Personal Brand Drives Sales Trust
Personal Brand Drives Sales Trust
In sales, trust is the foundation of every relationship. But what role does personal brand play in earning it? Through our partnership with the Institute of Sales Professionals, SalesTV gives you access to a conversation usually reserved for ISP members. Tune in as leaders from across generations explore how authenticity, preparation, and values shape the way salespeople are seen.
Questions we’ll explore include:
* What does it mean to build a personal brand as a sales professional?
* How do you show people you are worthy of trust before they’ve worked with you?
* What are the challenges of building and amplifying your brand in sales?
* What has changed in sales over time, and what fundamentals remain the same?
An ISP NextGen board member and sales apprentice with Royal Mail, Maria Amparan is actively shaping the future of sales. With a master’s degree focused on trust in sales and decades in tech sales, Carl Day serves as Chief Sales Officer at Apogee and has built his career at the intersection of leadership and professionalism. Sales enablement lead at Ideagen with 15 years in frontline sales and a teaching background, Clive Smith bridges sales practice with professional development.
This week's Guests were -
Maria Amparan, Sales Advisor at Royal Mail
Carl Day, Chief Sales Officer at Apogee Corporation
Clive Smith, GTM Tech Enablement lead at Ideagen
This week's Host was -
Andy Hough, CEO of US Operations at The Institute of Sales Professionals
Transcript of SalesTV.live Mid-Day Edition 2025-09-30
Andy Hough [00:00:20]:
Thank you for, for joining us today for the, the third in the series of the Personal professional brand webinars and seminars that we've done. After this there will be some guides coming out to our members and also to the corporates that are our partners as well as generally some hints and tips for all salespeople out there. And really we've been very, very spoiled because we've not, we don't do a lot of these panel sessions, if any, but what we wanted to do is learn from the panelists really how they've managed to look at the four elements of personal brand. And if we recap on what we looked at in sessions one and two, Professional brand has been seen as five things. Academic qualifications, commitment to cpd, alignment to ethics and professional standards in your chosen field. So in sales accreditations and professional qualifications. And then the amplification of all of those things using digital, social and actually physical environments. And three people, two that are actually currently here who are absolutely embodying that in different ways are Carl and Maria.
Andy Hough [00:01:25]:
And so actually if I ask, we'll go with ladies first and be the old fashioned Maria, if you can introduce yourself then Carl will go to you and then we'll, we'll kick off with some of the interesting questions. So Maria, tell us a little bit about you.
Maria Amparam [00:01:36]:
Of course, thank you for the invitation. It's an honor to be here. My name is Maria Deving Amparam. I'm currently a sales apprentice at Royal Mail, doing my level four sales executive program with Mercury as my studies provider. I'm currently as well a member of the leadership board of ISP on the next generation side of the organization. And I truly believe that the brand shows what you are, how do you behave and what you express to people. So my brand consists in being myself. Be kind, honest and be prepared for that.
Maria Amparam [00:02:14]:
Obviously I put an effort on. It costs time, it costs effort, it costs going the extra mile and try to do things right all the time. So thank you. Now over to you, Carl.
Carl Day [00:02:26]:
Yeah. Good morning. Afternoon. My name is Carl Day. I'm currently the CSO at Apogee Corporation. Apogee are a wholly owned subsidiary of hp. I've been in sales for many years. I started my career journey actually in technical and IT and moved into sales in my late 20s and obviously connects very well to what we're going to talk about today because the development I took on as an IT technician obviously was constant.
Carl Day [00:03:00]:
So you know, I'm hoping that I can share some of that as we discussed today and how that sort of makes made part of my, my start of my learning journey and which would carry on into sales. I've worked mainly in tech. I've had a short brief year in fintech working for a governance compliance organization. But primarily my, my sales career has always been in tech and started in print.
Andy Hough [00:03:23]:
Wow, okay, cool. So I think everyone knows me. I, I've always been in sales. Moved into lecturing and doing a doctorate in sales. So you've got every level of sales skill and qualification going on here. But it's about you guys. One of the things that I want to ask is, and Marie, you touched on it slightly in your introduction is you work hard on the brands and the professional brands you've got in various ways and in your opinion what is a professional brand? So we've talked about it from the academic viewpoint but you're living it. So again we'll start Lagos first.
