Selling Differently

In this episode, I am joined by the brilliant Chris Allen AKA Chief of Sales and Memes. Yes, memes. 

If you don't know what a meme is :

1 - an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.

2 - an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.

 

So, there you have it. How then does one become a Chief of Memes, and how, or why would it be relevant in B2B sales, especially on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is not Facebook, I hear your inner voice saying. 

 

I have followed Chris on LinkedIn for what felt like forever. We connected back in Feb 2018. Chris caught my attention by his Yellow Hat in his LinkedIn profile; more importantly how he has cleverly and subtly built his personal brand around this. 

 

Chris is certainly pushing the boundaries on LinkedIn on how he is bringing, what one might describe as, the sub-culture of Memes onto LinkedIn. He was certainly an early adopter of this, which 18 plus months ago, was a risky strategy; the risk of the ire of the "Facebook" police on LinkedIn, as well as the employer brand.

 

In this episode, Chris shares his journey into sales from an IT / Technical background.

 

How he does not shy away from his passion of Gaming, and how he brings some of this into his B2B sales play on LinkedIn and social. 

 

Breaks down his first post on LinkedIn that generated his first sale, and how from here, this led him to where he is today. 

 

We chat about the balance of creating a personal brand under the corporate banner of the company you work for.  What comes first, your brand or the company? As you will hear, Chris has a robust view on this.

 

He admits that he has pushed the boundaries too far on the odd occasion. 

 

I challenge Chris on how some of his audience reacts to his content, especially his buyers.

 

Chris flips this to how he also leverages his sales audience as a proxy to his intended audience.

 

We debate the evolution of content on LinkedIn and how this has transformed during the last 18months and what the future may hold - I unfairly put Chris on the spot on this one!

 

Whilst I recognise that Chris' approach is not for everyone, and nor should it be. Chris is an example of what can be achieved with humour, thought and intention. 

 

Follow Chris and his story - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisallen-chief-of-memes/

 

Learn more about Licenseware - https://www.linkedin.com/company/licenseware/

 

As ever, thank you to Chris for his time and insight.

 

Thank you to you, my audience for your continued support, if you would like to be a guest, or if you know anyone who you think would be a great guest, feel free to reach out to me.