How do you market yourself if you are a sales person? Do you even market yourself? Have you even thought that you need to? If your answer is (likely) no, then you are in good company. Most sales people don’t think of that. They assume marketing is for ‘the company’ to do not them. It doesn’t help that many think that marketing and selling are the same; they are not. And it’s worse for sales people that call themselves marketers because being called marketers makes them walk with a bounce.
Why you should market yourself as a sales person
You should market you, as your business markets its products. To be bought, a product is both marketed and sold. A sales person is a product that sells but doesn’t market itself. Marketing yourself invites prospects to you in a non-threatening manner; it builds bridges and pulls them in. Selling raises walls and pushes sales people to prospects.
What do I mean? When you see an ad on TV, a bill board, social media, newspaper or WhatsApp, you interact with it without the extrinsic pressure to buy, that a sales man would make you feel. By the time a sales person shows, his job is that much less challenging because the ad softened you for him. Likely, driven by intrinsic choice, you are now curious or possibly already sold. “I saw your ad and it’s precisely what I’m looking for. Just show me where to sign.” It’s rare but it does happen.
Examples of ways to market yourself if you are a salesperson
The same applies when you market yourself as a sales person. Potential prospects interact with you in a non-‘pressurable’ way. This may be through your articles in the newspaper, picture on bill board (common with realtors), videos on YouTube, talks you hold, e-fliers, events you hold and generally content you share or create platforms for others to. There are many other examples of how to market yourself as a sales person. The internet offers creative ways to market yourself without marketing yourself. It’s how you describe yourself as a salesperson.
Marketing self on social media
For instance how to market yourself professionally on social media could be via sharing relevant content on LinkedIn. A client that is in the marketing research space occasionally shares content on LinkedIn on say, some research done which is for free to share, and invites suggestions around the topic while being sure to tag potential buyers. He provokes thought with a statement like, “Did you know 89% of Kenyans discuss issues but vote tribe? In fact, if we voted on Twitter Peter Kenneth would have been the President in 2013. Here’s the full research. Do you agree with the results?” And then he opens a poll (market research).
Few will read the research, many more will participate in the poll, and many, many others might not even see it or interact with the post. And that’s OK. It’s marketing, not selling. Marketing shoots pellets from a shotgun, selling shoots bullets from a rifle. Further, with almost a BILLION people on LinkedIn what makes you imagine you’ll stand out simply because you exist? In any case, not all marketing efforts convert to immediate sales; so your 3rd, 7th and 11th post might be the reason why the prospect buys in the third year of interacting with your material.
So how do you market yourself as a sales person?
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