We’ve talked about what makes a good salesman before—a high-energy individual with a strong sense of integrity; someone who is a quick study; someone who works to keep the momentum going in good times and bad, etc. But have you ever thought about what good salesmen can do for your brand? After all, your brand is what defines your company, your reputation, your message, and your image. When you’re building a sales team, assessing the personality traits of your candidates will ensure that, not only are you hiring the right people for your company’s financial success, you’re building customer loyalty by boosting perception of your brand.
When you understand what makes a good salesman, you’re more likely to be hiring salespeople who will not only close the sale, but will also exercise behaviors that engage with customers, let them know what your brand stands for, and deliver on the brand promise.
Now, you may or may not be one of the millions of fans of Justin Bieber, but that’s irrelevant in this context. Justin is a great example of a concept who became a brand, who became a phenomenon. It didn’t just happen, it took a fair amount of work. Once he was discovered on YouTube by an individual who essentially has a great salesperson profile, it was time to promote, promote, promote. In this case, social media was the mode of “selling” Justin’s brand, since that’s the preferred means of communication for Generation Y, his target “customer.” It took about three years, but then, as anyone knows who hasn’t been living under a rock, Justin’s brand took off, and now he’s flying higher every day.
OK, so Justin isn’t really a product, and your product is not Justin Bieber; the point is, without all the work and promotion, Justin would still be just one of the millions of YouTube videos instead of the youngest person to ever appear on the cover of Forbes magazine. The ability to promote a product is what makes a good salesman.
If you know you have good salesmen, but they haven’t been relating the value of your brand as part of the selling process, you can start now to consider brand impact as part of what makes a good salesman. Implement brand education as part of your sales training, so that each member of your sales team has a clear understanding of the importance of your brand to them, the message you want your brand to deliver, and a specific way of communicating its relevance to customers.
As your sales force grows, you can be assured that every new hire you make using the Advanced Hiring System will fit the salesperson profile to be a motivated go-getter who will not only work to advance his own success, but the success of your company’s brand. And, since the AHS Sales Hiring Course supplies all the steps to assuring that you understand what makes a good salesman, chances are good that your sales team will help your product evolve to a brand, then to a phenomenon.
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