5 reasons why a Professional Salesperson needs a blog

Happy Friday!

I had a really interesting conversation today.  While I have always promoted blogging and online publishing as a way to Build Authority, I realized that this message may be perceived as something just for businesses or personal endeavors.
The conversation was with a salesperson working for a company. His view was that it was his employer that should have a blog. His employer should build the Authority. His employer should invest the time and energy in building authority, trust and keeping the customer. My response, “So, you are telling me you are an order taker. You’re clearly not a sales professional.” You could hear the crickets from across the room.

The reality is, there are a lot of sales people out there with a similar attitude. They think that they are there to sell a product or service and the the provider (their employer) is responsible for the rest. The thing is, this is just plain wrong!

A sales professional knows that the customer or client is investing in them. Sure, they are purchasing a good or service. But, for the true professional, they provide Authority in either the vertical industry, the technology of the product or the execution of the service. The professional salesperson is most definitely not a hired order taker.

So, why is it that so many professional sales people haven’t gone through the effort to brand themselves online? Why do so few have blogs with consistent posts that establish their credibility as an expert in their vertical, technology or execution?

The answer: Most don’t know where to start. Blogging is easy if you know the steps. This site has many articles including https://whyistartedablog.com/blogging-a-step-by-step-guide/ to go through the process.

There are 5 reasons a salesperson needs a blog of their own.

1. Establish themselves personally as an Authority in their area of expertise.
2. Maintain lifetime customers: A professional has lifetime customers that often follow them from employer to employer. If there is a job change next year, is it easy for the clients that have entrusted you with delivering quality products and services to find you?
3. Create a reason to contact a prospect.  Most sales take time. Most sales require regular engagement to establish trust. eMailing your prospects with your blog posts consistently (but not constantly) keeps you personally top-of-mind and maintains the perception of your authority. Is your employer doing this for you? If so, great…but see #2. If not, which is easier: Doing this yourself and creating long term relationships or getting your current employer to do it?
4. Build an Authoritative Portfolio.  Blogging is a cumulative effort. Over time, the consistent posting of useful articles and related content develops a strong foundation that can be used to create whitepapers, long form emails and potentially a book. Many authors start their manuscript with accumulated blog posts.
5. Share a personal side. A prospect needs to get to know you. When you find your voice and inject personal details with your expertise, a bond is established with a reader. This makes it so much easier to “break the ice” at your next face-to-face encounter.

Give it a try! Start a blog! If you are do-it-yourself type, start here.

If you are in any way shy about technology, we can do it for you for no charge. You just need hosting and a domain. https://whyistartedablog.com/free-blog-setup/

If at any point this is just too overwhelming, you can always “Ask John”.

Have a great weekend!

John