When you are selling a product or service, you need to remember that you are also selling yourself. “Each of us sells a certain set of attributes and intangibles that create meaning and value.” says Anthony Iannarino in a recent post from The Sales Blog. Just like the car salesmen, you cannot just assume that a slightly better product or a lower price will win over a prospect.

 It is critical to keep your personal brand aligned with the positioning of your product or service. Your customer wants the best product and one that fits in his/her organization. If there is something “off” about you, or if your personality doesn’t seem to fit your product or service, it will reflect on what you are selling. (Wouldn’t you feel uneasy if someone who sounds like a computer geek tried to sell you sports equipment?) 

While it’s essential to keep the professionalism in your approach, it’s also important to make sure you have your customer’s or prospect’s trust. On top of being personable, make the prospect think that you know what you are talking about and that your personality fits with the product. This will build your company brand and will reflect well on you in the future.

More than likely, the sales rep of your competitor demonstrated greater value of his/her product than you did; they differentiated themselves from the rest of the pack, grabbing the attention of the prospect. Sales differentiation is key to success in sales and it all starts with how you position yourself from the rest of the pack.

 While it’s important to make sure prospects know and understand the value of the product or service you are selling, differentiating yourself starts with how you sell yourself as a sales person. You need to show greater personal value as a salesperson as well as the superior value of your product to win over your prospects. To do this, you must have greater subject matter expertise, better creativity in devising solutions, and superior personal skills so that you present yourself and your product in the best light possible.

 A prospective customer is not going to buy if they don’t trust the sales person, especially if they don’t nail the first few calls. You have to differentiate yourself right away or the prospect may lose interest. Read up on the prospects business and take the time to understand their need. Develop a plan of attack for how your solution will fill that need before you pick up the phone. Understand how your product differs from the competition beyond the simple differences that your prospect probably already knows.  

 Being well prepared before the initial outreach can really differentiate a “regular sales person” from “THE go-to sales person”. For more information, see Anthony Iannarino’s blog post: Differentiate: The Ability to Stand Out In a Crowd