Andy Hough [00:03:58]:
Maria, what is a personal professional brand to you?
Maria Amparam [00:04:02]:
I think as I was explaining is the image you project, how you project yourself in front of others, what you want to show. So people buy from people and obviously we need to reflect who we are. Who I treat others example, how I work, be prepared, follow up. If I commit to something to be true to that and be. Because that is how you show up. It's not just as well your appearance that is important because yeah appearance matter, first impression matters. But it's as well how you build trust because trust in sales is everything and it's the one that gives you the reputation. So that's what makes you to establish that relationship of trust with the customer in the organization and outside the organization how you represent yourself.
Maria Amparam [00:04:53]:
Yes.
Andy Hough [00:04:55]:
Wow. I mean, and that is critical, amplifying. You can trust me. It's well over half the reason why people buy is because they trust the salesperson or business development person on the other side of the table. Carl, you know what's, you know, you've got various elements to your professional brand. Talk to us about what you think it is.
Carl Day [00:05:14]:
Yeah, I think I'd like to echo exactly what Maria said. You know my own masters was, was very much around how you build trust in a sales relationship and how important trust is. But coming back to personal brand, I think it's really important for me. It's always been important for me that my personal brand is an authentic brand. It reflects who I am and not a facade of who I think I should be. Because I think one of those things that creates trust is authenticity in a relationship. So you know, going through your list which is Really, I think, really interesting one, you know, the academic qualification that, that came to me sort of later in life, more of a niche that I couldn't stop scratching. But the, the other parts, the really interesting thing for me from a personal brand point of view is how do I want to.
Carl Day [00:06:00]:
What mark do I want to leave on people? You know, so what's the impression I want to give? And naturally it's one that can be trusted, but it also, the important things is how I can add value, how I can leave that person feeling when I, when, you know, when I've left dealing with them. But I think the thing sometimes we forget in sales is our personal brand isn't just one that we leave with the customer, it's one that we leave everywhere. It's the one that we leave with stakeholders, internal and external. And as I said, for me, you know, if you live your values and that becomes part of your personal brand, then you can continuously develop yourself to underpin those and evidence those values. Because obviously for me, the hardest thing, particularly when you're walking into a new relationship, a sales relationship, the importance of gaining that trust quickly. So what was important to that client? How can I evidence that you know my brand and leave it with them? Does that answer the question?
Andy Hough [00:06:57]:
Scribbling away. I think what's really interesting, Marie, you kind of touched on it at the start, which is, you know, I do what I say I'm going to do, I follow through. And isn't it quite interesting that when you ask salespeople, you know, how do you show your authenticity, how do you show your professionalism? It always tends to be that rear view mirror. It's, I am doing what I said, I follow through on my commitments. But to your point, Maria, that trust piece, and Carl, you're. It's like it's almost a front windscreen, isn't it, as opposed to the back windscreen? How do you show people that have no experience of you that you are ultimately going to be worthy of a conversation and it's going to be a safe and different experience and living those values is absolutely fantastic. I guess the next question, as we wait for Clive to come in and he is here, we'll just get him on camera and there's some challenges in this, though. I mean, it's hard to do this consistently.
Andy Hough [00:07:47]:
There's always invitations to cut corners. So to both of you, you know, what are the challenges of amplifying your brand? And you mentioned it, Carl, internally as well as externally.
Carl Day [00:07:57]:
So one of the challenges, just to pick up On a point you made there as well, Andy. I think that the thing with that impression that you leave on people, I think that the challenge is exactly that in sales. How do you leave it? How do you give an impression straight away? And, and I couldn't agree with what more with what Maria said about when I am. When I did my research, I. I actually spoke to counsellors and particularly people who, who counsel, you know, children, because I thought they, they are people that need to build trust in a relationship very quickly. And it was a real light bulb moment for me because to Maria's point, if you can, if you can create a small ask in a first, you know, early stage of relationship, if you can create a small ask to demonstrate to that customer or that person that you will carry out what you said you're going to do, it's a really good way of demonstrating your brand. But I guess outside of that, the biggest endorsement you can have is an independent endorsement. So, Andy, you'll know I've been a huge fan of the ISP because to the earlier point, the alignment to ethics and professional standards, accreditations of professional qualifications, in up until sort of the last decade, there hasn't really been anything in sales that can endorse you as that professional.
