Enterprise Sales

What does personal brand mean, how do you build one… and do you need it to sell software?The idea of ‘personal branding’ doesn’t seem to fit naturally into the software sales space at first. Personal branding for, say, a life coach?Sure. Life coaches are what they sell, so it stands to reason that they work hard on building their own reputation as much as that of the service they offer. Software sales rep? Perhaps not so obvious.Sales reps concentrate on promoting an existing brand – that of the software manufacturer whose product they’re representing. Why would they need – or want – a brand of their own?And yet some of the world’s greatest brands (many of them in tech) are closely linked to the reputations of the key individuals who are behind their success. Apple had Steve Jobs, Microsoft and Bill Gates are inextricable for many, and the visionary leadership of Jeff Bezos continues to push Amazon to new heights. In these high-profile instances, personal brand and corporate success intertwined to create an enhanced reputation and ultimately drive spectacular results. In the era of social selling, can sales reps learn from this marriage of personal and commercial brand-building pioneered by entrepreneurs, and what benefits can it bring?What is a ‘personal brand’?It can be helpful to start by clarifying what personal brand is not. Despite the efforts of many would-be internet entrepreneurs, a personal brand is not about working meticulously to create a public-facing image which is at odds with a concealed reality. Instead, personal branding is about taking action to ensure that your passions, values and experiences are clearly and authentically communicated to an audience – ideally a targeted audience that moves within your commercial field and will derive value from being included in your network. In it’s simplest form, personal brand is how others see us. While sales reps may work for someone else’s organization, represent a product they didn’t build, or earn a living by selling a solution they didn’t design, each person is an individual with a unique trajectory and set of experiences. Throughout their careers, sales reps (while following a broadly similar career pattern):Help different customers in different marketsEncounter and solve different commercial challenges Read, analyze and react to different news sourcesNetwork with different peers, managers and out-of-industry contactsAttend and learn from different events, conferences and trainingsDevelop different methodologies, approaches and valuesThe sum of these factors – plus many others – creates a unique profile. If the prominent characteristics of this profile can be accurately and regularly shared with a relevant community, the result is the development of a personal brand. How does it help?The way we develop our professional personas can have a direct impact on our ability to exert influence, attract opportunity and ultimately drive sales.An easy way to understand personal brand in action is to take a moment to think about the people we would turn to in our personal lives for guidance or advice.They often have a lot in common with one another.They’re usually people we trust, people with integrity, experienced in the field in which we’re asking for assistance, and – if they’re outside of our immediate circle – people we’ve heard positive things about from our own close contacts.Personal brand in business replicates this pattern, and helps professionals in all disciplines to establish a reputation in their domain which draws business and opportunity towards them. That reputation can differ greatly from one individual to the next.One person’s personal brand may be anchored in work ethic, another’s in innovation.Someone else may build their brand around thought leadership within a niche field.Whatever the foundation, personal brand provides people with a platform from which to communicate with an engaged audience – ultimately creating the opportunity to impart advice, generate discussion, facilitate introductions, share content or recommend a purchase.How do you build your brand?Although the power of personal brand lies in its authenticity, it does require careful definition in order to be consistently communicated.  As with any brand, this exercise involves some fundamental categorization:Your audienceWho is it that you help, what is the market sector in which you hope to attract a following and develop a reputation?Your valueWhat core problem do you solve, and what value does your network and audience derive from their connection to you?Your authorityWhat is your credibility founded on, what is your experience and what have you accomplished?Your identityWhat’s your story, what are you passionate about, and how does this fit your brand narrative?Defining and brand and inventing a brand are not the same thing.Where inventing implies plucking a set of values from thin air in order to create a desired (and unsubstantiated) veneer, definition means working out what’s at the heart of your professional identity and making sure brand-building activities are aligned with this. ***Once you’ve defined your personal brand, it’s time to put yourself out there and engage with your audience. Opportunities to develop brand identity are all around, as long as activity supports brand objectives by sharing relevant value with a target audience.Common steps to build personal brand include:TwitterLinkedIn (articles, vlogs, groups and thread discussions)Podcasts (personal and guest participation)YouTube channels (explainer videos, Q&As, tutorials, reviews)WebinarsBlogs (corporate blogs, Medium articles, industry publication guest blogging)Meetups and networking events (hosting, organizing and attending)Conference and event participation (panel moderation, roundtable participation, keynote speaking)Whether it’s solving a specific business problem, reposting an article or patting yourself on the back by sharing positive customer feedback, there are abundant opportunities to connect your daily professional experience with your target audience in a way that creates value for them while strengthening your persona. Telling stories, teaching and entertaining all help to reflect your values and interests.Build the right connections with the right people, and the rewards will soon follow. ***Adaptive Tech recruits on behalf of high-growth SaaS vendors, filling roles at all levels including SDR, CSM, AE, Sales Engineering, VP and more.You can check out Adaptive Tech's SaaS sales vacancies in our job listings here.

