YOUR BRAND VOICE: ARE YOU USING IT — OR IS IT USING YOU?
I've spent 40+ years in Marketing and Sales. I've built go-to-market strategies, managed sales teams, and taught Marketing and Sales at Tufts for two decades. I'm pretty good at the science of both, but for most of that time, I largely ignored the term "brand voice". I filed it under "things agencies say to justify their fees."
A few weeks ago, in a customer conversation about content and messaging, the "Brand Voice" term surfaced in a way that got me thinking. Not as a corporate branding concept, but as a personal one. And I quickly realized that although all of us have a brand voice, both in our companies and in our own personas, I wasn't entirely sure of my own.
SO, WHAT IS A BRAND VOICE, EXACTLY?
BRAND VOICE ANSWERS THREE BASIC QUESTIONS:
When people hear from you in an email, on a call, walking into a sales meeting, how do you make them feel? Do your prospects want to tell you about their challenges, or do they tune you out? When you show up in a room, are you telling stories, asking sharp questions, and bringing energy and solutions, or just layering on more pressure?
What about your weekly LinkedIn presence? I ask myself that question every time I write one of these blogs, working to connect sales tactics and real experience with a bit of my human side on the NH beach, in the Vermont woods, or in the middle of another semester at Tufts.
THE PROBLEM: MOST SALESPEOPLE ARE BROADCASTING STATIC!
Here's what I see too often in CEOs and sales leaders. They're smart, experienced, and deeply credible in their fields. But when it comes to how they actually communicate...in writing, in meetings, on social media, in front of customers...they're completely inconsistent.
Monday: formal and buttoned-up in an email. Thursday: casual and joking on a call. LinkedIn post reads like a press release. Voicemail sounds like they're already running to the next thing. (Personally, I update my voicemail every workday. If I can't take two minutes to leave something personal, what does that say to a prospect?)
In a world where Gartner notes that buyers are doing 80+% of their research before they ever talk to a salesperson, that inconsistency is costing you deals you don't even know you're losing.
THREE QUESTIONS TO FIND YOUR BRAND VOICE
You don't need a brand consultant or a month-long workshop. Just spend 45 minutes early next week...alone or with your team...answering these three questions:
1. What three words do your best customers actually use to describe you? Not the words you want them to use. The words they actually use. If you don't know, ask three of them this week. The gap between what you think your voice says and what people actually hear. That's where the real work is.
2. What do you believe that most people in your industry are afraid to say? Brand voice isn't just tone; it's a point of view. The leaders with the strongest personal brands have a perspective and they take a stand. A personal example: in decades of skiing, snowboarding and working in the outerwear industry at CB Sports, I watched Canada Goose and The North Face build strong brands on quality and performance. Then there's Patagonia with a brand voice no one else can touch built entirely on a single, fearless stake in the ground: "We're in business to save the planet."
3. Does your written voice sound like you talk? Rather than tackle a website overhaul, try this: read your last three emails or LinkedIn posts out loud. Do they sound like you in a room? Or do they sound like a more formal, slightly uncomfortable version of yourself? Authenticity is the engine of a strong brand voice — and most of us are far more authentic in conversation than we are in writing.
THE OPPORTUNITY IS SIGNIFICANT
I've watched a handful of CEOs and sales leaders build genuine audience loyalty not because they had bigger budgets or better products, but because they showed up consistently with a clear, recognizable voice. Their customers knew what to expect. Their prospects felt like they already knew them before the first call ever happened.
That's brand voice at work. And right now, it's one of the most underleveraged competitive advantages available to any salesperson.
You already have a voice. The only question is whether you're using it — or it's using you.
What three words would your best customers use to describe you? I'd genuinely love to hear. Reach me at jack@derbymanagement.com, 617-504-4222, or just click reply.
Have a superb day selling this Friday morning!
Jack Derby is Managing Partner of Derby Management, a strategy consulting firm, and founder of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University, where he has taught for 20 years. Every semester is significantly updated, with heavy emphasis in 2026 on AI in Marketing & Sales. At Derby Management, Jack and his team architect and build business strategies focused on sales and marketing processes, tools, and technology platforms.
"Writing the Winning Marketing Plan" | www.derbymanagement.com | Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts