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Professional Diploma in Sales

Become the hero of

your own story
Lesson 3: Summary Notes

PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA IN SALES

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Contents
3 Lesson outcomes

An understanding of the importance on how to

build product knowledge

6 Why your personal brand is important

9 How to start building your brand

12 References
Lesson outcomes
• An understanding of the importance, and guidance on
how to build product knowledge
• Why your personal brand is important?
• How to start building your brand

Introduction
There are currently an estimated 21 million
qualified salespeople listed across the world, and
by 2025 this number will rise to 25 million. With
companies expanding into new markets across
the globe, salespeople will remain a vital part
of many types of businesses and their growth.
As a sales professional, your opportunities to
join businesses that are expanding, will also
continuously grow, but so will your competition.
And, this also counts for the role that you are Building product knowledge,
already in. Business remains competitive in many
aspects, especially a sales environment, and you
and why it’s important.
need to be able to differentiate yourself from the Why is product knowledge so important?
rest of the candidates rooting for your job, and
your customers. Being the expert in your field,
We need to be able to establish what problem we are trying
and thriving through your own personal brand,
to solve, and why our product or service would be a good
are key elements to becoming the hero of your
[Link] astute salesperson understands that product
own, your company and your customer’s story.
knowledge is a key element to solving your customer’s
problems and differentiating yourself from your competitor.
As a salesperson, your overall goal should be to:

• Ask the right questions in order to identify the need or problem of your prospect/potential customer,
• Then, according to their answers, match your products/services to the identified need,
• Finally, you need to position your solution in a way that outshines your competitor’s product or services that may have
already been made available to the prospect.

But what happens when there is “no problem’’? Here’s some food for thought:

“It’s not that they can’t see the solution, it’s that they can’t see the problem.”
- G.K. Chesterton

This is where asking the right questions plays a huge role in finding the right solution to a problem that your prospect may not
even know about yet.

Salespeople tend to very quickly jump onto a potential problem that their solution can solve. However, a lot of the time it may
only be a “symptom” of a problem and not the “root cause”.

Think about it this way, you hear a rattle on your car - it could be due to something loose, or it could be a serious mechanical
issue. You arrive at the service dealership, you mention the rattle, explain a little more about when you hear and from where,
and immediately you are told you need a new engine.

What’s going to happen? You will become a little untrusting of the person you are dealing with because they haven’t properly
assessed the potential problem before prescribing a (very expensive) solution.

Salespeople who work with their prospects in identifying the root cause of their problem before offering just any solution,
tend to create stronger relationships, begin to build on their foundation of trust and are then seen as problem solvers. But
without product knowledge, you wouldn’t really know which questions to ask, as you wouldn’t really know which problems
your solution is solving.

Let me guide you through a few useful steps to build up your product knowledge:

1. Invest your time in learning about your products

a. Ask your sales team and manager about their favourite features, especially the ones that attract attention in
the market.
b. Understand the basic specification and features of your products or services. You may not know every single
detail, but you definitely have to know the basics.
2. Identify the problems you solve
a. Ask your sales team and manager about their experience in solving a customer’s problem with your product
or service.
b. Ask your manager about who else in the company (non-sales) you could talk to about how the product works. I have
found that having technical or operation deep dives with the respective teams are incredibly helpful.

3. Role play
a. This exercise has always been very useful to me in my career. When you’re in a team (and it can be a mix of sales &
operational or technical), it is so valuable to hear one another’s perspectives about why your company’s solutions add value
to the customer. Take turns playing the customer, and take note of any questions or answers that got that little light bulb lit
up. I have learnt so many news ways explaining value through hearing my peers talk about it.

4. Get to it
a. Begin reaching out to customers, even if your approach is to do a survey and just ask questions. There are many
ways you can be creative in learning about the problems you aim to solve.
b. It is important that you know the basics, but it’s not a catastrophe if you are not sure about advanced technical or
operational aspects. The best way to answer is then “let me find out a little more about that and I will get back to you as soon
as possible”. You do, however, need to realise that you are their source of information - so just always keep that in mind.

5. Other ways of building your product knowledge include:

a. Ask for more training from your manager
b. Check whether your company has any existing case studies, or internal case studies you could learn from
c. Check the market for any online use cases or case studies regarding your products/services

Remember, you want to create a positive experience, and being a useful resource to a prospect comes down to being an expert
in your field.

NOTES

Why is a personal brand important, and how do we build

one?
This topic is also very relevant to enhancing that overall experience of a prospect’s interaction with you. There seems to be a
common misconception that a brand is just a good looking logo and name. Well, it’s definitely much more than that. You - as a
brand - are also about a whole lot more than just your title and the company that you work for.

