In our online socially connected world, it is easier than ever for people to share information, and ask recommendations about services and suppliers. When talking about the sales process it does require a different way of thinking, as there are more connected customers and more customer-centric companies that understand the value of incredible customer experiences. Sales professionals have recognised that Social Selling is an actual shift of a new reality for sales departments everywhere.
What is Social Selling?
First, Social Selling (SS) is focused on sales professionals, rather than marketing professionals. Second, SS aims to cultivate one-on-one relationships. The use of social technology can be used to discover incidental similarities and thus creating a quicker bond with the potential client; where there are incidental similarities between a buyer and seller, it is more likely a purchase would take place, as they are more likely to feel a connection.
SS is a lead-generation technique grounded in social media. It allows salespeople to directly interact with their prospects on various social media platforms. The success behind Social Selling rests in the heart of the community network and the trust that is built off the back of it, developing relationships as part of the sales process. Today, this often takes place via social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, but can take place either online or offline; it is building rapport in an authentic, sincere manner based on common interests.
Nowadays, organisations are increasingly using Social tools throughout the sale, leveraging these online tools to help a sales professional have a more pertinent and effective conversation with their buyers. Social tools do not just help you monitor the competition, but they show you what your customers are doing and saying online, too, offering precious insights into issues you would fail to spot by any other means, being able to understand individual customer needs, and broader market trends to offer perfectly-timed advice, letting you spot competitive movement earlier, and react faster.
Many platforms have emerged to increase opportunities for finding, connecting, and engaging– the essence of SS (Social CRM, Social Monitoring, Social Collaboration tools), with particular emphasis on LinkedIn, to connect, inform, educate, and influence your prospective buyers and existing clients. SS does not eliminate the need for traditional professional sales skills, rather help to elevate the salesperson to a trusted advisor who gives relevant recommendations, looks for new ways to add value to your network, as well as bringing new accounts and sales success. SS concentrates on producing focused content and providing one-to-one communication between the salesperson and the buyer, which has a significant impact on their buying decision. Salespeople who use social media report that they outperformed their sales peers, and more than half of them indicate they closed deals as a direct result of social media.
Marketing can coach salespeople in social media systems, processes, and best practices. This training can encompass everything from working in specific social media channels to using corporate social media software, understanding the business’ social media guidelines, and orienting social media content around customer interests and needs. Since sales are based on one-on-one relationships with customers, they can discuss with Marketing customer’s successes, concerns, changing needs, questions, and industry updates. Integrating systems, transparency, emphasising the importance of improved communication, and Sales and Marketing alignment can improve sales efforts at closing deals, and help marketing generate more value from their efforts. SS need to adjust their content marketing plans by investing in content that creates interaction and dialogue. Hereafter, some recommendations to star with:
· Use your own social media to keep ahead of what your customers/prospects are saying, and to spot those who need service and sales help.
· Use your own social media monitoring, analysis and engagement platform, to continuously monitor what people are saying about your brand.
· Create a social customer profile, a picture, user/customer connections – plus anything that is ‘public’.
· When identifying sales opportunities, use your employee social network to leap into action, organising resources, and keeping everyone up to date.
· Sales success depends on empathy - research you prospects prior to making contact.
· Put together an insightful sales pitch.
· Getting more social involves multiple interactions.
· You can bring the full weight of your organisation’s expertise to bear when making a sale.
· Core themes could be trailed in presentations and conference speeches, and may even be discreetly tested on chosen segments of the market.
The exchange, or selling process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. To find the right prospects, build trusted relationships, and ultimately, achieve your sales goals. The stages of a selling/buying process:
· The Salesperson seeks to identify prospects.
· The Salesperson contacts a qualified prospect lead with a need, capacity and willingness to pay for the product.
· The Salesperson researches a customer, planning and scheduling an appointment.
· The Salesperson makes an initial approach with the customer.
· The Salesperson assesses the needs, current situation, problems, impact, benefits, solution, prior experience with the brand etc., of the prospective client.
· The Salesperson makes the presentation to show the features, advantages, and benefits of the product.
· The Salesperson should anticipate objections (price, delivery date, etc.), and respectfully respond to them.
· When the Salesperson feels that the prospect is ready, they will seek to gain commitment and close the sale.
· The Salesperson ensures customer’s satisfaction and follow-up to establish a relationship with him.
To improve communication between Sales and Marketing is by creating a secure portal where salespeople can find content created by Marketing or by other employees to share. SS techniques include sharing relevant content, interacting directly with potential buyers and customers, personal branding, and social listening. SS could work in parallel with traditional sales techniques in order to further increase conversions.
Measuring Social Selling Success
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a business metric for evaluating factors that are crucial to the success of an organisation. KSIs, vary between companies and industries, depending on the pertinent priorities or performance criteria- the measure of revenue growth year over year (YOY). To be effective, a KPI must:
· Be well-defined and quantifiable.
· Be thoroughly communicated throughout your organisation and department.
· Actually be crucial to achieving your goal.
· Be applicable to your Line of Business (LOB), or department.
Choosing the right salesperson, an appropriate tool used, impact on the customer, products to be sold, targets, goals, the cost of goods sold, and revenue Vs. target, profit, sales by region, expenses Vs. budget, etc., are some of the SS aspects to be measured within a company. Graphs, retweeting, liking, favouriting, or Revenue Attribution, are all techniques employed by some sales organisations to measure Social Selling effectiveness that explicitly, identify new deals sourced or influenced by social, to quantify the success of SS..
Social Selling embraces and cultivates a spirit of collaboration and community throughout organisations—both internally and externally. The success of the Social-centred Selling depends on adoption of a program for which an organisation needs to follow a structured approach. A recent study found skilled Social media Salesprofessionals are six times more likely to exceed quota over peers with basic or no social media skills. It is time to get started with Social Selling and meet your prospects wherever they’re spending their time.
Dave Food