Social Selling is on the mind of many companies today. It is an ever-growing buzz that is getting louder by the day. With companies like Oracle and IBM on board, it is easy to see why people are sitting up and taking notice.
A few months ago, the challenge was issued to sales professionals to submit stories highlighting social selling successes. After dozens of entries, 8 were shortlisted. These 8 were then discussed on a live webinar called Social Selling with The Sharks – YouTube version & sideshare version with some of the leading sales experts on the planet. The Shark Panelists were able to provide incredible insights into the strategies and tactics used by these sales professionals.
The stories submitted included practical strategies employed to land meetings, nurture deals and, most importantly, win new business. Some stories included winning multimillion in new business to gaining access to markets abroad like Japan.
What’s all the fuss about?
The reason these stories are so important to the world of sales is because they illustrate a clear and demonstrable pattern that sales professionals are using to increase sales. There is a lot of quantitative research that shows that sales departments that practice social selling have a 20% uplift in sales, but this is the first time that success stories from a broad spectrum have been highlighted collectively by some of the sales industries top leaders with the common goal of promoting Social Selling as a viable solution.
What’s more important is the stories enable other sales professionals to dip their toes in the water. In our work, we are in daily discussions with sales professionals that tell us that the traditional ways of selling are having a diminishing return on their efforts. That is, people are replying to e-mails less and the cold call (considered the bedrock of B2B sales) is rarely returned.
Why these stories matter
The fundamental reason these stories captivated The Sharks was that they didn’t require a complete overhaul to the way they currently sell. This should bring a huge sigh of relief to worried sales leaders and professionals who wonder if implementing social selling means a complete transformation of their existing tasks and schedules. It’s simply not necessary as we’ve now learned from these real life successes.
Furthermore, each story highlighted different areas of the sales cycle; from getting the attention of a prospect to landing meetings to nurturing clients and closing new business. This should illustrate the massive potential of implementing social selling into your daily regimen.
The Bottom Line
I’ve said it all along; social selling isn’t difficult, it’s just different. That means anyone can do it. You just need practice, the patience to pursue it and a willingness to jump in and test the waters. If you’d like to figure out where to get started or need help in fine-turning your strategies, feel free to schedule a time with me below or start by checking out these 10 Steps to Becoming a Social Selling Machine.
