In every transaction, there is a buyer and a seller. Who would you rather be?
There is a quantum shift in the way buyers and sellers communicate.
Gone are the days of information asymmetry, outdated sales transactions where one party (usually the salesperson) has more or better information than the other (i.e., the buyer).
Today’s buyer is better informed and better educated about your product or solution before s/he contacts you, the sales professional.
Statistics show that the buyer’s journey can be as much as 90 percent completed before s/he ever thinks about interacting with a sales person.
And for sales professionals, who crave complete control of the buying process, this is a frightening concept.
What can the modern sales professional do? The answer is simple: Be the Buyer.
One of my favorite movies is the classic Caddyshack. It’s actually filled with applicable Social Selling advice, like this:
Simply substitute the word “buyer” for “ball” in the above exchange and you have an actionable Social Selling strategy:
Just be the buyer, Danny.
Just relax, find your center, picture the sale, Danny. Picture it.
Turn off all the sound; just let it happen, just be the buyer, Danny. Be the buyer, Danny.
You’re not being the buyer, Danny.
Well, it’s kind of difficult with you talking like that.
Okay, I’m not talking. Stopped talking. Not talking now. Be the buyer.
Being the buyer means thinking like today’s buyer, who is connected, informed, and impatient.
As a sales professional or vendor, if you are unable to provide your buyer or prospect with the right tools, guides, and information to assist him or her at the right time, and on their terms, you’ve lost your opportunity.
Learn more about effective communication with buyers and how to avoid the proverbial Social Selling lumberyard during our weekly #S4LSocial Twitter chat, which continues every Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.
To register and join in the discussion, click here.
5 Questions for #S4LSocial – 12 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 16
Q1: What does a buyer really want from a sales professional?
Q2: How can you best deliver value to a buyer on social media?
Q3: What are some buying signals to look for on social media?
Q4: What are some best practices for engaging buyers on social media throughout their buying journey?
Q5: Share your stories (personal or not) of buyer interactions gone wrong.
See you Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET on Twitter at #S4LSocial. For those of you who are new, I moderate the chat and you can find me at @kevinttully.
