It’s often a forgotten consideration that people do business with people they know, like and trust.
Too often branding is not clearly understood, nor reinforced to make the message resonate.
If personal branding was understood, people would be telling everyone more than enough times about their values, and as a result, have a much larger following.
In this month’s piece, I’ll write about one particular area of branding, a company neglects – the personal experience.
This is a world where there is no logo, no catchy sales line or method of payment to grab attention. Instead it’s a person’s behavior that gets noticed to positively affect the day of another.
Your service in your business is the value someone places on you in a competitive marketplace. If you perform ahead of expectations the client will notice you and refer you.
To take the service and attention to another level, it can be harder than is realistically possible, so alternative ‘experiences’ are needed.
To me, a personal brand and these positive experiences need to consider the following:
• Beliefs.
• Benefits.
• Relevance.
• Needs.
Within beliefs, do you share a common way of thinking, are you the same religion or in the same age bracket? Are you a member of the community, or even just a typical citizen?
Modern society requires us to conform as much as possible. We need to follow the laws of the land and just the same way we converse with people, there is an expectation to be polite and courteous in business.
We also need to be tolerant of others’ beliefs. Being an impartial observer is important. If you want to side with a particular belief and make it known publically, be prepared to be challenged and pigeon holed. Branding can relate to aspirations, so if you send positive messages consistently, you will develop a following.
Onto benefits and here is a controversial comment: Every person in your business and personal life is looking for a beneficial reason to being associated with you. If they can’t find a benefit, the relationship can’t last.
In personal life, it’s usually love, friendship and company that people crave. In business it’s more tangible, with people seeking opportunity and cold hard cash.
Even if it’s not immediately stated, the quality of your brand needs to demonstrate a hard benefit.
Can you make money for or save someone money, can you grow their market share or do you offer another commercial outcome to those who associate with you?
Crossing personal and business relationships with friendship makes your personal brand stronger. Especially if people like you!
Relevance is an interesting area. It relates to your particular point in time and maybe your stage in life. Are you likely to want to listen to someone opening a new hip and trendy gym near the city, when you’re approaching your retirement?
Also important is considering how your messaging needs to be directed. Does your message really need Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook when you’re only conversing in person or by email?
As a business decision maker, how relevant are you to your target market? Can you associate your positioning and brand for different types of customer? Your personal brand and that of your staff is part of your messaging.
Your accessibility is a key piece to strengthening your company’s personal brand. In two words, “Be Relevant”.
The last piece is the holy grail of business. Does your product satisfy a need? If you’ve done your homework and found there’s a gap in the market and you’ve been able to position yourself (i.e. your brand), there is much less selling required.
Needs can be commodities that are price sensitive, or if you’re lucky they can be difficult to attain.
By being difficult to attain and regularly talking about the virtues of your product or service, you’re in fact giving people more time to know you. This takes us back to doing business with people that you know, like and trust.
In summary, a personal brand leads to sales. If you don’t exude a consistent, confident and trusted message, you will be judged on price alone.
If you’re the figurehead in the company, everyone looks to you to steer the ship.
Staff need to follow and know their place for their own personal brands. With even a single interaction by the figurehead or staff in a company affecting a brand, there’s plenty to gain and lots at risk.
So, are you ready to be branded?
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