Carl Day [00:09:15]:
So I think that the work that you've sort of spearheaded with the ISP really has put the profession in the eyes of people that actually there are standards to what we do. So I think putting. Taken as people have done. Exactly. Everyone on this call has taken, invested some time in their own brand to understand more about how it can be positioned. And, and that's that person, that endorsement from others, that you are what you say you are and you are going to do what you say you're going to do.
Maria Amparam [00:09:44]:
And joining to that point, I believe that visibility is a big challenge in this business because we do it. Because to me it's important, because I care, because I prepare, because I plan before calling customers. I do my homework. I try to understand everything and try to see how I can help them. I truly do. If I don't understand, how can I. How I'm going to be able to prepare for that call or that contact and then I reflect in what I have done, something that I do. The reason for that is to be better because obviously I'm just a student at the moment.
Maria Amparam [00:10:19]:
I just changed career path. I'm falling in love with sas, that's me. Because it's very challenging, it's growing and you feel that you are changing and you are helping so that is inside and outside organization. But as well I love helping and supporting my team, my colleagues, my peers, apprentices as well. And if anyone need help, yeah, I'm going to be there. That's Maria. And outside my organization I am currently a voice I believe because I'm joining panel sessions like now I am a member of ISP the leadership Board. Participation is is very encouraging to be part of it because we have a reason for that.
Maria Amparam [00:11:02]:
We are echoing the voices or I'm trying to help new starters and people who is considering a sales career. And as well I'm participating all the time as well in interviews and different invitations. But yep unlike a represented image of the of sales at the moment in my journey and as well as writing articles currently I'm writing blog with a series of articles about my journey and sharing that to encourage new starters into sales and apprentices or people, future apprentices or people who is considering a career change. So if I can do it, you can do it.
Maria Amparam [00:11:37]:
Definitely.
Andy Hough [00:11:39]:
I think there's a great slight aside. I mean Carl and I are slightly longer in the tooth than you, but I think sales has got some chances going forward and one of them is talent for a better word. And we're running out of this what was perceived when Carl and I started this forever growing pool of people that we can rotate into sales. Less and less people are available now. I mean birth rate dropped 20 years ago so there's less people in the workforce at that age level anyway. And so I love the point you made about that career change that, that change in direction and in sales is great. And the other thing that I've loved and it takes me Maria back to when I started, which was that you just said helping and isn't sales about helping people get a problem solved as opposed to selling them something? And you know, if, if you're absolutely in that zone then it becomes something that is wonderful and allows you to be in love with it as opposed to. It's just something that you turn up and do between 8:30 and 5:30.
Andy Hough [00:12:37]:
So yeah Carl, what are your thoughts as a experience?
Carl Day [00:12:42]:
I really, I do agree 100%. I think the, if you think about sales is a series of conversations that leads to an outcome and the importance of you, your brand, you as an individual. What you add to that relationship is absolutely key. And I would say probably one of the biggest changes that I've seen over the last probably decade is that those salespeople that are successful, no matter what are the ones that are solving problems, challenges that exist within their client's world or their, you know, prospects world. But that comes from understanding your client and understanding them. So, you know, you know, coming back on the subject of brand, I think one of the things that most I like if I'm being sold to is I want someone to ask me questions and not tell me, you know, so in terms of, and this is where I think the brand piece is really important because when someone, you know, engages me on a cold call through LinkedIn and they say I help people save money, I can help you save money, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, I'm thinking that's a bit like a doctor writing me out a prescription before I've even spoken to a doctor. How do they know I need to save money? How do they know that that's going to make part of my decision making process? So I think, you know, in terms of that, if we sit here and think about what do I really want my brand to say about me and then when I first engage with people, am I living that? Because I think sometimes one thing that hasn't changed is that our pursuit of wanting to be trusted and regarded as someone that's a good, strong advisor and someone I want to do business with, us sometimes the good intent of our pursuit of that actually gives the exact opposite impression to what it perhaps we want it to. So, you know, the thing for me is as well is like comes back to patients, you know, their characteristics and, and behaviors that I don't think have ever gone out of sales.
