Knowing me, Knowing you!

People buy from people right?

Whether you are selling services or a product, its key to recognise the impact that building your employees brand has coupled with your company branding efforts.

How many of us follow people on platforms such as LinkedIn because we enjoy their content, we trust what they say and also appreciate the advice they present? Savvy buyers will likely check out your profile as well as your company profile prior to an initial sales meeting taking place. I know, as I do it!

You want to check what the company is all about, see what their culture is like and also the content they are producing. Buyers will also want to check your experience and content to see who you are and indeed if they want to work with you!

Posting interesting content can be daunting for most of us...

where do I start? what do I write? do I use video? what if people don't like my content?!

Quick tip that I found very useful was making a list of questions you regularly get from clients and prospects. Generally you will find that your prospects will have similar queries. Write them down and use them to put together content that will relate to their issues and gauge their interest. This will also show that you have your finger on the pulse within your own industry and understand the pressures within your relevant markets.

People also enjoy reading articles and trends that are relevant to their industry. By producing your posts based on your prospects questions you will show your competence in the market you are trying to sell your product or service. However, try and avoid a hard sell post for your product or service, think about it as adding value to your network to build trust and relationships.

How do we do this?!

Be Personal...

This is where the "this isn't facebook" comments generally come in, when individuals post non "industry specific" news and post some personal information about their hobbies, family, volunteering etc. However, this makes your profile more personable and easier for connections to relate to you and get to know you in a virtual sense.

Provide a sneak peak of what's happening with you as a person and what you care about. Sharing your own opinion people get to know you and this makes your posts more engaging rather than simply reposting third party articles. Highlight why you are sharing the information, why its relative to you and add your own thoughts. Allow prospects to start to know you and build their trust. It is a balance between professional and personal content - it's about value giving, letting people see you as a human being and an individual makes you different. This approach makes introductory calls far easier as you have started to get to know each other.

Build Relationships

How often have you sat in a presentation and had someone go through multiple slides telling you how great they are, how much accreditations they have, how many offices they have, who their clients are etc etc.....

Lets flip this - lets listen.... what are your client/prospects problems? What outcome are they looking to achieve? A prospect or current client will become more open to sharing this information and be honest with their issues when you have built trust and a relationship with them. This can start to be achieved by engaging with their content on platforms such as LinkedIn and you becoming a trusted advisor on these platforms by creating content aligned with the product/service you sell. Dont be scared... ENGAGE!

You will need to build trust with prospects so they are then willing to have that initial conversation about your service/product. Start to understand the buying journey of your clients and customers and base your strategy on their needs not yours.

Identify and understand your audience!

Get your employees involved!

When your employees are firm believers in your product and service and encouraged to utilise social effectively, they can sell your value proposition. Plan your content, review your prospects issues and tailor the content around it. Your employees are selling the ability of your company and its employees to deliver a desired outcome - people buy from people. Provide them with the tools to sell your service and product effectively and prospects will engage.

Share your own experience

I must admit, this is one area that can be daunting for most of us - don't fear criticism or comments. Look at it differently - you are a professional and we all have our own experience which makes us unique, nothing to do with being an expert. Prospects will get to know you, share your experience:

I did this this and this and it worked or it didnt work....

There is no way you can be wrong by sharing this information - its your experience. Share your journey with an open book type approach - the wins, the losses and the lessons learned etc. Remember, we're all gaining new experience as we go!

Keep your profile up to date!

After posting great content, people will check out your profile so ensure its up to date (and complete!!!). Start thinking how you can stand out amongst your peers - what makes you different - remember its your personal story! Its unique to you so think about what makes you different and what makes you unique from a personal perspective. Why should people buy from you?!

Don't try and be someone else or something you're not, Just be you! share your story and share your knowledge - dont be afraid!