So what is a brand?

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, says: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” So in

short, it’s the way people identify you - your reputation.

Brand building is a continuous process, and the more effort you put in - the stronger your brand will be. But brandbuilding
develops over time, just like any new brand. That means that if you start building your brand today - then you’re off to a really
good start.

Let’s think of it from a personal perspective - let’s say that you have a hairdresser you have been using for years. You know their
style, their personality and most of all you trust them with something important - your hair! That hairstylist is his or her own
brand too - and it would be very difficult for you to even consider trying to find a new one.

Now, you may be wondering why are we talking about hair? Well, this is what I want you to keep in mind when you are building
the brand of “you”.
A customer’s overall perception of your business is what defines your company’s brand, and a customer’s overall perception of
you - is what defines your personal brand. What is it that makes you unique, and what will it take for that prospect to call you
before anyone else when the time comes to do business?
Years ago in a sales training session, this concept of building my own brand really resonated with me. The challenge was for
each of us to pick one brand - any brand from any company in any industry - and this one brand needs to represent who we are
as individuals.

I had team members that picked VW, because of it being renowned for its precision. Others picked brands like Apple, Polo and
many more. At that time, and still very much today, I picked Google as my brand identifier. The reason for picking Google is
because I see myself as “colourful”, reliable and always innovating and reinventing myself.
How that relates to my customers or prospects, is that in being colourful - they will always have a pleasant experience in dealing
with me. Being reliable means that they can depend on me to provide them with solutions that they need - not that I want to
sell. I want to be their problem solver. And being innovative in my approach means that my customers are always confident
that I am looking for new ways to improve their business. See how that all ties into my brand?

So I want you all to think about what brand you resonate with, and a good way to do this is by asking some of your current as
well as past colleagues about what they think your best traits are. You may be surprised by the answers, but you will definitely
pick up on one or two (maybe even more) traits or characteristics that are repeated by various individuals. This is your starting
block, your foundation to building onto your personal brand.

So what is the purpose of a brand?

• Why do you exist?

• Why should you exist?
• What problem are you solving?
• Why should people care?

Interestingly enough, studies show that 50% of consumers worldwide say they now buy based on a company’s brand
values and impact.

“Consumers just want to buy from good companies — companies that are doing right by people and the planet. The
brands we buy are extensions of our personal brands — they’re manifestations of how we want to be seen in the world.”
Suzanne Shelton, CEO of Shelton Group

A gentleman by the name of Simon Sinek has another great perspective on the power of why. He says that: People
don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

The Golden Circle concept can help in identifying the purpose behind anything in business or life, really. Simon’s
theory about the power of why has changed his outlook on how the world works. He believes that the success of many
great and inspiring leaders and organisations around the world is due to them doing things very differently from
everyone else. Simon has decoded the way that these leaders and organisations think, act and communicate in the
same way.
This is where the golden circle comes in. We take a look at the following aspects:
• Why?
• How?
• What?
This idea explains why some organisations and leaders are able to inspire where others aren’t.
Everyone knows what they do. Some know how they do it - whether this is how you define your value proposition or unique
selling points. But very few people or organisations know why they do what they do. And by why, Simon doesn’t mean to make
a profit - that’s a result. Why is what your purpose is - why does your organisation exist and why should people care?

As humans we tend to think, act and communicate from the outside in, from the what to the why. But the inspired leaders and
organisations, regardless of their size or industry - all think, act and communicate from the inside out.

Here’s an example:
If Apple were like everyone else, their marketing message would be like this:
What: We make great computers.
How: They’re beautifully designed and user-friendly. Want to
buy one?

Here’s how Apple, actually communicates:

Why: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.
How: The way we change the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed and user friendly. We just
happen to make great computers - want to buy one?

That messaging is very different and comes back down to Simon’s statement of “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why
you do it. This explains why many people are comfortable buying a computer from Apple. But it also explains why people are
also comfortable buying an MP3 player from Apple, or a phone from Apple, or a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) from Apple. Their
competitors are all equally qualified to make these products, but people continue to buy from them.

The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to business with people who believe in
what you believe. As a salesperson, helping your prospects understand the why, and communicating the why before the what
will ultimately result in a stronger foundation of trust and loyalty.

NOTES

How to build a brand and a few great examples of personal

brand success stories.
The core principles

Now we know that we know why a brand is important - and at a high-level, how to resonate with other brands, let’s take a look
at some of the steps you need to take to keep building a strong personal brand.

There are many self-help articles and books out there about building your personal brand, but the one I am going with today is
taken from [Link].

