This is a simple, but very effective tip we were given by a client of ours. Search in the PEOPLE section of LinkedIn, for COMPANIES. This will provide you with EVERYONE, not just your 1st, 2nd and Group connections.
By now everyone’s noticed that the sales process has changed, it’s no longer about the sales profession but instead, it’s focused on the buyer’s journey. It’s changed so much that most sales professionals are not even involved in the buying journey until it’s too late. In fact, 74% of today’s B2B buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making a purchase according to Forrester. They on social performing their due diligence and research without you. Many sales professionals who are still cold calling are being treated with less respect, and are losing out on more and more opportunities. Why? It’s not only because the buying journey has changed, but how it’s changed, and how relevant sales people are making themselves within that process. Too many reps are finding themselves behind the 8 ball and they don’t even know it.
We have helped 100’s of sales reps drive business using Social Selling. These sales reps understood the value of preparing themselves for the next sales evolution. They also realized that there’s one law from the “sales god’s” that will never be broken – selling takes time. Nurture, Nurture, Nurture! There has never been a magic bullet, nor will there ever be. It’s important to start building your social Klout today!
Social Selling is the most powerful sales methodology since the advent of email. Sales reps across North America are learning to blog, make videos and start conversations on LinkedIn. Many progressive marketing departments are now using social monitoring tools like Radian6 to listen for opportunities or threats. The question is, how are they listening and what are they listening to?
We met with Vision Critical today, 2 months after finalizing our last Social Selling Training module. The goal was to take the SUMMER (yes I said summer, they rocked their numbers in the summer) and digest & implement the Sales for Life best practices.
Adoption was an understatement. We were pleasantly surprised just how successful their inside sales team has been with LinkedIn. They were doing it all – monitoring, curating, posting original content and engaging. Engagement comes in 2 forms – some the soft, nurturing relationship development and some the tactical hard-sell for a next step. Either way, they are doing an outstanding job.
LinkedIn Answers is very difficult for sales reps to navigate and find useful topics. Sales for Life has created a short video to give sales reps instant opportunity to address relevant buying questions. Here are tips to make this dead simple.
For the last few years, sales and marketing have invested heavily into marketing automation tools that help attract, nurture and influence prospects. This method of business development has now entered the “growth phase” for many industries – as companies are flocking to marketing automation systems. While marketing automation is vitally important for mass communication, most marketing campaigns can lack focus through USER ERROR.
Focus is exactly what more and more buyers require to capture their attention. Buyers are less interested in a generic marketing email that speaks to “decision-makers in general”. They want to hear about how to solve their unique problems when they are ready to start solving them!
Ok, who’s kidding who – I don’t write on a Saturday night, but I do write the majority of my content on Saturday mornings. This is the window of my week from 7:00 a.m. – 8:00am , when my mind is relaxed to think about our business, the sales industry, and what’s important to sales leaders.
This didn’t come naturally to me as a sales leader. I spend the first 10 years of my sales career on a phone, leaving voicemails or sending 3-sentence emails. I could have been comfortable with just doing that for the next 25 years. Except… the world has changed, and so have buyers.
You may remember our earlier blog, “Hot Sales 2.0 Tool Timetrade” by Jamie Shanks, that describes a hot new sales tool called Timetrade. Since that blog article, Jamie has had the opportunity to share our latest social selling tips with Timetrade’s audience. Check out the full interview (screen shots & audio) with with Mike Puglia from Timetrade.
Browse here for the ultimate guide to social selling that might help you to proceed with social selling.
Sales for Life was founded with one goal – to become the most trusted sales resource for its customers. During our journey, we’ve had the privilege of serving thousands of sales professionals and leaders around the world, from start-ups to Fortune 50 corporations.
