With Deloitte's recent mobile survey finding the 'almost half of 18-24 year olds check their phone in the middle of the night' and over 50% all respondents using mobile for social network and email communication the requirement for business development and sales team to utilise social media tools for selling and general business development is becoming even more critical (not to mention attracting the best talent...).
The blog below by leading CRM vendor, SugarCRM, provides 5 strategy tips for social selling. As mentioned by Dynamic Signal 'Salespeople are more likely to meet or exceed their quotas if they engage on social media.'
The social profile are building blocks to your success, just like you prepare your appearance for face to face meetings investing time on your profile to success will make it easier for prospects to qualify you for a meeting.
The LinkedIn Social Selling Index is a great place to measure your current effectiveness. Simply click here.
The blog goes on to explore how you engage your audience through content, thought leadership through digestible blog posts.
The next element is finding your audience through forums such as LinkedIn groups and more general awareness on twitter.
A common misconception is that you must already be engaged on such networks to be effective. It is surprising the momentum you can build by producing consistent, relevant and digestible content.
Importantly information asymmetry now gives buyers even more opportunity to find you or perhaps find your competitor online.
Professor Neil Rackham, a pioneering researcher of the sales profession says “The average company today can access 20 times as much information about you and your competitors as they could access 5 years ago” ignorance is no longer a factor.
Selling through social channels (a.k.a. social selling) is not only an art, but a science. New social channels are emerging every week, only increasing the surface area of digital touchpoints a customer or prospect may have. Those who know how to leverage their networks and hone the power of social media are able to excel in the ever changing sales landscape.