Carl Day [00:14:39]:
And I think more and more companies, to your point, Andy, are looking around their organization and saying, okay, what people have the right characteristics for sales? What people have the right behaviors that would work in sales. And in the past it would have been those that were, you know, not afraid to stand up and speak publicly. But now it's becoming more and more those people that have that ability to connect with someone, understand the challenge they have and, and then provide them a solution, albeit at a profit, a solution that adds value to them for the price they've paid for it. So yeah, I think again, the reason I wanted to come on a call is because I do think that your brand as an organization but as an individual is so important to that starting point.
Andy Hough [00:15:22]:
Yeah, it's about actually you do make a profit, Carl, and very few people get it. Even charities have to make money. Yeah. And people go when they start to think about that. Oh, actually, so charities actually have to sell. And when you look at the actual way they do it, the challenge of reality is that charities never raise money for the actual crisis that they're trying to solve. At that point, it's basically they're raising money because that's a hot issue for the next charity. But the mechanism is clearly everybody needs to make money and there's a fair way to do it and there's an ethical way to do it and is an acceptable way.
Andy Hough [00:15:57]:
But I love as well this bit that Marie, you said because I care and then I'll share and I, I posted ages ago in August about the engagement DNA which is a great book and it is this, it changed or reinforced. When you go into meetings, Carl, to your point, it's like ask two great questions. What's top of mind for you? And what does good look like in this meeting? Yeah, and very, very few people do that. You're right. They just launch into do you know, I can solve this problem.
Carl Day [00:16:32]:
It's the one thing for me. Come back to your point. And I do think that people almost or sometime there's a misbelief that to make a healthy profit is to not be trusted. But if you look at two of the most trusted brands in the world in Microsoft and Apple, I don't think there's any shame that they make profit out of what they do and there's certainly no hiding that they make profit out of what they do. But people pay it because they trust the brand to deliver what they need. But you know, in terms of that. And again I come back to your. Your point, Andy, is if anyone's ever watched the Simon Sinek stuff, you know, starting with the why they Apple was so clever because they answered the question that everyone wanted to ask, you know, why are you here? So what, you know, what are you going to do for me? Well, I'm going to give you technology that's really easy to use and at that time affordable.
Carl Day [00:17:21]:
But it's in terms of, of that. I think that's, that's a really good point. You know, Phil Squire talks about how do you, you know, asking people how do you want to be sold to? But I, I think to take it on from that because people generally don't want to be sold to. They want to have, you know, they want you to provide them with a solution to a challenge or create some improvement or enhancement efficiency within their organization. So I really like that Andy, I'm actually going to nick that from you. You know, what does good look like at the end of, you know, in our relationship or not the end of what does good look like? In our relationship as a buyer and a seller.
Andy Hough [00:17:54]:
Well, that's back to Maria's point, isn't it? About do your homework. And very. We become so busy now in the sales that fundamentally we don't do homework, we don't do preparation. I think you use the word Maria.
Maria Amparam [00:18:05]:
I, I don't really think that because obviously there are systems and people want you to do as many sales as you can, as many calls as you can per day, KPIs and all of this because as I see sales and it's having working for me is, is by having meaningful conversations. And to do that, you just cannot call people just to sell. You need to be an advisor, you need to do your research, you need to know what they do, their products, competitors, if that's all right, check social media, LinkedIn, go there, go to the reviews. While reviews are very good, you're not trustpilot. You can see where they're lacking, what the customers are asking for. And then you come from there, become an advisor in the conversation and establish a meaningful relationship. So for me it's working. And obviously someone told me once be curious.
