The most successful companies and people have a brand identity that puts them in the spotlight. If you search the internet, you’ll find the visual elements such as logo, colors, fonts, and tag line as a definition of brand. But brand is more than words on a page and visual elements – it’s the personality of you or your company. It’s an intangible that communicates who you are and your values.
How do you communicate that personality and the expectations associated with your brand experience? Here are three things that you can do to communicate that message and increase your chance of standing in the spotlight with your customer.
#1 All Successful Companies and People have a Brand Logline
“What’s that?” you say? A logline is one to three sentences that that sums up you or your company. It helps customers identify how you differentiate yourself or how you stand out in the crowd. It’s a little longer than your tag line. It helps you brand yourself or your business and ensures your story aligns with the image you want to create.
In their book StorySelling™ Nanton and Dicks tell us that the logline should have 4 key elements: Simplicity, Authenticity, Visibility and Relevancy. To help you create your log line consider things you would tell about yourself in a “Who I Am” or “Who We Are” story.
Think of Steve Jobs and how he turned presentations into an experience, or motivational guru Tony Robbins who speaks with such emotion. Attributes you want to include in your story would be things like loyalty, honesty, respectfulness, trustworthiness, ethical conduct, and fairness. How are you or your company different? How do you live these characteristics?
Don’t just think at 50,000 feet with things like faster delivery or customer service. Think how you actually provide that quality that sets you apart. What are you committed to doing for your customer? Not just “I’ll be there every step of the way,” but things like I’ll personally oversee the installation and implementation.”
Do you have a special title or icon? Jeff Walker is the Internet Launch guy. Mike Stewart is the audio guy. I am known as the Queen of Selling with Storytelling. My students used to say I was the Joan Rivers of sales training. What are you known for that will set you apart from others in your industry? Once you have that logline, it must be consistent across all of your communications media, internet, direct mail, signage, phone, or in-person communications to create a consistent brand image that puts you in the spotlight.
#2 Successful People and Companies Tell Stories
Successful people in all industries know that storytelling is a way of communicating that allows us to know each other and make an emotional and genuine connection. They increase likeability and generate trust.
Whether you want your audience to become aware, interested or take an action, a good story reaches them at a much deeper emotional and sensory level than the usual PowerPoint presentation or speech.
Stories are a top persuasion technique. They not only tell who you are, but also things like the positive experience of others who have bought from you. They can also warn customers of the dangers ahead if they don’t take action. And leaders use stories to build a culture, create a team and educate both employees and customers.
There are hundreds of business stories but it’s crucial to learn the basic types of stories and how they help you build a brand and win business. They are: Who I Am, What’s In It For Me?, Vision, Teaching, Values, and “I Know What You’re Thinking”. You can learn more about them in our eBook on our site (http://www.salestrainingsolutions.com/freestuff).
#3 All Successful People Practice and Present with Presence
Studies at Harvard University and by independent researchers have shown that the strongest predictor of who will win the business, the vote, get the job or change the mind of the listener is presence which includes these traits: confidence, comfort level, and passionate enthusiasm.
What are some things you can do to develop a strong presence? First, know your topic and whatever story you plan to include in your presentation. Ensure you’re organized and prepared. Practice is the loneliest job in the world. But it’s extremely rewarding. Professionals actually spend 20 times more time rehearsing than actually presenting.
Steve Jobs was known to be relentless. Other professionals like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Leonardo DiCaprio are also relentless in the practice of their craft. Get feedback when possible so you can identify areas that require revision or polish.
Dressing authentically so you can be seen and heard as who you are will add to your comfort level. You won’t feel like a fake that followed advice from a book or presentation and created something that you are not. You will need to appear professional, polished and tidy but still show up as your true self. Then you will be aligned inside and out.
Tidiness and authenticity are also crucial to keeping the attention of visitors to your website, brick and mortar business, as well as your marketing materials.
You can also use power posing. The poses have been the topic of a highly rated TED talk by Amy Cuddy. They actually change your mindset and create the feeling of being in control of the situation. When you feel in control and are not focused on impressing your listener but on communicating a message that you believe in, you will communicate presence, confidence and authenticity to your listener. This will allow you to reach their hearts and minds with your message and persuade them to buy your product, service or support your idea. We will share more about it in our upcoming podcast.
Summary
Review your branding messages and your sales processes. Then take one step at a time to create a log line, develop your story and build a brand image. Be true to yourself and continue to work to continuously improve and be your personal best.
About the Author: Phyllis Mikolaitis is a sales coach, author and speaker with over 30 years’ global experience. She is dedicated to taking you beyond the typical “how to” courses to the heart of persuasion techniques incorporating insights and stories to win the sale. Visit Phyllis and her business partner John Switzer at www.salestrainingsolutions.com where you can learn more about storytelling and sales skills. You can get our free eBook on Storytelling, the Secret to Success when you sign up for our by-monthly newsletter.
One thought on “3 Ways to Put Your Brand in the Spotlight”
Really a wonderful blog. All three elements are critical, but I find myself landing on #3 – Practice and Presence. As my basketball coach used to drill into our heads, “You play like you practice.” When you practice hard enough to not need to focus on remembering, you are free to be present.