Market Yourself, Not Your Company -- Part 2 of 3

By Paul McCord

The Individual Salespeople are Your Competition
In addition, your competition isn't that major company in your industry. You don't compete against Citibank or NY Life. Glaxo isn't your competitor. The individual salespeople who sell for Citibank, NY Life and Glaxo are your competition.

Selling in a relationship-driven industry requires you to develop and nurture relationships. Sales are made on a personal level, not by the magazine ads or the direct mail piece. Sales are made by you, not the company or its name.

This isn't to say that your company's name may not help create a bit of interest or give you some credibility. Nevertheless, that interest and credibility is insufficient to close a sale. Furthermore, it typically isn't even enough to secure an appointment.

That Merrill Lynch salesperson is digging for prospects and sales just as you are. That Glaxo rep is trying to get into the same offices and sell the same people you are.

Furthermore, if you're selling against Microsoft today, you just might be selling for Microsoft tomorrow.

In reality, you only have one thing of value to market: yourself. Prospects buy from the men and women they trust, not the ones they like or the ones with the big name company behind them.

From: "Who are You Marketing?" article
© 2007 Paul McCord
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