What’s your Specialty?

As I move into the world of Social Media I am struggling with the profile page. This is often referred to as the “About Me” section. I don’t know how much or little to tell the world about myself.

How much you tell about yourself is certainly a personal decision and everyone will make their own decisions. However, there is one section to the profile page that really has me thinking. This is the “What is your Specialty?” section.

Do you let others know what special skills you have? At work, do your customers and co-workers know that you are that go-to person if they have questions or need help with the things that are your specialties?  I suspect in most cases you have demonstrated these skills and are already that person in the most obvious circumstances but are you sure?

I see times where someone is struggling with a problem, gets completely stumped and either gives up or makes a bad decision when help was standing right next to them or a phone call away. This person may be the type that is unwilling to seek help, which is a whole different discussion, but what if they did not know help was so close?

Each of us have skills and interests that are less obvious but no less important to our customers and co-workers. These are skills that may not be necessary in you present position but may have been acquired from a previous job or skills you just naturally possess. If you were for example: an electrician, forklift operator, waiter/waitress, worked with computers or captain of your chess club in school, I know you have special skills and interests that can be useful if we only knew.

The specialty and interests sections on the Profile Page are a great place to let these skills and interest be known. The key is you let everyone know!

I would like to take this one step further and ask that each of you think about, then write down the specialties and interests that you feel you have that can be beneficial to your customers. This list should contain skills and things about yourself that your customer may or may not know. Then for each account determine which of these skills would be most useful to that customer. Now share your results with your customer. I would also suggest that you share these results with your sales team and co-workers.

I think you will be surprised at the knowledge, talent and skills in your branch or office. By sharing your results with others you may also see skills that you need to develop and improve upon.

The Key is to let Everyone Know!