You have a brand name, a logo, a well designed website and are attracting interest in your product or service.

So far so good, as long as you remember that the marketing and branding is not only about what you are
offering but also includes you and your employees.
Nothing is more important than the people your clients interact with namely you and your staff – People buy
from people and this is something that is very often overlooked.
Be selective who you take on as employees, as the staff will set the tone of your business. You can have a great
business but if people think you are difficult to deal with, for example, even with the best product in the world
they could be driven to go elsewhere.

Very often when starting a business a small business owner will wear a few hats, that of the accountant,
salesman and manager but at some point in order to grow, one has to be able to delegate tasks and that
means taking on new staff. People sometimes resist taking on more staff because they worry that they won’t
do a particular task as good as they could. If that is really the case and it is important then keep that element
in your own role and give out other jobs.

As an example – let say you need more business, so you takes steps to employ a salesman? Have you
considered that just maybe you are most suited to do the sales ? It is you who really knows the product or
service and you would be the most enthusiastic about it.
Yes, there are people who are natural salesman. They are the type of people who can “sell ice to Eskimos”,
these people just have the touch , they are what people call “born salesmen”… and maybe you feel you don’t
have it in you.

Let me tell you a secret – you can learn to be salesman. Being enthusiastic about your product is possibly the
first key to being a salesman. and if you are outgoing or at least not an introvert then you might be the person
best suited for the job.

A good salesman can be outgoing but it is not about being pushy. I once came across someone in a networking
event who wanted to sell me Aloe Vera health products. He was gushing about the product. It came across as
pushy and did not inspire me to buy. Guess what, his tactics did not seem to have got him clients as the next
time I met him he had abandoned the first company who he had claimed was so fantastic ( or they had
dropped him) and was actually trying selling me another health product range.

So if being pushy will not help sell, what will? The answer in short is “honesty”, if you are not pushy but
positive, confident and can fill a real need that the client has, then you can sell, but the client has to trust
you.That is a key thing to look for in an employee too: honesty and trust, namely; Is he genuine?
One just has to look at the recent fiasco with Volkswagen. The German car brands they are collectively the
strongest Brands in the automotive industry.

Well recently Volkswagen lied about emissions, or as they would like us to believe, their employee lied. The
issue was not so much about the emissions but the broken trust.
As a result not only did Volkswagen suffer large losses but the share prices of all the German car brands dropped.
Trust means more and more to customers nowadays as they are attuned to buying from companies with values
similar to their own.

Another thing to look for in an employee is, is he looking for a job or a career. Does he just want a job as means to
make money or does he have an affinity for the business market that you are in.
Last and but not least; a happy disposition can go a long way to bring you business.

I was involved in branding a new local Bakery café and as much as people love the design they are even more
encouraged to shop there because of the friendliness of proprietor, greeting his customers with a warm smile
and making them feel like a valued customer.