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3 Tips on Becoming a Sales Hacker

Jamie Shanks
Jamie Shanks
Sales Hacker

Seriously, it pays to become a sales hacker. Think I’m joking?

Tim Ferriss is known to most as a serious and committed life hacker. He has deconstructed the work week, weight loss, muscle gain, learning new languages, cooking, swimming, and I’m sure he’s in his lab imagining up some more things to hack. His premise is simple: by deconstructing tasks, you too can become an elite performer in a desired area. The word “elite” is not used lightly; Ferriss observes that one can catapult themselves into the top 5% of achievers. There is one underlying commonality between all of his hacking accomplishments: frequency and commitment. He commits to learning something and repeats tasks frequently until this is achieved.

With every generation there is a fundamental change in how business is done. Technology is the driver behind so many of the greatest movements in human history. We are now quickly transitioning into a new era of sales. It’s already happening and the proof points are all around us.

There is now a plethora of evidence citing the success of sales professionals who are religiously practicing the art of Social Selling. They land more meetings, connect with more influencers and decision makers in accounts, are able to add insights that competitors can’t and, unsurprisingly, glean more learning from opportunities. These are things that traditional sales simply can’t deliver in repeatable experiments.

Here are 3 simple ways to dip your toes into the Social Selling waters

1. Be the Opposite

While the crowd goes right, pivot and choose to go left instead.

Your ability to deconstruct your activities and analyze their effectiveness is a great starting point. Begin to pay attention to your prospects and current buying accounts. Find out what your contacts in the account are doing online, follow them and position yourself accordingly from that intelligence. I am certain you will be able to find a few ways to add value to each account. Think about how effective a conversation becomes with a net new prospect if you know something that your competitors do not.

2. Be Your Own PR Machine

Next, begin to connect with other key individuals in these accounts. Introduce yourself as a person of value and a resource. The more people that know you, the more PR you will get. Leverage this over time to discover opportunities that competitors would not even have access to. Spend 30 minutes a day conducting this exercise. Start slowly but be deliberate in your actions.

3. Be a Content Monster

Connect with intelligence. Do not just send generic messages when requesting a connection with someone on LinkedIn or Twitter. Like your cold call approach, customize and tailor messages for each person. Now, begin to share content that you know they will find useful. This could be blogs from influencers, collateral and assets from your Marketing team, or industry-relevant content. The buzz this content will create is what you want. Once conversations spark, it will create opportunities for more connections and deeper-level engagements.

The Bottom Line

I am not advocating or suggesting that you abandon all of your traditional sales methods overnight. But as the world of sales evolves, you must evolve with it.

Use these 3 tips to try Social Selling. Feel free to share your stories with us.

If we do not evolve as a community, the stronger species will eventually spell our end.

If you’d like to discuss social selling some more, book a meeting with me by clicking the link below. To learn more, check out our 42 LinkedIn Sales Tips.

Amar Sheth

CTA

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The Ultimate Guide to Social Selling