[USER=3]@Jeff Kershner[/USER] thanks for the shout out. I'm so glad we were able to connect at DSES.
As you are already aware, there are a handful of vendors claiming to have the latest and greatest widget, gizmo or app to help sales people brand themselves - some are pretty cool ... others, meh! I actually had someone approach me at DSES offering to show me a "Personal Branding App" -- This made the hair on the back of my neck stand up ... and not because of the App ... but because of the belief that an App can be held accountable for personal branding.
Personal branding isn't something you do --- it's everything you do! The pros who have experienced long-lasting success selling cars get that. They understand that technology is HOW they position themselves so the people who need to know them, can find them. The real superstars have a very clear & consistent personal brand strategy that includes WHO they are as individual contributor [and] WHAT they want to accomplish in their career - that's how they are able to put themselves where their ideal customers are -- and sell a shit load of cars (consistently).
We're a highly intellegent group of automotive professionals that work extremely hard to solve problems with technology, but what we're really dealing with is a fragmented understanding of WHAT personal branding is [coupled] with a people problem --- a lack of willingness and intrinsic motivation.
I would love to report that there's an awesome new gadget that's taking the automotive industry by storm -- but I've got nothing. I believe that there is already a ton of awesome technology available to salespeople - but without buy-in (aka: having an understanding of what's in it for me from an intrinsic level) ... the widget, gizmo or accountability app's that the dealers keep investing in will eventually become obsolete.
*Word on the street is that something is BIG is coming...and it includes "personal brand strategy" support. Stay tuned! DealerRefresh will be the first to hear about it...