Money-maker or deal-breaker – is your LinkedIn profile optimized to help you sell?A busy sales rep’s LinkedIn profile gets views from hundreds of people for hundreds of different reasons, reaching far beyond direct prospects checking them out online.Every post, comment, like or share reverberates through the online community of 500m+ members, and building a powerful profile that pro-actively contributes to pushing new and existing prospects along the sales funnel can be an investment worth many thousands of dollars in its cumulative impact.Looking to turn your LinkedIn profile from a static bio into a lead-gen engine?Here are the essentials:1. PhotoOK, let’s get through this one fast - LinkedIn profile photos have the simple purpose of presenting you as an approachable professional.You might be amazed that this point even makes our list, but… let’s just say that there are some wide-ranging interpretations out there of what this concept might mean.Remember, the function of your photo is to help bridge the gap that exists from not meeting your customer in person.So, if your picture shows you cropped out from a blurry wedding group photo, behind reflective ski goggles or zoomed out to 1,000 yards on top of a mountain peak, you’re creating a needless barrier that can be solved with a neutral background and a cell phone camera.Easy fix.2. Banner imageYour profile’s banner image is freely available advertising space – why not make use of it?As a minimum, it should represent your brand for top-of-mind awareness – ideally with your company’s tagline.At best, have your marketing team create a banner image that delivers an elevator pitch of your offering, compelling headline sales data, an engaging screen capture or a client quote. What’s likely to move prospects down the funnel faster – a generic cityscape backdrop or a powerful customer testimonial?3. HeadlineLinkedIn offers you the chance to customize your ‘headline’. This is not the same as your current job title – it’s what sits at the top of your profile, and what people will see when you pop up in their news feeds.To get the most out of it, tell people about the results you create, not your job function.Who’s going to get a foot in the door faster with target prospects in the video adtech space?'Account Executive' or 'Helping marketers improve ROI on video ad spend'Quick hint – it’s best not to go overboard here. Remember to keep it intelligible and relevant. You’ll see plenty of quirky and well-intentioned headlines that actually confuse more than they help, e.g. "Delighting customers with awesome user experiences"OK... so what do you do?4. SummaryYour summary sits right under your photo and is the centrepiece of your profile.This is your chance to promote your solution - not yourself.As well as an engaging overview of your product and how it helps customers, remember you can drive prospects to even more compelling sales materials – product overview videos, customer testimonials etc.Use specific page links - don’t make prospects work to find good information about your offering.If you want to frame your solution with some context about the company behind your product, try and keep it concise.A deluge of stats about growth, investment, awards etc. can obstruct your key message – the problem you solve for your customers.5. ActivityThis is where prospects can see what you’re up to on the LinkedIn platform.If you’re a real solutions expert in a niche community, that should shine through – what do you like, what do you share?What do you comment on, what do you say?Who do you engage with?Details like this can be the difference between prospects returning calls or answering emails… if they look for evidence that you’re engaged with your community but your profile is a ghost town – you have to work that much harder.6. ExperienceWhen top sales reps summarize their experience, they find a way to intertwine their experience with results they’ve achieved for their customers.You can still showcase your personal performance, but take a look at the difference below:'Exceeded sales quota by 15% for 3x consecutive years' vs 'Exceeded sales quota by 15% for the 3x consecutive years, helping over 120 accounting firms save an average of 30% on payroll processing costs'7. MediaAttaching media to your profile (in the form of flyers, product overviews, data sheets etc.) is a chance to get any visitor who lands on your profile to explore your product.It often takes weeks of emails, calls, voicemails and old-school prospecting to get a chance to show a prospect the highlights of your solution – why miss the chance if they’re on your profile, ready to learn?Just make sure it’s up to date, and work with marketing to ensure content is evergreen. Outdated market reports, product releases or company news weaken your relevance and can do more harm than good.8. RecommendationsWhile you’re not in control of any unsolicited recommendations graciously bestowed by benevolent co-workers or customers, it’s common practice for mutually respecting peers or business associates to request recommendations to round out their profile.If you do pro-actively seek recommendations (plenty of people do), it’s worth asking if connections can reference your business impact as well as your personal qualities.Again, the difference can be powerful:'Helen was a pleasure to work with - responsive and professional' vs 'Helen was a pleasure to work with - responsive, professional, and helped us dramatically reduce the amount of time we spent finding key data across our organization.'***Adaptive Tech recruits on behalf of high-growth SaaS vendors, filling roles at all levels including SDR, CSM, AE, Sales Engineering, VP and more.You can check out Adaptive Tech's SaaS sales vacancies in our job listings here.

