Cultivating relationships with colleagues is important, but don’t forget about investing in personal branding and buyer relationships.
All hail the Happy Hour!
We’ve all worked for companies where we invest a lot of time in building and nurturing relationships with colleagues, peers, managers, executives and the like. A lot of these extra-curricular activities take place outside of work hours.
If you’re a B2B sales professional, you might be involved in going out for dinners, happy hours, joining sports teams, and so on. While this is a great way to spend time, we forget that we can also invest time in buyer relationships.
Focus on Your Buyer!
A lot of us forget that investing time into building relationships with peers and colleagues, although great, won’t bring business immediately. It can over time but you’re leaving a huge opportunity on the table.
Building your online social media presence is one of the BIGGEST opportunities you have today. As buyers go social, you’ll need to find a way to also incorporate social selling into your daily sales efforts. Isn’t this the area where you should invest your time?
If buyers are starting to use social media as a way to research and educate themselves, this should be one of the top priorities you have.
Branding for Life
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you view it, buyers will increasingly formulate an opinion of you using information found online. From your LinkedIn profile, the content you share, and even the words you write on your own blog (which is something I encourage), your buyers will use any and all pieces of information to determine if you’re a person they should do business with.
Luckily for you, the reality is the majority of sales people won’t take action on this. This means you’ve got a clear runway to success. Check out what some sales reps are doing as a result.
Here’s Ben Laflamme, a B2B sales rep in Montreal, Canada. setting up his own blog. He wants to provide his insights and expertise as a value-add to potential buyers. In the fleet management vertical, how many sales reps do you think are doing things like this? Do you see how Ben has a huge advantage over competitors?
Also, check out what Keith Gill is doing. Look at the number of times this one particular blog he wrote has been shared!
The Reality
Here’s the reality: you’re not going to be at your present company forever. Most sales professionals spend an average of 3-4 years at a company. If that’s the case, shouldn’t you start investing in your online brand and presence now?
I think it makes complete sense because if buyers are using social media to research, you’ll want to be the person they find and turn to as a resource. It’s far better to build a brand for the long-term because you can capitalize on this for years to come. Imagine having leads come to you versus you having to chase leads all the time.
The Bottom Line
So, this is where we are today my friends. The times aren’t going to change. This trend will deepen and widen as more and more buyers go online.
Therefore, my humble advice to you is to spend more time on building your social media presence and brand and less time at Happy Hour. Your wallet will thank you in two ways: you’ll spend less money now and make more money in the long run.
If you need help on how to get started, I can point you in the right direction. Click on the button below to get started. Remember, social selling isn’t difficult, it’s just different.
