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10 Undeniable Social Selling Truths According To The Experts

Sales for Life Admin
Sales for Life Admin

10 Undeniable Social Selling Truths Social Selling is a must for today’s sales professionals. You can’t ignore the fact that buyers have usually completed up to 57% of their journey before they reach out to Sales.

Social enables sales professionals to connect with buyers earlier in the funnel, start conversations, build solid relationships, and ultimately drive growth and revenue. Still not convinced that your business needs Social Selling? The following 11 experts weigh in on the many benefits of being on social, and why you need to be using it in your organization.

It’s a Digital World

“The modern consumer is digitally driven, socially connected, and mobile empowered. Sales professionals need to adapt or be replaced.” ~ Jill Rowley

As Social Selling evangelist Jill Rowley says, buyers today are more savvy and educated than ever before, using all of these digital tools to make strong purchasing decisions. But many sales professionals are still stuck using the old ways of selling. Sales professionals need to get on board with Social Selling, or they’ll get left behind.

Buyers Are Online

“Meeting buyers where they are means conducting due diligence and arming yourself with information to make informed decisions. Social Selling is also about leveraging online tools to help a sales professional have more pertinent and effective conversations with buyers” ~ Jamie Shanks

Jamie says buyers are using online research to make their purchasing decisions. So sales professionals need to get online and use Social Selling to meet buyers earlier in the buyers’ journey. You need to connect with buyers well in advance before the vendor review stage of their buying journey by providing great content and engaging on social media.

Cold Calls Aren’t Effective

“Going in ‘cold’ is no longer a viable solution.” ~ Koka Sexton

Social Selling leader Koka Sexton highlights a critical point for sales professionals today: cold calling just isn’t effective in today’s marketplace and the best sales professionals know this. They research their prospects on social media and leverage social to create connections so all of their prospects are warm.

LinkedIn and Other Social Channels Will Increase Sales Performance

“Traditional selling channels of email and phone are tried and true, but LinkedIn and other social channels can greatly increase sales performance.” ~ Ken Krogue

As Ken says, Social Selling through channels such as LinkedIn can boost your sales professionals’ results and increase your bottom line. Research from Aberdeen Group and LinkedIn Sales Solutions suggests that by leveraging LinkedIn correctly you can gain:

  • 15% increase in customer renewals
  • 31% increase in meeting quota
  • 21% more reps making quota

Social Selling Empowers Your Customers

“The more people you empower to achieve their dreams the more success you and your company will have. Teach them to fish, don’t tell them you have great fishing poles.” ~ Jon Ferrara

Jon suggests that empowering your buyers and helping them succeed is critical to the success of your company. Providing value through great content will go a long way to helping your clients and building lasting relationships.

A Great Source for Leads

“A lead today can be a complaint on Twitter, a question on LinkedIn, or a discussion on a Facebook page.” ~ Jim Keenan

As Jim says, social media is a great source for leads, and you never know where your next lead will come from. So it’s extremely important to stay engaged on social media and be sure to respond to any potential customer interactions. The questions you answer today can mean business for you tomorrow.

Social Selling Allows for a Better Customer Experience

“According to a CEI Survey, 86% of buyers will pay MORE for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations.” ~ Barbara Gianmanco

Barbara suggests that a great customer experience equals buyers who are willing to pay more, which means more success for your business. Social Selling allows you to nurture customers throughout the buying process, which ultimately means a better customer experience and increased sales.

Solving Buyers’ Problems

“Prospects are making their purchasing decision based on whether they think you understand their problems and you have the knowledge, resources and commitment to solve them.” ~ Trish Bertuzzi

According to Trish, buyers are looking for solutions to their problems, and are no longer merely concerned with a product’s features and benefits. Social Selling allows you to demonstrate your ability to solve your prospects’ problems by consistently engaging socially and providing expert content. Buyers will then trust you as an expert and approach you when they are ready to buy.

Social Selling Allows You to Build Trust

“Social Selling is a layer over top of your current sales process that empowers salespeople to harness social media to connect with buyers and prospects during traditionally dark periods and build a level of trust never seen before.” ~ Julio Viskovich

As Julio says, Social Selling is all about building trust. When buyers are researching solutions online, they will ultimately choose a vendor that they trust. The wealth of information that Social Selling provides via helpful and value-added content provides a great opportunity for sales professionals to continuously foster these customer relationships—even when customers are not ready to buy. Building this trust means that when customers are ready to purchase, they’ll come to you.

Sales Professionals Need to Change With the Times

“If you don’t change, it’s going to be harder and harder to be successful. Yes it takes time to learn how to do this, you’re out of your comfort zone, but that’s what being successful is all about.” ~ Jill Konrath

Jill makes an extremely important point—if you don’t evolve your sales practice to include Social Selling, you’ll get left behind. Don’t get stuck in old ways of doing things. Social Selling takes time to master, but with the right training and tools, you’ll be able to use Social Selling to increase your leads, build relationships, and maximize opportunities for success.

What’d you think about these 10 quotes from the experts? Many of the traditional sales tactics which have had success in the past have increasingly become ineffective because your buyers are one step ahead of you. Be where your buyers are: online and use Social Selling best practices to help your buyers which will ultimately impact pipeline and revenue. Let me know your thoughts, you can connect with me on LinkedIn.

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