Could these mistakes be undermining your SaaS prospecting efforts?Successful software sales rep are hardwired to close opportunity – from identifying customer pain points to deftly managing price negotiations, the art of converting potential into revenue is the bread and butter of top-achieving sales professionals in all areas of the tech market.Building that pipeline of opportunity, however, is a different ball game.To close deals, you need deals to close – and creating the initial traction needed to get dialogue open can be a sticking point for reps trying to load up their sales funnels – especially those on the front lines of new customer acquisition.  Whether via email, social media, in-person networking or route one cold-calling – here are 5 prospecting blunders that keep valuable conversations from getting off the ground.Clickbait subject linesGetting busy prospects to engage with cold emails is a tough challenge, and innovative reps are often willing to try anything which generates the all-important open.However, there can be a price to pay on an emotional level if a prospect opens an email and immediately feels that they’ve been tricked or misled by what it contains.The below are just a handful of examples of common cold email titles that immediately arouse suspicion in the recipient:“Just for you…”[An offer for all email blast recipients – not just for me, at all…]“Re:”[Regarding… a conversation we’ve never had?]“The real reason you’re stressed out at work” [What if I’m not…?]As the sales rep, a bait-and-switch email subject line can be counter productive.You may have found right person, have a product of real value and have persuaded your recipient to open your email… but if your prospect’s immediate reaction is one of frustration then the opportunity dies right there.While it’s tempting to ‘get creative’ to drive open rates, integrity has long-term value – if your prospect loses trust upon opening your email, why would they believe the rest of its contents or your wider value proposition?Telling your prospect what their problems are“As marketing director, you’re well aware of the time drains X and Y can cause. You’re running from meeting to meeting, scrambling to keep pace with ABC…”Effective sales is about learning to understand your prospect’s pain points and working with them to find a solution.Here’s the thing – you don’t get to choose those pain points.You might have a very strong suspicion of what they are - and guide the conversation in that direction - but if you’re attempting to build a reciprocal dialogue with a customer then it’s important not to make sweeping assumptions.Why?Prospecting engagement is about encouraging someone to come and talk to you – the quality of your conversation and your ability to offer a solution will determine whether that discussion evolves into a sale.If you present yourself as a mind-reader who has it all figured out, you create the opposite dynamic.How can your prospect expect you to listen and learn in follow-up conversations if you start the relationship telling them about their life without even speaking to them?Information overloadWhether via email or in a call, blasting someone with every possible feature of your solution is typically more overwhelming than it is helpful.When unsure of exactly what a customer’s problem may be, it can be tempting for sales reps to load their email and demo pitches with every major product benefit to make sure they cover all angles, backed up with links to case studies and online resources.Instead of impressing the customer, this can cause them to lose focus in a mire of information.To better balance your initial approach, hint at what your product can do (a tight elevator pitch is key here!), then open the conversation up with some questions to probe for pain points and opportunity. There’s a reason terms like “lead nurturing” exist – prospecting involves the gradual cultivation of initial interest into targeted and detailed discussions around solutions to certified customer issues. Being too laid backSales reps with high emotional intelligence are permanently aware of the risk of pressuring a prospect too hard – excessive zeal to move the process along can drive potentially interested customers away.However, the reverse is also true. Some reps are so cautious to avoid hustling their prospects that their easy-going attitude can come across as indifference.While not pestering a prospect is crucial, it’s also important to establish a clear dynamic – customers need to feel that you truly believe that your solution will help them.If you don’t care whether or not they buy your product, why should they?Without that core belief as a foundation for the dialogue, there will be no pace and no energy in the process, and it may well die out.Not making the case for ROIThere’s often a perception that early prospecting engagements are no place to be talking about ROI – that’s a level of detail for when you’re further down the discussion path, right?Wrong.People need to understand from day one how your solution will help the bottom line – at least at a high level. Sure, they don’t need a complex mathematical breakdown, but entirely ignoring how your solution will pay for itself in productivity, revenue-generation or cost-saving benefits immediately positions it as a nice-to-have add-on.That’s a tough category to be in – you’ll need a prospect with surplus budget to even consider checking out your product.Keep in mind, when prospecting within large corporations you’re very rarely talking to the ultimate decision-maker straight away, so helping your initial contact feel confident that they can ultimately make a sound business case to get sign-off for your solution gives them the confidence that it’s worth exploring the offering in full.***Looking for your next SaaS sales opportunity? Check out Adaptive Tech's full list of sales jobs across the US and Europe here.We recruit for AEs, CSMs, SDRs, VPs and Sales Engineers across fast-growing and established SaaS vendors at all levels.