Maria Amparam [00:18:52]:
So by being curious, because I was a little bit shy, this is how my language. So I had to learn all of this and it was difficult at the beginning to have conversations. And yes, I understand that by asking never be scared of us. That's my best advice because it could be silly, I guess it could be something that meaning something to them. And as well you clarify, you understand better and as well they see that you care. And when you care, you become part of their as an advisor or part of their business as a, not a colleague because you're not in the payroll. But yeah, you become someone that they can come to you and ask or request something or you know, consult. So it's very good.
Andy Hough [00:19:33]:
Clive, can you hear us?
Clive Smith [00:19:34]:
Yes, I can hear you. And can you hear me?
Andy Hough [00:19:37]:
Yes, we can. That's great. You've been following the conversation and can you just give us two, two second snapshot on who you are? Yeah, forgive me.
Clive Smith [00:19:44]:
Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I'm the enablement tech lead at Ideagen. We're a company that specializes in.
Clive Smith [00:19:53]:
Combined risk business, supporting huge brands across the globe to support them with their regulatory requirements. So 15 years of sales background, but then transitioned into our sales enablement function. Andy basically going a little bit full circle on my side. I actually studied at university to be a teacher. So I've kind of gone back into the location of enablement and teaching. So yeah, a circle moment for me and apologies in my delay to this.
Andy Hough [00:20:21]:
Don't worry. Working in a compliance organization, it's understandable why they don't trust you with a camera. Trust me, the ISP very rarely trust me with the camera as well. So this is quite great because we've got, you know, Maria, start of your journey changing across in sales. Clive just said 15 years died. No disrespect, Carl and I being around for slightly longer than 15 years.
Clive Smith [00:20:41]:
Absolutely.
Andy Hough [00:20:42]:
I want to pose this question and then if we can go kind of. Carl, Clive, Maria. Across the generations, many things have changed from technology usage in sales. I had a Rolod decks and no foam to different selling styles and lots of different tips, hints and tricks on how to smash your number. What has changed, Carl? And what is consistent? And once she passed the baton, Clive, would you say the same? And then Maria, looking forward to where do you see potential changes going forward?
Carl Day [00:21:15]:
I could probably take up the rest of the allotted time with this, so I'll cover off. I think the things that have made the biggest impact in terms of change and then I think probably the obvious ones that have been driven by Covid from technology taking a hold that more and more meetings are via teams or zoom on video. I also think probably the biggest change though is the original engagement. I think the hardest thing, I think hardest job in sales at the moment is business generation, opportunity generation. Because if I look back and think the way that nearly, probably 90, even the most sophisticated businesses generated their opportunity by picking up a telephone and calling someone who had a telephone on their desk and if you're lucky, you got through to them. That was how you started the ball rolling in the relationship. And I think the biggest changes I've seen in sales is the use of technology around how you connect with people. Because, you know, I've seen it at its worst and I've seen it at its best and ironically, just probably.
Carl Day [00:22:15]:
I don't know if it's Clive's experience, but the best use of technology I've seen in sales was at my previous company which was a governance risk and compliance outsourced agency. And they use technology really well. They used it to, you know, to lead with thought leadership and then gauge the interest and use technology to. To engage with the client on the back of that, I think. So I think huge changes around that. Other things that, you know, probably again more in recent days, particularly since COVID is dress. You know, it wasn't in in back when I sort of started in sales. It was clean, shiny shoes must have A tie, you know, shirt done up to the top.
Carl Day [00:22:54]:
And that was your first, that was the, your first impression. Now ironically, some would argue that someone turning up, you know, dressed overdressed, perhaps in an office would set alarm bells ringing because you know, they're not mirroring their environment. So I think, you know, there's little nuances like that that people, you know, have. Has changed. But I would argue that the characteristics and the foundations of sales being a relationship driven profession where understanding. Maria used a great word, curious. Be curious about your customer and their world. Those characteristics, those behaviors I would say are still the bedrock of have not changed and are still very evident in the most successful salespeople.
Andy Hough [00:23:40]:
Yeah, I was just going to say.
