September 23rd, 2016

Branded: Customer Success

What is a brand? We talk about brands on a daily basis reflecting and relating to the products we choose to buy and the services we choose to utilise. With visual and audio advertising maturing and developing pulling on your heart-strings and your desires constantly, we are forever succumbing to the promises of an improved experience. Products and services therefore are easy to associate a brand with - but what about people? What about you? What does your personal brand say about you? Do you even have one? What do you want people to associate with you - what qualities do you want to demonstrate?

So what is a brand when it comes to people? For me, a former Director of Recruitment I worked with previously summed it perfectly: "your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room". You are a brand and your name with your colleagues, and with your customers will evoke an emotion and what that emotion is depends on your behaviours. In the world of customer success where so much value is attached to the relationships between individuals your brand goes a long way to being successful. 

Your personal brand is your commitment to your customer and to your colleagues. It is a statement that reflects your beliefs, your values and your opinions. Your personal brand needs to be relevant to what industry or business you are seeking to penetrate, or the persona you are trying to build of yourself. What could be the ultimate aim?

• Ensure you are noticed by the right people, at the right time for the right reason
• Build your credibility around an industry, a subject or business 
• Have a social media profile that evidences and enhances your credibility 

So if you have an aim, you should be ready to consciously create your plan and build your brand. But, where do you start?

• Discover & Understand - Don't be shy to ask your peers and colleagues how they perceive you. Analyse yourself honestly - how do you behave in groups, how do you interact on social media, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses?
• Who do you look up to? - When you look at your network whos qualities do you want to replicate? Look at those skills and qualities, list them and build a plan to develop them through training, mentoring, etc.
• Social Media - What does your social media profile say about you? Are you even active on social media? As a Customer Success professional the bare minimum is a LinkedIn profile that is well structured, relevant and up to date. However, in today's working environment a voyeuristic approach to social media isn't enough. You need to be contributing and participating in conversations and debates, offering opinions and sharing best practices. Creating a blog is a great way to get your views and opinions heard, and communicating your beliefs.
•  Networking - Get out of the office, get out of the comfort of meeting and talking to the same people and widen your network. There are a number of local, national and international networking opportunities with industry and professional events on a weekly basis.

Customer Success, selling, and general business is all about people and relationships so ensure people come to you knowing what you are about; knowing what your brand is.  What are you waiting for.....go and get branded!