4 Ways Salespeople Screw Up Social Networking
Social engagement. Is it just another term to check off the buzzword bingo card at your next sales meeting? Not really. It simply means having robust conversations, exchanging ideas, providing insights, and sharing expertise—whether we’re online, on the phone, or meeting in person. It’s what salespeople do—or should be doing—all…
Social selling demands building relationships with your audience. Whether you’re selling online or face-to-face, sales success requires engaging in meaningful exchanges that focus on the needs, expectations, demands and priorities of your prospect. Make this effort the foundation of a longer term relationship – the issue isnot“nowornever,”but rather “not now is not never, but focused on forever.”
To achieve social selling sales success you must provide information and resources to your audience before they ask… in fact, before they even know who you are.
As a sales professional I build long-term relationships with clients and invest time and effort to build relationships with my prospects. At the start of a social selling campaign your job is more about the social, less about the selling. Most of your audience doesn’t know you, your skills, your achievements.
3 Tips for Social Selling that Lead to Sales Success
1. Provide useful tools and information to establish yourself as an online SME – a subject matter expert
2. Share valuable information from other experts to demonstrate your knowledge
3. Interact with your online audience by resharing other’s content (credited, of course) and answering questions. Twitter, Facebook, G+ and LinkedIn have great
Be generous: use your knowledge to grow your audience and your online authority. Build your digital brand to establish yourself as an authority and demonstrate your credentials so that when you invite a prospect to connect, or ask for a referral, your prospect can verify your online reputation and will welcome the connection.
Building a social selling strategy is your first step to social sales success. It doesn’t happen overnight – but strategic use of social selling strategies and social engagement will build relationships with your online audience.
~ Anthony Caliendo, The Sales Assassin
