Social UnSelling

Social Media is a great tool – and a necessary tool – for companies and sales teams of all sizes to join and utilize. In fact, it’s particularly helpful for SMBs because they can participate in the same networks as larger organizations, accessing the same target customers – with few barriers to entry.  

Social media channels have become critical in the digital customer journey – 75% percent of B2B buyers conduct research for products and services in social channels – and they expect you to be there. According to IDC, online networks are the number 1 information preference of buyers in the final stage of the purchase process. It’s a valuable opportunity for companies to educate and build relationships with prospects and clients, to build credibility and authenticity of your company and your brand.  

For salespeople themselves, the benefits are similar. Salespeople can build their own profiles and personal brands.  They can leverage their companies’ resources, share content, developing their own credibility and authenticity.   

What about “Social Selling”? Do salespeople really sell on social media? 

Some say yes – and hey, they probably do. But for B2B, most successful salespeople are using social media to connect with prospects and customers, build deeper relationships, build credibility, and develop trust. These actions are part of the sales process and support the digital buying journey that leads to an eventual transaction. 

Far too many salespeople get confused by the concept of “social selling”. They think they need to take their sales process and (force) fit it all into the social media metaverse – prospecting, qualifying, proposing – all on LinkedIn, Twitter, and the like. It’s why many of us receive connection requests out of the blue and a salesy DM minutes later, looking for 15 minutes of our time with someone we don’t know, and who knows virtually nothing about us. Although, I would argue that is a bad sales technique regardless of the medium.

So, what is a salesperson to do? Especially one who isn’t particularly active on social media now. The answer – stop selling first, and start connecting.

In a recent post on LinkedIn, Andrew Caterine (who is a strong sales professional himself, a digital native, and active on social media) wisely said that “relationships and trust are the cornerstones to successful sales partnerships.” Let’s start here.

Social media is an excellent tool to help salespeople build relationships and trust. Here’s how to get started. For B2B, LinkedIn is the most relevant, followed by Twitter (yes, it still is). 

Have a solid profile page. 

There are lots of advice posts on how to do this well on LinkedIn. The same advice goes for Twitter.

Connect with your customers. 

Follow their companies. Connect with individuals at that company

Provide value. And lots of it. 

As Gary Vaynerchuk says – provide value first. Whether it’s “give, give, give, then ask” or “jab, jab, jab, right hook”, you have to stop pushing and start giving – or you’ll be tuned out. 

“If you don’t figure out how to bring value to your end user, along the way of you pitching them, I think you become very irrelevant” – Gary V.

You provide value by sharing information, answering questions, and engaging in conversations. Post articles with your comments and insights. Post comments on other peoples’ posts that add value to the conversation. Write an article of your own on a topic that educates and provides value to others. Give people a reason to follow and connect with you.

Only after you have shared, educated, discovered, and connected have you earned the opportunity to reach out to your prospect for a call or a meeting.  

Sales is about solving problems and meeting needs. It’s through connection and interaction that you can discover these opportunities, learn about a prospect’s need, and approach them in a way that is of value TO THEM. 

Social media is a great way to help you find companies and people to meet virtually, learn about them, and learn about their business needs and interests. Take the time, do the research, provide value, listen, and connect. 

Be social. And stop selling first.