How Salespeople Can Differentiate Themselves with Their Introduction

A colleague once described a sales candidate as having “the personality of a tree stump.”  That guy turned out to be their best hire ever. Without the OMG Sales Candidate Assessment alerting us to the fact that he was in the 95 percentile of all salespeople, he’d have been overlooked faster than a cold day in winter. I’m fond of nicknames, so I called him “The Tree-Stump Guy”—quiet, sturdy, and unbeatable at finding and closing deals.

That nickname got me thinking about Verne Harnish, aka “The Growth Guy.” Verne was one of the first (if not the first) to slap a catchy moniker on himself, and it worked like a charm. He built his empire around helping companies scale, famously asking, “What do you do better than anyone else?” For Verne, it was growth—pure and simple.

Between Tree-Stump Guy and The Growth Guy, it sparked two questions for me:

1. How many consultants, sales pros, and subject matter experts have followed suit with their own exclusive monikers?
2. What the heck would mine be?

I tossed this to Grok, my AI sidekick, who scoured profiles and came back with about 45 examples (probably more if you tweak the search terms). Standouts included The Revenue Guy, The Hiring Guy, The Content Guy, The Exit Guy, and The SEO Gal. Staking claim to a name different from the one we were born with has caught on!

This year was reflective for me—quadruple bypass in February, turning 70 last week. Milestones like that make you ponder your legacy. In sales, legacy isn’t just numbers; it’s the teams you build, the processes you perfect, and the hidden talents you uncover. That’s where the sales tie-in kicks in: Monikers aren’t just ego boosts—they’re branding gold for customer-facing experts. Think about it: In a sea of generic “consultants” a punchy handle like The Growth Guy differentiates you, just like a killer value prop sets your product apart. And in hiring? Assessments like OMG go beyond surface charm (or lack thereof) to reveal tree-stump solid performers who crush quotas. Overlook that, and you’re stuck with flashy duds who fizzle out.

So, what about my moniker? Grok brainstormed a bunch of possible names that reflect some of the things I’m known for, and come up with these along with some commentary:

• The Sales Assessment Guy: Spot-on for diagnostics, but a bit clinical—like I’m the doc prescribing pipeline pills.
• The Sales Process Guy: Covers the bases, but too broad. Everyone’s got a “process.”
• The Baseline Selling Guy: Nods to my baseball-inspired sales process framework. It’s unique, but could use more zip.

Then Grok came up with some punchier options: The Baseline Boss, The Sales Reset Guy, The No-BS Closer, The Fundamentals Firestarter.

None quite clicked… then Grok came up with one based on our chats and my body of work:

The Sales Fundamentals Firebrand. Boom—it’s got fire (your no-fluff rants that ignite teams), fundamentals (back-to-basics wins), and that brandable edge. It screams legacy: The guy who sparks sales revolutions by stripping away hype, timing deals like spring leaves unfurling, and building teams that endure, squirrel-style.

I didn’t like it then and still don’t like it.

I’m know for other things, like the best sales leadership training around, epic role-playing, 21 Sales Core Competencies, the Visual Pipeline, Buy Cycle, Sales DNA, and so much more.

Do any of these work?

• The Role-Play Guy
• The Sales Core Competency Guy
• The Visual Pipeline Guy
• The Buy Cycle Guy
• The Sales DNA Guy

Then it hit me. Haven’t I really been a major Sales Innovator over the past 40 years?  Wait, is it taken? Grok found three others using that moniker.

Thankfully, it hit me again.  Most of my 2,000 articles begin with an analogy.  I’m the Analogy Guy!  But once again, Grok was a buzz kill and found three people who use that moniker.  Grok recommended the Sales Analogy Guy but what about The Sales Analogy King?  After all, Kings seem to be in fashion this year. Grok found the King of Sales by Jeffrey Gitomer but this is different. I’m going with the Sales Analogy King.

What’s your moniker? Drop it in the comments.  Maybe it’ll stick better than mine. Grok just named itself The Curiosity Catalyst!

What’s the point of all this?  It’s to circle back to Verne Harnish’s question, “What do you do better than anyone else?”  Sure, there is the thing your company does better, but what about you?  It doesn’t matter whether you sell, manage salespeople, manage sales managers, or manage sales leaders.  What do YOU bring to the table that causes you to stand out – to customers, your boss, your colleagues?  You may not have enough time in a sales cycle for prospects to figure that out about you, but you could introduce yourself that way.  That would immediately differentiate you from other salespeople, not just in your industry or space, but everywhere!

And if you’re hiring or tweaking your process, remember: Look beyond the stump. The real closers are often the quiet ones.

Image by Grok Imagine