The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

It seems the push for individuals to have a personal brand is becoming the new black. It’s the cool thing to do. The message is that everyone, including salespeople, need a brand just like a big company or a pop star. Who’s got time for that? Sure, becoming the expert, the blogger, the “thought leader” in your industry sounds like a great idea. But it also sounds like an insurmountable goal. So why bother?

Does everyone need to become a thought leader?

First, don’t let me discourage you. Many of you, let’s say 2 in 10, are already running down the Personal Brand path, and it won’t be long before you are a thought leader in your field. If you are not one of those swimming in social media enthusiasm, what can you do to compete?  

First, focus just on your LinkedIn profile. Here’s why:

What a great week! There are some great gems from our writers here, and wonderful news from around the web. Read on!

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• Monday, Jim Hopes asked when we'd be replaced by a computer. Sobering thought.

• Tuesday, Mike Anderson told us about the realities of prepping for a needs analysis conversation today.

"Who are you, and why should I care?" 

That simple question is at the crux of the challenge salespeople face when prospecting. The advice used to be to perfect your elevator pitch. Today we don’t meet prospects on elevators; we meet them online. And specifically, the great business-oriented platform for meeting people is LinkedIn. So what you need to perfect now is your online personal branding. That's your LinkedIn presence.

What a great week! There are some great gems from our writers here, and wonderful news from around the web. Read on!

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• Monday, Steve Marx wrote about ways to get people to open your emails, and provided the best subject line of all time.

• Tuesday, Greg Giersch gave us a list of questions we should ask to build our personal brand, and make our LinkedIn profiles look better than they do.

Frustrated that your email open rates are so low? Or are you happy that your open rates are above average, but you want to boost them further?

What a great week! There are some great gems from our writers here, and wonderful news from around the web. Read on!

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• Monday, Dana Bojcic confessed she'd lied to her young son, and in doing so, gave him the worst possible talent-related advice.

• Tuesday, Greg Giersch wrote exactly what I needed to read: when you're overwhelmed with how much you want to accomplish, find the very next step and work on that.

What a great week! There are some great gems from our writers here, and wonderful news from around the web. Read on!

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• Monday, Mike Anderson reminded us that lead generation was useless without need generation. What good are your leads if they don't need anything from you?

• Tuesday, John Henley told us to kickstart 2015 by holding a Twitter drive with your team today. What's a Twitter drive? Find out.

As we head toward the end of the year, it’s natural to start looking to 2015. Where will you find new prospects next year?

They could be on social media right now without you realizing it. Get your team to increase their use of social media (for more than just cat videos) this quarter by implementing a Twitter Drive, in order to increase business next year.

How to Start a Twitter Drive

• Have a meeting on Monday where everyone notes the number of Twitter followers they have. Some may have 100, some may have 5,000. Some, umm, may not have any.
• Set a follow-up meeting for four weeks from Monday to see what progress everyone made.
• Brainstorm ways to find the right kind of new people to connect with.

What are You Tracking?

What a great week! There are some great gems from our writers here, and wonderful news from around the web. Read on!

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• Monday, Mike Anderson asked if you were really in love, or just fooling around... with customer-focused selling, that is.

• Tuesday, Steve Marx reminded us just how painful belly flops are, and how to prevent them in sales.