Personal Brands in Sales: Should a Sales Person Have a “Brand”?

The answer is short and simple: salespeople, in fact all people, should have a brand. 

Here are some thoughts around why everyone needs a brand. And please remember, it’s never too late to start building your brand. 

On the flip side, it’s never too early to start either. You have a story to tell, even if you’re just getting your career going. That’s your origin story. Everyone loves an origin story.

There are two primary branding opportunities I see:

1. LinkedIn
2. Communities

At the highest level, branding for salespeople is about creating engagement with you, the person. Creating conversations that can turn into conversions—creating opportunities for both your current business and your future business. 

Always be you. Be your authentic self. Not some glossy image the CEO or CMO wants. 

Content Is an Asset

1. 1. Most sales people will create their brand on LinkedIn first, which is pretty normal. You can do that or you can go to places, including Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. 
   2. You can repurpose anything you post on LinkedIn as a blog post, Tweet, etc.
   3. Anything you share in your communities like Modern Sales Pros or Thursday Night Sales, can also be a blog post, etc.

LinkedIn Advice

1. Your brand is your own LLC.
2. Your brand is yours, not your company, never, ever, ever.
   1. If they ask you to put their image in your background, it’s a simple 2-word response, “PAY ME!”.
      1. It’s not in the job description.
      2. It’s not part of the salary.
      3. Lebron ain’t pitching Sprite just for the taste.
3. Per-fessional image.
   1. Personal + Professional 
4. It’s not as much your reputation as it is your presence of being. 
5. Know your audience(s)
   1. Your prospects and customers.
   2. Your future bosses and co-workers.
   3. Your educational brand.
      1. Learning 
      2. Teaching
6. Messaging
   1. Don’t post terrible marketing content just because your company asks you to.
      1. Marketing knows very little about personal branding and posting on LinkedIn.
   2. Give away great stuff for free.
      1. If you know me, you know I walk the walk on this one. 
   3. Industry conversations matter.
   4. Lead from the heart.
   5. Controversy (professionally) matters.
   6. Drive for an emotional response.
   7. Be vulnerable:
      1. Sharing your mistakes often creates better engagement than sharing your successes.
      2. My most engaged post ever was when I talked about posting a big fat donut for a month.
      3. Share passion projects. I will post about mental health a lot if you know me, especially in sales.
7. Recruiting
   1. Recruiting your new employer, yes, you are a free agent and you recruit them more than they can recruit you.
   2. If I have a good brand as a leader, what do I need a recruiter for (sorry to my recruiting friends)? I want to recruit people who know me.
   3. If I am looking for a new company to go to, and I don’t see my leadership team being active in communities or online, then I have great pause for joining them.
   4. In fact, one of the questions I encourage sales reps and leaders to ask when they are being interviewed is around the company and new bosses’ view of personal branding. 

Good luck, and remember it’s never too late to build personal brands in sales (or any industry).