Positioning Yourself As A Sales Professional

Your brand is what goes before you. Everything you do reflects on that brand. Your image can be enhanced or stained depending on what you do or say to or with prospects.

Branding is a professional statement of what your product or service stands for. And your personal brand is exactly the same.

Positioning yourself as a sales professional means letting your brand image be known about in every possible way, using as many opportunities as possible to create your position in the marketplace.

The way you do this is by first having positioning statements that build a great impression of you. I have a positioning statement that tells people what I do and who I am: “Sales Training & Management Development Authority, Bestselling Author & Award-Winning Entrepreneur, achieving results with all clients”

Short, sweet, and to the point. The first part of my statements speaks to the concept of working with me, the last part the outcome. Each part of your statement can stand alone and be meaningful; however, the entire statement is most meaningful when used in its entirety.

So, where do you use your positioning statement? You use it wherever and whenever you can.

Develop yours that tells people in literally a few seconds who you are and what you do. Make it something you can be proud of.

Your positioning statement should be prominently displayed on all of your promotional material. Make sure it is in your professional headline on LinkedIn…it follows you wherever you go on that social network.

A great positioning statement allows a prospect to quickly determine if what you do is meaningful to them and it allows you to qualify prospects better.

So, what can you do with your positioning statement after you have built one up?

Find out who would benefit from the position that you now adopt. It should create niche markets for you in the marketplace. Become an expert in you particular field, so people start searching you out when they want help and assistance.

When you promote yourself, think about how you are more beneficial to your prospects than anyone else. Think how your story can be memorable to clients. Discuss with your colleagues how your professional statements can make your company stand out from the crowd.

Your positioning could improve the way your clients interact with you, so ensure you listen out for any feedback that may come your way from clients and prospects alike.

Have a specific strategy about how you are are going to market yourself to new clients. Your positioning statement should include who you’re targeting, what their problems are, your differentiate and value proposition. The alignment with their problems and how your solution solves them must be at the heart of the positioning statement. It should be clear to the buyer why they should choose your solution over someone else’s. You don’t want to spend time with a prospect that isn’t a proper fit for your product, and the positioning will help you determine what tires to attack by identifying the company’s business drivers and aligning your solutions with them.

Most importantly, ensure that all you do and say back up the very position you are trying to portray. If you don’t reflect your positioning in your actions, you will be worse off than if you didn’t have anything at all.

For further information on positioning please be sure to check out our full portfolio of Sales Training Courses.

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training