Clive Smith [00:23:42]:
I think I'm going to actually lead on that point that you finished on, Carl. I think I have the very kind of people buy from people. I think what will remain, and I'll talk about the technology in a moment, but what will remain is that regardless of how much we can utilize and be efficient with the technology we use, people are always. The differentiator is always going to be our ability to relate to the buyer and ensure that we're turning up and understanding who they are. Right. I use kind of an analogy, I made a terrible one, but I use kind of the concept that technology is essentially moving us from being able to fish with a rod to fishing with a net. We're able to use the likes of. There are sequencing tools called outreach or sales doc that people on this call might be familiar with.
Clive Smith [00:24:26]:
They help us communicate on mass to people and be sensible with the way that we do that. We can use the likes of AI, whether it's AI within LinkedIn or just general language models like Copilot, we can use those to research and be prepared for our conversations with our clients. And Maria, I think you mentioned that we need to be making sure that we're informed and understanding as much as possible about strategies of our and challenges of our clients. But what so technology will always aid us in doing that and, and it's become a vital part of that journey and making us more faster and more efficient doing so. But no matter how much technology we have and how more advanced it becomes, we. It will never replace that people selling it will never replace that authenticity that we need to have, that integrity, that ethical selling approach that we have and that will be a maintained differentiator for us all.
Maria Amparam [00:25:14]:
I totally agree with that. Technology has influenced the way that sales are seen right now. Sales right now as well focus on people, not just numbers. About caring about the relationships. Emotional intelligence comes as well and long term trust. So building that relationship that lasts or extends after the sales one what has remained the same to me is the trust building. That's something that usually have been in the history when setting and to keep promises and loyalties to what you promise. So you need to continue your work and keep doing what you promise as well.
Maria Amparam [00:25:56]:
The effort always shows if you are prepared. So I believe that is something that has been kept through the times as well. The reputations matter as we say and first impressions as well are important. So I stay with that one.
Andy Hough [00:26:11]:
So we're kind of concluding that actually the humanity fundamentals of trust and caring and connecting with people will never be kind of replaced by AI.
Clive Smith [00:26:21]:
It can't be.
Andy Hough [00:26:22]:
No. I struggle with one thing and then I'm going to connect to the effort and hard is that. And Carl may or may not agree with me on this but I think a lot of CSOs don't reflect on why they need a salesforce. They've always had one and they're not, they don't go this is why we need the salesforce and you need one because it's not clear for customers to why you're the choice as your products and service but there's a set of questions that follow on from that is if you need a salesforce what is it you want them to do and then to what I think your all things how do you want them to behave and be which then links onto brand because and I always pick British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, massive brands that everybody understands. But what's the difference between the brand of a salesperson from British Airways or Virgin Atlantic? What's the difference you feel when you walk into a room with those salesperson as a buyer and we did saw that and it was a lady in Office Depot, lovely lady and she just went it's the personal brand of the salesperson and how they behave that will reinforce my perception of the corporate brand or it will detach from it. Now you mentioned effort and hard. So Carl, Maria, when we all looked at this Clive, when we all looked at this he kept on covering that people appreciate hard things that are hard to come by or more recognized and thought of than something you get on the back of a Kellogg's packet or whatever better description channel. You've all worked really hard and continue to how hard is it for you to keep doing it and is it worth it? So let's start with you Maria because you you're working mum, young kids lot on your plate but you're doing an 18 month diploma, getting a professional qualification, doing additional CPD step forward as a leader in next gen.
Andy Hough [00:28:23]:
Why? Why the why choose the hard path and is it worth it?
Maria Amparam [00:28:27]:
It's been a challenge but this is a promise I make to myself so I want to build this career and make it meaningful to me. I owe it to myself. It's not for my family obviously yeah they support me but it's because I want to do it for myself and obviously balancing work, studies, family life, self studying as well is difficult. It's very, very challenging. I have learned a lot and as well I focus on sharing that learning with others so that's why make the effort to be valuable to me to work that so because while it doesn't stay with me I like to help others so I do any by sharing coaching any anyone in helps I'm going to be there if I can do something about that yes I will I'm sure of course because as an apprentice sometimes you hesitate and I rush but yes I do. And yeah while currently writing about my journey in the blog series is just rewarding because I feel I'm doing something very meaningful that is going to transcend to others and it would stay for a few time in there. I'm going to be helpful to more people not just the ones that are on the reach of my hand, just others as well that don't even know me. But yes I'm the voice of that.
