A brand advocate is a person or group that likes your brand, speaks or blogs or tweets or otherwise communicates about it, may buy your brand, and certainly influences others to consider doing so. A brand advocate is a like a billboard with credibility – no, not literally, but you get the idea.

vSA tells its clients that they will benefit from having brand advocates – that, in fact, they need them if they want optimal performance from their companies or organizations.

Here are a few benefits:

-Believability: Isn’t it credible when someone else sings your praises? Third-party endorsement tends to ring true.

-Velocity: Talk goes viral. Your advocates are your feet on the street. They have no reason to be “selling” you – they simply admire your company, products, services, or mission.

-Reputation enhancement: People say your company is great. They say it all the time. Point taken.

-Stability: A great reputation can help navigate your company through stormy seasons.

How can you get brand advocates?

-Since Mahatma Gandhi said it, it is worth hearing, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” So ask.

-Seek media coverage (print, online, broadcast) that provides third-party endorsement, whether by virtue of an article being published or – even better – a bylined article by someone who speaks well of your brand – an advocate!

-Gather testimonials and case studies. Customers who’ve used your products and services to solve problems, who come back to you over and over, brand loyalists… it may sound like old school but there is a reason companies continue to use testimonials and case studies – they act as proof that the company has advocates!

-Get your products and services reviewed and tested independently – publish the good news about how they’ve done.

-Train users in the best ways to employ your products and services, and make advocates of these users. Better yet, make them loyal for life.

-Get involved with independent training and certification programs through which your products and services can be recognized for their excellence in specific usages or characteristics.

These are just a few of the many ways to build brand advocates. We’d enjoy hearing about your experiences, in this blog or on the van Schouwen Associates Facebook page (where, by the way, your “like” vote counts in our book as brand advocacy)!

Some people love the process of sales. For the rest of us, it’s a challenge. That challenge is heightened during difficult economic times.

Following are some of the lessons our sales team has learned through experience, trial-and-error and the wisdom of others:

First, make sure you’re selling something worth buying. Give yourself a break! Some people can sell ice cubes to citizens of the frozen far north, but the rest of us will do a lot better marketing something that has value to the prospect… even if the prospect doesn’t know it yet.

In a tough economy, be ready to highlight the immediate benefits, cost savings opportunities, time saved, and other at-the-ready positives your product or service offers. Why? When money is tight, people tend to think short-term. Even corporations think short-term. In some cases, they feel they can’t afford to do otherwise.

Stop talking. That’s right. Learn about your prospect. What is s/he working on, concerned about and planning? Know this, and your sales message can address relevant needs.

Once again, stop talking. Once you’ve made your pitch, be quiet. Let your prospect ponder your offering, even let your prospect feel it’s his/her turn to speak up. A little awkward silence at decision-making time can be a good thing.

Don’t sell on price, but don’t be insensitive to cost issues. In the end, cost will nearly always be a consideration. Just don’t make it your selling point. Unless, of course, you have nothing else.

Be willing to follow up. We’ve all been subjected to fire-hose sales pressure. It’s unpleasant. If what you’re selling is of value, you can afford to be consultative. If you can’t close the sale that day, ask when you can check in again. Sure, you may lose momentum… assuming you ever had it. Learn to know the difference between a prospect expressing genuine interest and one who is merely being polite to put you off.

Even if your prospects are thinking short-term, you shouldn’t be. Someone who’s interested in your product but not in a position to buy may be ready later. Too many salespeople drop the ball and lose longer term prospects.

Be likable. Despite online shopping, phone voice mail trees and other impersonal ways of doing business, personality still matters. When people are working with others, they gravitate toward those they like. Overbearing, single-minded and pushy aren’t characteristics that come to mind when we say “likable.” Consultative, warm, engaging, and having good listening skills are. Why does it matter? Because you want your prospects to take your next call or respond to your next email. You want their referrals. You want their business.