1. Competitive advantage: Developing a strong persona will give you that advantage. Focus first on your personal brand
and purpose.

2. Define your mission statement: Think about a short sentence that helps people understand your core beliefs and
values. For example, my name is Vanesse and I thrive on providing expert advice to my customers and being someone that they
can always rely on.

3. Explain how the past fits into the present: This is where a bit of story-telling comes in. Part of defining your brand is
to realise your professional and personal evolution. Here, you can put together a brief explanation of your overall career,
interests and life progression.

4. Create a unique style: Another way to quite literally stand out is by your actual style. Think about someone who always
wears a certain scarf or the same colour clothing. Also, think about small accents that would become your “signature” that
people always remember you by, whether it’s a trendy cufflink, bracelet or even tasteful nail art - just add that little something
unique to your everyday wear.
5. Find your elevator pitch: Your goal for your personal brand is to always leave a strong first impression. When
networking, your “elevator pitch” would be a short verbal statement that describes who you are.
6. Own your name online, but don’t over-promote yourself: Make sure that your online profiles reflect your brand,
especially those you use for networking. Also, be sure not to oversell yourself, or oversell anything. Remember that fine line
between confidence and egotistical - it’s good to always keep that in mind.

7. Power in word of mouth: This is a powerful tool in any regard, everything we’ve covered today leads up to building a
strong reputation, so don’t forget to ask prospects to keep you in mind when asked for recommendations.

8. Share your knowledge: Creating and sharing content is a powerful way to showcase your brand’s opinions and ideas.
Even if you are only sharing your company’s most recent LinkedIn post, there is an opportunity to add your thoughts and
opinions to it. Make sure it always reflects your brand.

9. Build relationships with influencers: This is one of the most important activities to build your brand and will bolster
your reputation and network. As a salesperson, this should be core to developing your network, and in fact, might even be a
little easier for you due to the fact that you are constantly exposed to people of all titles in various fields and industries. A strong
network of respectable, successful leaders, is sure to make a good impression.

Now you’re armed and ready to start working on your own personal brand strategy! - and then tie that into your sales role and
career goals.

Here are a few personal branding success stories, just to get you even more revved up to get cracking on your personal
branding. • Oprah remains consistent in her personal brand
throughout the years, and her personal brand is
what has made her a billionaire.
Seth Godin Sir Richard Branson

• Author of The Purple Cow, and many other • Richard Branson = there is a strong
fantastic books. association with his personal brand, and the
• One of the world’s most influential marketing brand that is Virgin.
experts, Seth Godin sold his business to Yahoo! In • His personal, and business brand missions
1998 for about $30 million and became Yahoo’s are very similar in a sense that they will go
vice president of direct marketing, above and beyond, and go against the
• Seth has become the “Master of short Blogs”. He norms, to build something amazing.
recently published his 7000th blog! Time • There is a strong sense of trust when it
Magazine named it in the Top 25 Best Blogs. comes to both his personal and business
Godin has over a million subscribers. brands. Through his transparency about his
Oprah Winfrey business, very engaging attitude with his
employees and customers, there is little fault
• She is recognised worldwide in almost any household. to find in his values and beliefs.
• Everybody gets one! The giver, Oprah’s “why” is “to be
a teacher and to be known for inspiring my students to
be more than they thought they could be”.
Guy Kawasaki • Yes, there is the famous “Rich dad, poor dad”, but
Guy is actually also the Chief Evangelist at Apple.
• Guy Kawasaki’s mission is to teach others how to be • He is also an Advisor to Motorola, and many other
successful and has built up solid trust through proving businesses.
this through his own success. • He has also written many books about
harnessing your skills.
Now that we’re all inspired, I challenge you all to go and figure out our own “why”, and then, figure out the “how”. Soon, you’ll
start to see why you should “own” being the hero of your own story!

NOTES
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References
Boyle, A. 50% of consumers worldwide say they now buy based on a company’s brand values and impact
[Link]

Influencer Marketing Hub: Personal Branding Success Story Examples

[Link]

Johnson, C. Personal branding success stories

[Link]
Group&text=Richard%20Branson’s%20playful%20and%20fun,adventurer%2C%20philanthropist%2C%20and%20
troublemaker%20%E2%80%A6

Patel, D. 10 Secrets to master your personal brand

[Link]

Powel, M. Strategies to increase product knowledge

[Link]

Sinek, S. The Golden Circle concept

[Link]

Tullius, T. 13 Stats that indicate purpose-driven brands are the future.

[Link]

Wikipedia: Seth Godin Biography

[Link]

NOTES

PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA IN SALES