Recognize success by making sure name is recognizable

Here is a question I've received more than a hundred times in one form or another: How do I make a (better) name for myself?

In sales it's not who you know, in sales it's who knows you.

The challenge is not just making a name for yourself or building your brand; it's building the components that generate that name.

How do you achieve more recognition, more fame and a better reputation in your market and your community? Those are the elements that lead to a better name for both company and individual.

There are no easy answers. And there are very few answers that don't require commitment, planning, and work -- hard work.

GOOD NEWS: Most salespeople are not willing to do the hard work it takes to make selling easy. So if you're willing, you move to the top 10 percent. And if you execute, you're in the top 5 percent.

MAJOR CLUE: How do you tell the whiners from the winners? The whiners are complaining about everything and they're worried about "losing their job." The winners are planning to win, believing they'll win, and taking action. Which are you?

BETTER NEWS: When the economy is in transition (that's a nice way to put it, isn't it?), it's the easiest time for you to make a change, and execute new ideas.

There are the things you must begin to put in place now. Below are actions that lead to long-term name building that must be implemented, and built on.

None of these elements are "do now and forget about." They are "do now, do tomorrow, and do forever."

- Create a weekly e-zine that features valuable information and highlights your customers. Look at my weekly e-mail magazine Sales Caffeine, www.salescaffeine.com. Look at an issue and emulate the process in your weekly e-zine.

- Register www.(your name).com today. It's only $10. If it's taken, put "The Great" or "the one and only" in front of it. Get your Web address, your URL address, registered today. The world is on the Web. It's the growth and the future of commerce. Be on it, or be gone.

- Invest in a small but powerful Web site that looks like something people would read, admire, tell others about, and buy from. Start with a one-page Web site that talks about, "how I treat my customers." Make a list of the 10 most valuable things you are dedicated to. Later you can add pages, pictures, graphics, and pizzazz.

- Be 100 percent more active. This means hitting both the phone and the send button. Make 10 calls a day that have value, and send 25 e-mails that have meaning to the recipient. Build relationships and earn referrals.

- Write something that puts you in front of customers and prospects. Put an article in your trade publication or your chamber magazine. Writing leads to your recognition as an expert and an authority.

- Give a speech or three at civic organizations. Speaking leads to perceived leadership. (Afraid of speaking? Join Toastmasters and register for a Dale Carnegie course.)

- Blog to show your human side. Make your blog a family affair. Show your person, your personality, your passion.

- YouTube. Video your value proposition. Video your testimonials. Video your philosophy of sales and service. Post your videos on YouTube. Your customers and prospects will find them, and find you more attractive than your (lazy) competitors.

- Get involved in your community. Pick one charity or one civic organization to get involved with and assert leadership in.

- Get Google-able. Wake up! Your customer is Googling you, just like you are Googling him. Your Web site, e-zine, article, speech, and community involvement will bring your name and your company's name to the top of the Google pile.

- Be a value provider, not a beggar, a solicitor, or a salesman. People will buy if they perceive your value. And they will spread the word, and your name.

TIME IS YOUR FRIEND: Be patient with it. Invest in it. Use it to your best advantage. To really build a name for yourself, it takes time. Lots of it. It takes commitment. Lots of it. And it takes consistency.

If you want to learn my secret for long-term name recognition and loyal customers, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you're a first-time visitor, and enter NAME in the GitBit box.

JEFFREY GITOMER IS THE AUTHOR OF THE SALES BIBLE AND THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF SELLING. PRESIDENT OF CHARLOTTE, N.C-BASED BUY GITOMER, HE GIVES SEMINARS, RUNS sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs at www.Trainone.Com. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.