Andy Hough [00:29:41]:
And, and just, just in case your children and your husband do get hold of this recording. She didn't mean that she doesn't care about you and it is okay.
Maria Amparam [00:29:50]:
Yeah sometimes yeah I'm like motivated. I'm self motivated. You think so I do that so because yeah no one really around me is like oh Maria, you need to do this, you can do it. Not really. It's just myself. I'm like I'm engine myself everything around her.
Andy Hough [00:30:06]:
Brilliant. So Clive, what's your. Yes I'm. I'm going to actually I'm going to.
Clive Smith [00:30:11]:
Talk about something that our CEO who's also a board member of the ISC Ben Dorks mentioned a couple of weeks ago we had a. We had a regional kickoff of sorts and he says that our idea gen our compliance software supports and this is, this is an absolute genuine number. It supports a quarter of a million people on a day. A quarter of a billion people on a day daily basis. That matters right that, that, that, that has material impact on people's lives and the reason I mention it is because that kind of grounds why I want to work hard. Because if you have, if you have integrity towards like, if you understand the, the, the ethics of your, your company and the reason why they're doing it and you, you can relate to that, then you're, you're willing to come and be prepared yourself when you're interacting with the people that you're wanting to support. Because I can have a conversation with my colleagues every day and I'm sure you'll have this. We all go, how's working? Like, how's it going? Oh yeah, it's great.
Clive Smith [00:31:01]:
I'm very busy. Everyone is busy and they are. So if I can come to one of my clients and know that I'm capable of having worked hard before to understand their challenges, listen to their challenges and get to the end of it and look to help them, that's why I want to work hard. Because it, then it has a reason had a justification behind it. So I, I, yeah, I, I want to commit to that, that what are my company is, is capable of, of supporting and, and it, and it drives me to, to make sure that I am working hard to prepare myself to, to support however I can in the conversations I'm having with, with our clients and on my occasion with the sales staff to support them doing that same job.
Carl Day [00:31:44]:
Brilliant.
Andy Hough [00:31:44]:
And Ricard, you, you've been right up there in terms of hard work. You've got your masters in sales and we're except why does the hard make it good?
Carl Day [00:31:54]:
I think probably aligned to what Clive's saying in that it's, you know, working hard to develop yourself, to make yourself better, but also to endorse your brand and what you stand for is. I think that's one of those things that I'd mentioned right at the start of the call is when I walk into a room, no one has any idea of my values or what type of person I am, what my brand is. The only thing that's got tell them that is the endorsements or whatever they can find about Cold Day. So I think that that for me is it's just an endorsement of working hard to create an endorsement of your brand is just like working hard to achieve the brand and to demonstrate that brand to Clive's point, to be a part of something that delivers value to people on a daily basis, you know, right through to, I guess, you know, the guys in our company that have taken the ethics exam, we've won business on the back of them demonstrating that they've put in, taken an effort to endorse, you know, to create some endorsement for themselves. So I think in a profession which perhaps it has changed latterly, but it certainly in the past suffered from, you know, reputational damage, those people that have put the effort in and worked hard to elevate themselves and educate themselves and be able to demonstrate that will always sort of will find it easier to engage. It comes back to the point you have to work incredibly hard for years and years to maintain a personal brand, but you can lose that personal brand in the eyes of an individual in one minute by doing the wrong thing.
Andy Hough [00:33:33]:
I think it's fascinating that all the points that you raise keep coming back to somebody who challenged me on LinkedIn not so long ago. But it's like I've never needed a master's or the apprenticeship or diploma or qualification, never needed CPD or ethics alignment, because no one's ever asked them for me in sales. And it's like, brilliant. When is the last time you walked into your doctor or your dentist and asked to see their certificates? And when was the last time they went on a conference? And the reason done is because you naturally assume they've got them and therefore it was a pointless exercise asking for them because they'd look at you and go, they're there on the wall or whatever. And the reason you sell your buyer doesn't ask you for them is because they assume you haven't got them. And part of translation into this is, listen, you probably don't even know that you can get these in sales, but do you know I've got a diploma or a master's and this is what it means to me and it's hard to get these things. So you should, when in hire me to do this role and lead this organization, know that that makes a difference. Yeah, yeah.
