Sales has always been a pretty social profession, hasn’t it?
My sales heyday included plenty of socialising. Breakfast meetings with steaming café lattes and toasted croissants. Extended 3 course lunches. Monthly networking events. And let’s not forget the deals won over an icy pint at the 19th hole. Yes, very social, in fact.
But the definition of ‘social’ in the sales process has changed, thanks to the permeation of social media in our business lives.
What is Social Selling?
75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-Level/VP executives embrace social media for purchase decisions. (Source: Business Wire). This means that in order to be successful in sales, we need to use social media to effectively listen, connect and engage with our prospects, as they are actively seeking information and solutions via the channel.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest – they’re all becoming ecommerce solutions. Why? Because businesses are needing to adapt to the modern consumers, and they are social-loving fanatics who gain or experience the majority of their insights, influence, pleasure and work over social media platforms.
Just have a look at these eye-opening social media stats:
- The cost to reach an audiences size of 2000 is $900 using direct mail. Compare that to $75 using social networking.
- 54% of social media users use social media to research products and service before they buy.
- The likelihood that a consumer will recommend a brand on social media to thers, is roughly 71%.
- 65% of B2B buyers have said they rely on recommendations and reviews from social.
- 55% of buyers look for information about your business on social media.
- 45%of marketers have gained customers through LinkedIn.
It’s adapt or die, in this world. And for those who have adapted, the benefits are booming. It doesn’t stop there though. Just have a look at this awesome infographic compiled by PostBeyond and shared by our friends at Hubspot, which details all the amazing benefits of social selling.
Since its creation, LinkedIn has been the preferred network for professional interaction and continues to provide the best results for B2B marketers and salespeople in terms of lead generation and customer acquisition. For this reason, I am going to focus this to-do list on LinkedIn, but the principles can be applied across other social media networks too.
Here’s how to do just that!
4 Steps to Stellar Social Selling
1. Create a Professional Profile
You know that saying about first impressions? That you don’t get a second chance to make a good one? Well as it turns out, that’s pretty accurate. The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that your profile oozes professionalism and offers information that inspires trust with your prospects.
We have an in-depth post on how to create an outstanding LinkedIn profile, so I’ll give you the condensed version:
- Use your real name
- Load a professional photo (this is no place for duck-face selfies)
- Draft a descriptive headline
- Include a compelling summary
- Showcase rich content such as SlideShare decks, videos or downloadable materials
Use a tone that is conversational, yet professional and aim to build up endorsements and referrals that highlight your expertise.
2. Connect with the Right People
In order to ensure you’re connecting with the right people, it is wise to fully understand who you want to connect with in the first place. Revisit your buyer persona profiles and use this information to find prospects who match your ideal customer sketch. Use ‘Search Filters’ on LinkedIn to find the most qualified people and companies.
3. Nurture Strong Relationships
Proactively build out your network by connecting with all your prospects and customers, not just colleagues and peers. Even if a prospect is not a good fit for your business, chances are that he or she may know someone that is and may refer them.
4. Add Value, Monitor and Engage With Prospects
Make it part of your daily routine to share out industry-related content that resonates with your prospects. This will show them that you understand their challenges and can build your credibility for providing helpful, valuable advice and resources.
Don’t be afraid to reach out at an individual level if you come across an article that a particular prospect may be interested in. Send a personalised message to show you have their specific interests at heart.
Join groups where you can contribute to discussions, questions or comments on relevant topics. This will also provide you with insight into the type of content to share that will be appealing to your leads, based on the types of conversations they are having.
If you apply these 4 steps to social selling, you will build up a reputation for being a dependable source of valued information and opinion, which will help you generate more leads and close more deals!
Over to you. How are you using social media in your inbound marketing and Inbound Sales processes? I'd love to hear in the comments below what has worked for you.
