Organizations with a strong sales force provide their representatives with the necessary training and research to sell effectively in an ever-evolving marketplace. What may not be immediately obvious, though, is how marketing that pushes brand recognition is also an integral piece to the sales puzzle.
As a sales professional evaluating prospective employers, don’t ignore a company’s brand recognition strategy. Identifying that effort and understanding how buyers choose brands helps you make employment choices that lay the groundwork for long-term success.
Here are three key factors to think about when considering the impact of brand recognition.
Buyers are people, too
Executives and other potential customers are more than consumers; they’re people. Like you, they’re exposed to brands daily, whether online, on TV, in the community or elsewhere. Like you, they form brand opinions — good and bad — through prior experience, the media they absorb and word of mouth.
And like you, these opinions shape their decisions on what — and what not — to buy, often well before needed.
Buyers define their needs early
When buyers start communicating with a sales representative, they already know what they want. In fact, according to CSO Insights research, more than 70% of business-to-business (B2B) buyers define their needs before talking to anyone at a brand’s company, sales or otherwise.
Today’s consumers have a world’s worth of research at their fingertips. Combine that with increasingly more sophisticated and targeted advertising, and you’ll want to seek a sales position with an organization that makes its products simple to sell.
To see if a company qualifies, you should be able to answer “yes” to all four of these questions:
- Is the brand’s website accessible and easy to navigate?
- Can you easily tell the services the organization provides?
- Does the brand target key audiences through multichannel methods?
- Can you find its products on social media, the web or TV?
The highest-performing brands anticipate consumer needs before consumers even recognize them. As you’re job-hunting, consider a company that helps buyers define their needs and think of its brand first before they ever call a salesperson.
Buyers need to know your brand before buying
According to Forrester’s 2021 B2B Buying Survey, B2B buyers interact an average of 27 times with a vendor during the purchase process. That’s up 93% since 2015! If a brand strategy was misaligned or, worse, nonexistent, a salesperson would have to do double duty to close that sale.
But when a company has national partners, earns industry accolades and invests in brand recognition, it’s easier for potential customers to understand that brand’s value, doing much of the heavy lifting for the sales force.
As an example, let’s look at the industry-best brand awareness of Paycom, a leader in the HR tech space. As a corporate entity, its brand is recognizable. The company invests in high-profile sponsorships, receives national awards, gives regularly to various nonprofits and fosters an inclusive, positive workplace culture. All these facets align Paycom’s marketing efforts to support its sales team.
Take a deeper look at the initiatives and accolades that make a positive impact on Paycom’s brand recognition.
- Paycom’s high-profile sports partnerships include pro golfer Viktor Hovland, pro football’s New England Patriots, the Oklahoma City-based Paycom Center arena, the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award for college football’s top defensive back and the Paycom Wooden Legacy Tournament for college basketball.
- Our national brand partners include Shark Tank co-host Barbara Corcoran and TikTok influencer Corporate Natalie.
- Paycom invests in the community by supporting a variety of nonprofits, including those with a big impact on diversity and inclusion efforts, underserved communities and the environment.
- This year alone, our national awards include recognition from Comparably for Best Company Outlook, Best Marketing Department, Best Sales Department and a Best Company for Women. Also for 2022, Paycom is named one of America’s Most Trusted Companies and the World’s Most Innovative Companies, according to Newsweek and Fast Company magazines, respectively.
As you look for a place to grow your sales career, understanding the synergistic importance of brand awareness efforts helps you find a place where you’ll always be closing.
Interested in working for an organization that supports its sales professionals? Apply for Paycom’s award-winning sales team here.
