Should Dealers Embrace Personal Branding – Or Control It?

In this highly regulated industry, there has been some recent debate as to if dealership salespeople should be allowed to establish and control their own personal branding.

In the past, personal branding by salespeople was geographically restricted, simply because the technology didn’t exist to go much further. Salespeople would find strategic places to display their business cards, or they would perhaps create magnets, or other items, which would then be given away to their customers. However, in today’s globally connected world, personal branding efforts can reach far beyond the local community and touch a much larger audience.

There are many examples of salespeople that have increased their visibility, resulting in increased opportunities and higher sales numbers. One could argue for or against these practices. Or perhaps find a middle ground. Differing opinions certainly exist out there. Let’s examine some pros and cons:

In Favor: Salespeople who do engage in personal branding efforts argue that they are spending their own money to generate additional sales. In return, this makes them more money. And, as a side benefit, it also increases sales for the dealership. By default, their own personal branding efforts, using such tools as Facebook, and other social media platforms, generate additional buzz and exposure for the dealership. Through their own personal branding activities, these salespeople are able to connect with customers they may not previously have been able to. If done well, these personalized interactions can help to make customers feel special. They also can serve to develop dealership loyalty along with referrals. In essence, this personalized approach can help to create brand advocates for the dealership itself.

Against: Dealers need to be aware that, while the FTC isn’t quite caught up yet, it will be soon and will be gunning for dealerships. There have been several recent cases in which dealerships have been fined for lack of disclaimers in social media ads and messages. The FTC has made it quite clear that advertising compliance extends to all advertising, including social media content. In addition, ads need to be clearly labeled as such. Personal branding messages by salespeople can, at times, contain messaging that could conflict with those rules. An easy example would be if a salesperson produced and posted a YouTube video about a sale with a blanket statement, “$10,000 off all Chevrolet Silverados.” The problem is that the FTC will no longer distinguish between a salesperson’s individual activities and the dealership’s. As an employee, these personal branding activities have the potential of placing the dealership at risk for liability through advertising that fails to be in compliance. This liability could result in hefty fines.

On the other side of the coin, with the industry-wide problem of high employee turnover, what happens when that salesperson leaves? There have been some recent examples whereby the salesperson was so effective at personal branding that they become the de facto face of the dealership, simply through the volume of content they generated.

Regardless of which side of the fence you choose, the fact is that more and more salespeople see the value of these activities and are working hard to market themselves first, and the dealership by default. As other salespeople recognize the financial benefits, we may see this activity increase and dealers may be forced to take action.

There are definitely two sides to the coin here – some huge positives, but also some strong cautions as well. What are your thoughts on personal branding by salespeople?

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Comment by Jim Radogna on July 27, 2015 at 11:39pm: Great discussion Paul. Even though I'm a compliance fanatic, I lean heavily towards allowing personnel to brand themselves as much as possible. It's an absolute win-win when done properly. That said, dealers should give their sales staff the knowledge and tools they need to market themselves and their dealership compliantly.

All sales personnel should be trained on the rules of the road for advertising. They may not become experts on the subject but at least they'll be in a position to identify potential red flags and hopefully seek guidance when posting offers to the public.

Next, dealerships should develop a comprehensive social media policy and hold their staff accountable for following that policy. If employees aren't taught the rules they can't be expected to follow them.

For the most part, employees who see the value of branding themselves and their dealerships on social media are exactly the people dealers should want, but they need the knowledge and guidance to ensure they are doing it right. They are true professionals and should be treated as such. Stifling their passion and creativity for fear of noncompliance willl inevitably cost the dealer money and cause these valuable folks to seek employment in a more progressive company.

As far as managed solutions, I agree that can be benificial as long as the vendors are diligent about operating compliantly. I review advertisements on a daily basis for automotive marketers and quite frankly, more often than not they make mistakes that can prove very costly to their dealer clients.

Bottom line: we shouldn't be afraid of marketing and branding ourselves - we just need to ensure that we're doing it right.

