How do you incorporate storytelling and personality into your sales bio and profile?

Knowing your audience is true not only for sales but all job functions. It is doing your research, your planning and preparation, and keeping your emotional intelligence at the highest levels. I believe this is one key foundational pieces that separates the best sales professionals from all of the others.

This is crucial, however, too much of a tailor-made Profile may be overkill. Keep the Profile to your personality as much as you subtly can..for example putting a very strong yet passive “quote” about Yourself. Be Brief when needed, and when it is something that there is a choice to read further, put a headline summary in a couple sentences at the top and go ahead and be detailed.

I encourage folks to weave into their bio/profile searchable keywords and keyword phrases for what their ideal client would search for; both to resolve (pains) and what they seek (results). Also a wonderful bio can be repurposed for other content.

There are 3 simple ways you can leverage ChatGPT to do this in 2 minutes. Here are the prompts: 1. Motivations- "What are the top 3 KPIs a {insert C level executive title} at {company revenue size and vertical} is evaluated on? 2. Pain- "What are the top 5 biggest challenges they have in meeting those goals?" 3. Emotions- "How does that make them feel?" This will give you an amazing foundation for understanding your audience. You can then have ChatGPT write an email sequence on solving each one of those challenges individually.

I think the best way to really get to know your audience is to have conversations with people in your target audience, take a genuine interest in them, and ask insightful questions. Leveraging tools like LinkedIn to connect and start conversations. Also, researching online is a good way too; for example, look for interviews where your target persona is interviewed. And more recently, using AI tools to gather information quickly and understand your audience better can help too.

Selling with stories is fun and effective but like any sales skill it takes practice to make them flow well. I'd recommend this LinkedIn Learning course taught by Paul A. Smith. https://www.dhirubhai.net/learning/selling-with-stories-part-1-what-makes-a-great-story/find-craft-and-develop-your-sales-story-2?autoplay=true&u=2125562 It has been viewed by 150,000 sales professionals worldwide.

Tell stories in a way that captivates your target audience..give them a stake in your story, and make it RELEVANT and INTERESTING to your Target Audience. We are here to share and be noticed for out Hard Work..dont ruin it with a bad story. Set up the issue, tell the details briefly, then sum it up with the Takeaway and Result. Always ask, ‘why should I post this?’ That question will guide You to hem it down to a one-two punch of Information and suspense!

The rest of your profile informs your profile visitor what you've done in the past and what you're doing now. Pretend the reader is now saying, "Tell me about yourself". People like to know who you are as a person, not just what you do. To accomplish this, tell a story. Use the story of how you got where you are now and how, specifically, your journey has lead you and the reader to this unique and unprecedented opportunity to connect, collaborate, or work together. It doesn't have to be elaborate or read like a book. Simple. "First this, then that; I encountered this, so I did that; I unexpectedly found myself here, but that didn’t stop me; even though X, I did Y because that’s just who I am... which brings us to this moment." The end.

What’s more interesting, reading a story or reading a resume? I’ll guess you chose the story! Stories are a big part of the way we communicate; our grandparents told us stories, we read books filled with them, and we love hearing stories about celebrities and entrepreneurs. Stories are fun; they are human; they let us connect with the characters and be in their shoes. The good thing is we all have one; we can take advantage of that and tell our story about how we got to be salespeople, be more engaging and more human, and create an instant connection with our customers. Just keep in mind the structure of a good story, which is mentioned above, and adjust your story to keep it interesting but without losing authenticity.

I'm a big believer in reinforcing the message to just be yourself. Be genuine and authentic. It makes life a lot easier that way and believe me, buyers recognize and appreciate it, too.

Let your work and posts be where your Personality shows. NEVER post about controversial topics; save that for Twitter. When you post or write anything on LinkedIn, ensure it's relevant, interesting, and need-to-know! In this, people can see your interests and use descriptive language, others can get a feeling that for a sense of humor, excitement in your work, and overall gut feeling of what kind of person you are, don't ever try to be what anyone is ‘looking for.’ Be Yourself, Own It, but always remember this is not a Personal Brochure, but a simple showcase of our skills, so we can Network with those with similar skills or facilitators of your work!

If you're not a dynamic storyteller, borrow someone else's talent! A movie quote is the easiest way to show your personality. Consider this non-business exchange from The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky: Mac: Red, let me ask you. Have you ever once, in your whole life, had one, single, solitary, original thought, that didn't bounce off from somewhere else? I mean, have you ever sat down, considered all the available information, weighed it all in your mind, sifted all the possibilities, discarded what you couldn't prove, sorted out what made sense, and came to your own, personal, original, Red McBride opinion? Red: Why would I go to all that trouble?" Do you know who I am as a data analyst compared to Red if I tell this story?

Sales bio or sales pitch has to be always and always about the customer, and not you. The world cares about what you can do for them, not about what you have done in life. Hence, I encourage sales people to talk about the business outcomes delivered, vs their own success in the job.

Always post in a Service mindset. Do not post to say anything personal, post so that others are personally moved or intrigued! Your value is inherent in your Profile and Posted Content, which is why your Profile must not only be a work history, but tailored to be a brief description of your Value, aka skills and services...whether communicating or networking...put your value out there for others to find you...never to boost your ego, that's a huge turn-off and signal you are hard to work with!

When creating your sales bio and profile, remember to focus on how you can help your prospects, not just what you offer. Show them how you can solve their problems and make their lives easier. Don't forget to throw in some specific examples and testimonials to prove that you're the real deal and build that trust.

Being authentic relieves the stress of trying to be like someone else to impress, and that allows you to attract your ideal clients. Being authentic also brings consistency to your engagement: what people see is what they get.

Speak in your normal tone and inflection, by using the words you wish to say in your own vernacular. Never try to sound smart or more knowledgeable, anyone can spot a try-hard. However, don't speak like you are at Christmas dinner having eggnog either; simply be Business Casual!

Authenticity is actual vulnerability which helps builds trust/credibility! This can be very hard to expose yourself as the writer but for your reader, they want to know that you faced a challenge (similar to theirs) and won. Most importantly, the journey of your learnings through that process will be uplifting for many while also making an compelling story.

Agree completely. The Sincerity Close is a long term, repeat business model. Also, instead of ABC (Always Be Closing), go with ABB (Always Be Branding)...when a customer asks if you're the owner, you've sold the brand. Use a good CRM like Podium or develop your own text or email correspondence for follow up, reviews, or thank yous. This will often be your first contact for repeat business, and you can go directly to selling, pricing, and fulfillment. Dr. Walker, I/O Psychology, Military/Retail, visiting from LinkedIn

In my view selling very complex emerging tech based solutions, I have learnt that a key part of being authentic is admitting the challenges you or the industry you are in is facing on adoption of what you are selling. Most buyers are now very advanced and have a good "BS meter". When they hear challenges from you on LinkedIn that you are facing and if it resonates with them, your ability to connect with them becomes higher. With the buyer and seller on the same track, it becomes easier to tackle the uncertainties of driving emerging tech sales. This can lead to co-creation, customer becoming a Design partner and the customer managing her/his internal stakeholder expectations across the sales and deployment cycles of complex sales.

Update Regularly to keep Your Network interested in what You a doing. Don't let people forget about Your Work/Value...but also DO NOT OVERPOST...it waters down your messaging and is very annoying to those wishing to get a quick grasp on Your Skills!

As they say, change is the only constant. If you and your profile aren’t catching up with the change in trends and technology, you will sooner or later look redundant. And regular updates means you are progressing in your career. It also becomes a subtle way to re-iterate on some of your old accomplishments.