As a consumer, you’ve felt the seismic shift in buying behavior since the Internet and social media have become mainstream. Prior to any purchase – big or small – you are now trained to conduct in-depth research, compare product features and benefits, consult review sites and even seek endorsements and recommendations from friends and peers on social media.
Before you click to buy or walk into a store, chances are high you have already decided what to buy without speaking with a sales person.
This approach to buying is no longer limited to consumer purchases. B2B decision makers have similarly taken control of the buying process and make business decisions purely on the digital content and networks available to them. CSO Insights has highlighted the new methods used by buyers to gain insights.
This research has been further validated by Forrester who found 60% of B2B buyers prefer not to interact with sales as the primary source of information. According to Forrester’s VP and Principal Analyst, Lori Wizdo, 62% can develop selection criteria or finalize a vendor list using purely digital sources.
If you’re a B2B sales person these trends and statistics might be enough to make you consider another profession.
However, all is not lost. Salespeople remain a critical part of how people buy, but to be successful salespeople must participate actively in the buyer’s digital journey. Social selling represents a critical technique for the modern seller to be a trusted advisor and subject matter expert relied upon by one’s audience to steer them in the right direction and ultimately be an influencer in purchasing decisions.
Social Fishing vs. Social Hunting
There are two aspects of social selling – social fishing and social hunting. Social fishing is focused on casting a wide net, using social media to broadly engage with the community on a specific social network.
Social hunting is directly targeting and engaging individuals and prospects on a 1:1 basis using social information as the prospecting and communication tool. Think Account-based Marketing. This article is focused on social fishing.
For the uninitiated, it can be daunting to jump into the social media pool for business purposes. An appropriate level of caution is good. Just because you are comfortable posting pictures of yourself on vacation and wishing friends happy birthday on social media doesn’t necessarily make you effective at building your business brand.
Fear not though. Just follow some of these basic tips and you can be an effective social seller in no time.
Fish Where the Fish Are
Depending on what you are selling, different social networks may be more appropriate than others around which to build your strategy. LinkedIn is the default for most B2B sellers as the foundation for professional networking. Twitter is significant when content and thought leadership are at the core of your sales strategy. Facebook is valuable as a B2C channel when looking to engage with individual buyers. Instagram and YouTube are gaining traction for content and information that is more visual or instructional in nature.
Bottom line – it isn’t about which network has the most fish, but which one has more of the fish you are trying to catch.
Create a comprehensive and up-to-date profile
It’s said if you can’t be found on social media you don’t exist. The professional social profile is a one-stop shop validating the salesperson you are engaging with is legitimate. The social profile also satisfies the human need to connect on a personal level.
For most, when meeting someone new in a professional setting, the first stop is LinkedIn. Look for commonalities – Who do you both know? What schools you have attended? What volunteer organizations have you both served? Are there companies where you’ve both worked? An effective profile for social selling is buyer-centric.
It includes a professional picture, a current and comprehensive bio that lets buyers see personal connection points and engaging content that demonstrates your unique personal brand and expertise.
Size does matter (but so does depth)
Committing time to build the number of your network connections is critical. A large network gives an impression of authority and influence. It allows you to gain deeper penetration into an organization by being a second or third connection to a larger number of decision makers.
Mutual connections allow you to have a warm introduction – “Hi, I see we both know Frank” or better, can you ask Frank to make that introduction for you? That being said, it isn’t just a question of quantity, but actually knowing the people in your network on an individual basis.
When you meet someone it is smart to add them to your network, but the more you can follow up to establish personal contact, the more it will go beyond just a number. Joining and actively participating in LinkedIn or Facebook Groups that are aligned to your area of expertise will expand the size and depth of your network. Go deep!
Be Authentic to your Personal Brand
So you have a profile and you’ve connected to some colleagues, clients, and prospects, it’s now important to engage your audience. It seems like an obvious statement to say to be authentic, but many sales people get this one wrong. You need to first start by understanding your personal brand. As a sales person, your personal brand should convey trust, expertise and a unique point of view to your clients and prospects. Below is an outline of my professional brand:
If you want to know if your brand is truly personal, ask yourself the following question: If I’m part of a sales force of 500, is my brand picture unique among the other 499 salespeople?
Demonstrate thought leadership with content
Sharing and engaging with content is the primary way to demonstrate your personal brand. A best practice is to follow the 4-1-1 rule for content sharing.
- 4 posts you share should be of a professional nature, aligned to the areas where you are trying to be a thought leader and demonstrate professional expertise to your audience;
- 1 post should be of a personal nature to demonstrate who you are outside of the office, for example, highlighting volunteer work, a pet project, or a hobby;
- 1 post should be promoting the company/products/services you are selling.
Interestingly this is the inverse of what most salespeople do and why so many are ineffective. Social selling is about creating value for your audience. I guarantee your network isn’t looking to see a hard sell for your company every time you post. The trick is to make it about you without making it ALL about you. This is done by making the content personal, not just sharing content, but adding your own commentary and point of view.
Here’s a good example of a post from one of my colleagues that does a great job of simultaneously being authentic, offering value for his network and promoting his company and personal brand.
Engagement is a Two Way Street
Social networks are not intended as a broadcast medium. It’s a place to engage with others and be social. As other people in your network write content, make sure to at a minimum like it, but even better respond with your own insight. This type of engagement will make you visible to their networks and leads to you expanding your footprint as a thought leader.
Enjoy the Journey
Many salespeople start the process of social selling but quickly abandon it when they don’t see instant results. Building a personal brand and extending your network is not a once and done exercise. It’s an ongoing process of brand building and networking that will continue through your sales career as you build and expand your connections. Just because it’s something you need to do doesn’t mean it needs to be onerous. It’s a matter of making it routine with some simple practices:
- Build time into your daily calendar for social fishing activity.
- As you read industry information, flag interesting content for distribution to your network.
- Use tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness for publishing, content aggregation and content curation.
Know your Limits
Finally, remember that when engaging in social media for business purposes you are a representative of your company.
Every organization has its own policies and practices when it comes to what is appropriate behavior for social selling. For example, some organizations have clear limits on not engaging in political or religious discussions. Others have restrictions on content that references competitors. In regulated industries like financial services, there are clear compliance restrictions that limit what can be said and how the content is recorded.
Understand what is appropriate for your specific organization or industry and engage according to what is allowed.
Salespeople who follow these eight proven best practices for social fishing will have stronger brands, be recognized as trusted thought leaders and ultimately catch way more fish.
About the Author: Avi Pollock is President at Grapevine6, a social publishing tool used by thousands of sales professionals across financial services and B2B technology. As President, Avi provides strategic, operational and financial leadership driving company strategy and key growth initiatives. Avi is a seasoned entrepreneur and intrapreneur who is truly passionate about helping technology-driven companies big and small innovate, grow and transform their businesses. Avi is active in charitable and community causes and is a graduate of the LLB/ MBA program at Osgoode Hall/ Schulich School of Business. Connect with Avi on LinkedIn.