Comment by Paul Moran on July 22, 2015 at 2:55pm: Well said.

Comment by steven chessin on July 22, 2015 at 2:31pm: "The problem is that the FTC will no longer distinguish between a salesperson’s individual activities and the dealership’s. As an employee, these personal branding activities have the potential of placing the dealership at risk for liability through advertising that fails to be in compliance. This liability could result in hefty fines".

"what happens when that salesperson leaves? There have been some recent examples whereby the salesperson was so effective at personal branding that they become the de facto face of the dealership, simply through the volume of content they generated".

Yes Paul - Advertising / marketing & prospecting / social media used to be clearly defined --- as "the store" or "the salesman". It is important that dealers know that programs - possibly even managed programs - are available to cope with the changing landscape of media technology and the rules of promotion and selling.

Comment by Paul Moran on July 22, 2015 at 2:12pm: At the risk of sounding too self serving - Programs like Vboost allow sales reps to engage their customers in a controlled format / template that the dealer has pre-approved. I believe that a dealership can have basic follow up guidelines and should have access to see what their team is posting/communicating. We are all a bit hyper sensitive to anything in print - Did a dealer ever question a sales rep for following up with a customer by phone? Did they ask them for a script of what they said? I think the question about who owns the customer has been around forever - just now you can see it in print. Great - Once again I have raised more questions than I have answered.

Comment by steven chessin on July 22, 2015 at 1:47pm: Richard - Yes of course people buy from the people they like and trust. But ... what are the rules ?

... where does personal prospecting end ... and dealership marketing begin ... or are they now intertwined ? Prospecting... or "personal marketing" .... needs oversight to prevent accidental or malicious publicly released material so only accounts that are open to scrutiny and closure can be allowed. Even the most loyal employees can become scorned and disgruntled. Once the need for this kind of marketing - and control are accepted the next questions are WHO does this ? HOW MUCH are they paid ? WHAT is the job title and description ? Is this personal marketing voluntary or required ? And when a salesman sells a car is the customer his to stay in contact with or the store's ? Or both ? Or his only as long as he remains with that store ?

Consider a salesman that has maintained meticulous files on every customer f - 200 a year for 20 years.Let's say the store gets sold and the entire staff is let go. Is he supposed to start all over again without his hard earned database of 4,000 customers ? Are "his" customers "orphans" to be scavenged by a fresh team of rookies ... or "his" to send announcements to that he is now somewhere else ?

If you really are a "business within a business" with your own branding and customers what sort of "ownership" do you have .... or are "your" customers merely on loan to you ?

Comment by Richard Karlson on July 22, 2015 at 12:32pm: People buy cars from People, it is a much improved closing rate when they are buying from someone they know, like and trust. (Joe Verde has endorsed this for years) Branding one as a car specialist working for a dealership they are proud to be on the team. When selling a product you must clearly promote yourself, the dealership and the vehicles you represent. Getting to speak with more people everyday takes a clear commitment to brand yourself. Happy Prospecting, but beware of advertising laws, brand your self and the dealership... get them into a buying spirit!

Comment by steven chessin on July 20, 2015 at 12:09pm: Paul - I have had experience with this issue. The correct answer is "both". One insures the benefits of salesmen utilizing the power of social media -- the second protects the store from mis-use. Any tool has the potential of misuse. Setting this up demands management skills that sales-only oriented managers lack.Thank you for raising this important issue that is too ignored by too many who are too busy to even look for the proper manager to delegate the responsibilities to. Years ago I attended featuring the social media director of AutoNation. She was 22 and been using Facebook from its first day.The first thing she said was, "If your phone is not in your hand right now watching your world you are in the wrong meeting". The lines between marketing and communication have blurred and personal communication is personal marketing. You cannot hire millennials and then tell them to not communicate in their language. Play each person's strengths of diversity.I know that I will never be as good at social media as the average shopping-mall teen that was born with a phone in her hand. To communicate with her peers let her do it better, but be able to pull-the-plug.