. Commandeering an extraordinary, in-depth knowledge of your trade will allow you to stand out from your peers and tower everyone else. Educate, simplify but do not intimidate.
2. The ability to listen, ask the right questions and uncover apparent and hidden problems, coupled with the proper delivery and positioning of knowledge is a skill that client appreciate in business growth partners. Navigate your sales cycles with caution and bravado.
3. It will take an enormous effort to become a household brand name. It requires continuous deliberate self-education, constant focus on your industry and anticipation of market changes as well as the ability to predict and analyze trends that will affect your potential clients.
4. You cannot live in the obscurity and expect exposure and awareness creation. You will need to expose yourself to the constant limelight within your markets and industry. Your goal should be the association of your name with your expertise above the rest. Your name should be associated with your domain of competence. Eg, when you think of Scientific Management, You think of Peter Drucker.
5. Great brand names enjoy the lion’s share of markets dominance because of high brand visibility, think Coca-Cola and GM. The same applies to a salesperson, Omnipresence within multiple physical and digital platforms is a requirement. The more exposures, the higher the brand credibility, familiarity and comfort level in term of usage and utilization of services.
6. Publish your brand name. Promote yourself via social media such LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, YouTube, etc. Social media allow reaching a larger audience that may be seeking your expertise. Your profile and writing should voice your mastery of the subject and should reflect the strength of your capabilities within your industry. Commenting regularly on a blog post written by industry leaders in your space will position you as a trusted knowledge authority within your area of expertise. Furthermore, occasional Guest blogging will get you an incredible brand name recognition; the key is always to add value.
7. Your communicated value proposition and promise should always be above reproaches. Never claim anything you cannot deliver on, the outcome expected should always be offered in the same fashion as expected from any irreproachable brand name. Uniformity of expectancy and outcome under any circumstances is a must.
8. Brand protection. Brand reputation is hard to establish but easy to tarnish. Therefore, to avoid any irreparable damage, organization, and highly branded salesperson must show high integrity, total ownership and a significant level of communications with audience whenever reputational issues rise.
9. Problems do happen, the key is addressing all concerns and issue apologies quickly when appropriate. Promises are to be kept, minor deviation should be explained quickly and preferably ahead of time.
10. Reinvent and augment your competitive edge. Your competitors can duplicate any competitive advantage you have within a matter of weeks. Some may be able to surpass your quality and offers. Branding well will allow you to own prime real estate in the mind of your prospect. Your branding should create a lasting value above and beyond all competitors. McDonald represents a brand equity that few other can emulate, Michael Jordan– Nike—represent an athlete that defies gravity. The perceived mental imagery is engraved with branding reinforcement we are exposed to or choose to believe in.
11. Narrow your expertise focus. You cannot be everything for everyone. Become a specialist rather than a generalist; a professional is perceived to possess an in-depth specialized knowledge about a particular trade
12. Do not discount. High price allows the client to enjoy a psychological satisfaction of owning a high-quality product. It’s all about the perceived value, not the truly derived value that matters.

 

In conclusion. Sales professionalism is expected as a prerequisite in the B2B selling environment. Building an excellent reputation and a brand equity will take continuous deliberate considerable effort and investment on your self-education, establishing credibility as an expert by creating a presence online. But, the payoff is well worth the effort. Not only you will become recognized as a household name within your respected industry, but you will expand your influence and reap increased fan and clientele base which will eventually translate into new opportunities, engagements, and more sales. Building a personal brand name is probably the best way to ensure better career, better financial rewards, and better reputational promotion of your company. When an entrepreneur wants to sell his company or take it public, it’s often the brand equity that is being positioned for sale. Branding is no longer about pumping more dollars into advertising, rather, it’s all about powerful simplicity and perceived client experience.

What are your thoughts?