Are you your walking billboard?
I think the late great Kobe Bryant said it best, “The most important thing is- you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real.”
Being a walking billboard is about making yourself the CHOICE and not the option.
Living in an age where consumers now have full control over who they want to do business with and when they choose to do business, the main goal as professionals and business owners should be to continuously deliver:
- Unused but usable content
- A memorable customer experience
Unused but Usable Content
Right now, you’re probably saying, “What the heck is unused but usable content?”
Welp, my first response is to tell you to ask yourself, do you ever find yourself being redundant?
Giving the same information everyone else in your industry is delivering?
Eventually, making yourself sound robotic to consumers places you in the category of being an option.
Instead, take the time to remember the unusual questions a potential or current client had asked when they finally got to sit with you. It may be unusual to you and seems like common sense because you are the professional.
But think about it, they’re asking you these questions because they haven’t been able to find the answer to their question anywhere else. If they are asking this particular question, think about how many others may have this same question in mind.
Now guess what we’ve discovered – “unused but usable content.” This is the beginning of making you the CHOICE and not just an option.
Now the next stage is about connecting your subconscious behaviors with your conscious behaviors and recognizing what others hear, see, and feel when they interact with you, online and offline.
We hear so often in marketing “the customer experience” and “brand loyalty.”
But what does that truly mean?
Don’t turn the page just yet; I promise you I have some unused but usable content for you to inhale, lol.
I like to say that a memorable experience begins with being relatable.
Although, as sales professionals, your main goal is to get the sale, you must remember that consumers have a world of options via their smartphones.
So developing a personable and relatable experience is the key to making you that authoritative figure for their needs.
Memorable Customer Experiences
So you’re probably yelling at the words saying, “ok, give us the next key to being relatable.”
Ok, I won’t make you wait any longer.
I like to call this method the simple sandwich method: SYMPATHY vs. EMPATHY plus compassion.
Yep, that’s it!
It’s the simple sandwich method that puts you on the road to becoming the choice and not the option.
As sales professionals, you have to remember sympathy only shows feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune. It shows compassion.
But empathy puts you in the shoes of others and shows your ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy allows others to unguard themselves and become less offensive because you’ve made yourself human and relatable.
You’ve shown them that they’re not just another dollar sign in your monthly sales goal.
Seal the Deal with Compassion
No, I haven’t forgotten to tell you about the final ingredient, compassion.
Compassion is how you seal the deal.
It shows concern for the problem and tells them that you have a proven solution to their problem.
Remember, don’t just sell the product – sell the relatable experience.
People want to do business with those they look like or those they want to be like.
If you fully trust in your product or service, I’m sure you’ve experienced how it’s helped you in some way.
Allow yourself to become transparent when building the relationship and become the choice, never the option.
As I always say – “Brand loyalty is trust in the experience” – Kenyetta L. Gordon.
About the Author:
Kenyetta Gordon is a 2021 OutBound speaker. She is a brand marketing consultant, published author, speaker, and corporate trainer with a passion to see businesses create legacies. Kenyetta provides strategic interactive training programs that will create stand out brands online and offline building trust within your company and what you have to offer.