Andy Hough [00:34:33]:
So to end as leaders at various things, Maria Nextgen, Clive, working and supporting our chairman and actually Carl, you know, as a, as one of the founding fellows, we were there, one of the first ever kickoffs together and as leaders, your respective roles are to leave some kind of legacy. What legacy you trying to leave through your brand? And Maria, I'm going to come to you first because you said I want to meaningfully transcend and positively affect. And then you mentioned a lot of people. So what are you trying to do with the leadership position that you're taking?
Maria Amparam [00:35:11]:
Well, I'm trying to be the voice of the apprentices by doing my journey. So because after Robotn, it's gonna be there available to all through the ISP platforms on social media. It's gonna be launched soon, probably next week. In there I reflect the journey, the real journey with the tough experiences and the good ones as well from my point of view, of course. So I participate actively in ISP as a student, as a member, as a leader and as well as a writer and as an author. So this is my legacy to live systems guides and articles and things that help others and they can refer to because Maria Debenham park is not here just to, you know, just to pass and go. I'm going to stay. I think I'm expected to stay and you're going to hear from me just slowly.
Maria Amparam [00:36:01]:
But yes, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there to help others because I feel as well a vocation inclined to help, to teach, to coach. So yes, that's going to be me.
Andy Hough [00:36:09]:
So brilliant flies.
Clive Smith [00:36:12]:
Yes. So yeah, so my I, I think I'm going to talk about my legacy about. Yeah, what, what I, yeah, so what I want to leave behind if I was to start a new chapter. Yeah so I think it's about, well, it's about talking about everything that we talked about before, being willing to work hard and the reason for it is because I genuinely want to leave leave something behind that has made a material better impact for somebody else. So let's use the sales I, I, I came into the sales management function a year ago. So my legacy that I hope I left with my sales profession and will continue to try and pass on to others is that I want to have left the clients that I've worked with a solution on my occasion that they can tangibly say had supported their ability to kind of help their day to day and from a learning perspective now in sales enablement, I want the legacy of saying I have helped with the process of ensuring that people have access to the learning material that we can provide them, the partnerships that we have with the likes of the ISP to allow them to build their own brand, allow them to feel that they are improving as a sales professional to then support their own, their own communications and continued journey as a, as a sales.
Andy Hough [00:37:26]:
Rep. And Carl, last one, I think.
Carl Day [00:37:31]:
For me splitting split into both professionally and organizationally. Organizationally unsurprising, it's that you'd like to know that the, the brand that I've set, the standard I've set will live on through the people perhaps that I've influenced within the organization I've worked for. And you know, the success is carried on through demonstrating the right behaviors and also the respect for both internal and external stakeholders. But I guess as as I'm I wouldn't say as I'm in that latter percentile of my career, perhaps as I move towards my 60s, I think professionally, I would like to leave a legacy that I have helped in some way of creating, working with people like yourself to create a profession that is desirable to all. And, and I think, you know, I've seen that over the last certainly over the last 10, 15 years, sales has seen a lot more diversity, you know, just not in in between the sexes, but people from different ethnic backgrounds, people with neurodiversity is, you know, it should be a profession that has a standard. It should be a profession that is respected, because ultimately, without sales, as to your point earlier, Andy, most companies would be worse off.
@SalesTVlive
#PersonalBrand #AuthenticSelling #SalesTrust
#Sales #SalesLeadership #LinkedInLive #Podcast
________________________________________
About SalesTV: SalesTV is a weekly talk show created by salespeople, for salespeople. Each episode explores sales, sales training, sales enablement, and social selling, bringing together sales leaders, enablement professionals, and practitioners from across the globe.
About the Institute of Sales Professionals: The ISP is the only body worldwide dedicated to raising the standards of sales. Its Sales Capability Framework, certifications, and member community are designed to address their one goal: To Elevate the Profession of Sales.
