Here is a question I’ve received more than a hundred times in one form or another:
How do I make a (better) name for myself?
Here is the premise, the definition, and the answer: In sales it’s not who you know,
in sales it’s who knows you.
The challenge is not just making a name for yourself or building your brand; it’s
building the components that generate that name. How do you achieve more recognition,
more notoriety, and a better reputation in your market and your community? Those
are the elements that lead to a better name.
And to be clear, I’m talking about a better name for both company and individual.
There are no easy answers. And there are very few answers that don’t require commitment,
planning, and work -- hard work.
GOOD NEWS: Most salespeople are not willing to do the hard work it takes to make
selling easy. So if you’re willing, you automatically move to the top 10%. And if
you execute, you’re in the top 5%.
MAJOR CLUE: How do you tell the whiners from the winners? The whiners are complaining
about everything and they’re worried about “losing their job.” The winners are planning
to win, believing they’ll win, and taking action. Which are you?
BETTER NEWS: When the economy is in transition (that’s a nice way to put it, isn’t
it?), it’s the easiest time for you to make a change, and begin to execute new ideas.
There are the things you must begin to put in place now. Below are the actions that
lead to long-term name building that must be implemented, and built on. NONE of
these elements are “do now and forget about,” rather they are “do now, do tomorrow,
and do forever.”
- Create your own weekly e-zine that features valuable
information and highlights your customers. Look at my weekly email magazine
Sales Caffeine as an example. Go to www.salescaffeine.com and read about it. Look
at an issue and emulate the process in your weekly e-zine. Sales Caffeine is seven
years of weekly value messages.
- Register www.(yourname).com today. It’s only
ten bucks. If it’s taken, put “The Great” or “the one and only” in front of it.
Get your web address, your URL address, registered TODAY. The world is on the web.
The Internet is NEVER going away. It’s the growth and the future of commerce. Be
on it, or be gone.
- Invest in a small but powerful website that looks
like something people would read, admire, tell others about, and maybe even buy
from. Start with a one page website that talks about, “how I treat my customers.”
Make a list of the ten most valuable things you are dedicated to. Later you can
add more pages, pictures, graphics, and pizzazz. But start small and be compelling.
- Be 1000% more proactive. This means hitting
both the phone and the send button. Make ten calls a day that have value, and send
25 emails that have meaning to the recipient. Build relationships and earn referrals.
- Write something that puts you in front of customers
and prospects. Put an article in your trade publication or your chamber magazine.
Writing leads to recognition. Writing positions you as an expert and an authority.
- Give a speech or three at civic organizations. Speaking
leads to perceived leadership. Especially if the speech was good. (Afraid of speaking?
Join Toastmasters and register for a Dale Carnegie course.)
- Blog to show your human side. Make your blog
a family affair. Show your person, your personality, your passion, and your fun.
- YouTube. Video your value proposition. Video
your testimonials. Video your philosophy of sales and service. Post your videos
on YouTube. Your customers and prospects will find them, and find you more attractive
than your (lazy) competitors.
- Get involved in your community. Pick one
charity or one civic organization to get involved with and assert leadership in.
- Get Google-able. WAKE UP, Sparky! Your customer
is Google-ing you, just like you are Google-ing them. Your one-page website, your
e-zine, your article, your speech, and your community involvement will bring your
name and your company’s name to the top of the Google pile.
- Be a value provider, not a beggar, a solicitor,
or a salesman. People will BUY if they perceive your value. And they will
spread the word, and your name.
TIME IS YOUR FRIEND: Be patient with it. Invest in it. Use it to your best advantage.
To really build a name for yourself, it takes time. Lots of it. It takes commitment.
Lots of it. And it takes consistency.
YOUR NAME MEANS EVERYTHING: Name and reputation are intertwined. Your value-based
information, your exceptional service, and your quality of product and person determine
your reputation, your name, and your fate. Those who become valuable to their customers,
their marketplace, and their community are the ones who win short term and long
term.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT YOU? When someone says your name, they’re also going
to say one of five things about you: something great, something good, nothing, something
bad, or something real bad. Whatever they say, determines your fate.
If you want to build name recognition, and a great reputation, you have to dedicate
yourself to the long-term process, and the short-term work.
EASY ANSWERS: None.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling and eight other
business books on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. President of
Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and
conducts Internet training programs on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development
at www.trainone.com. Jeffrey conducts more than 100 personalized, customized seminars
and keynotes a year. To find out more, visit www.gitomer.com. Jeffrey can be reached
at 704.333.1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com
© 2009 All Rights Reserved - Don't even think about reproducing this document without
written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer, Inc. • 704.333.1112