Social Selling and Building Relationships

  • Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Author:  Shelley Walters

Short Description

When I started in sales and Social Selling, I had to visit 8 clients physically, every single day. No jokes! In our wildest dreams we could not have imagined a tool like email, never mind social media and Building Relationships Online. Social media has created so many incredible opportunities for us, and it is about […]

When I started in sales and Social Selling, I had to visit 8 clients physically, every single day. No jokes! In our wildest dreams we could not have imagined a tool like email, never mind social media and Building Relationships Online.

Social media has created so many incredible opportunities for us, and it is about time that we took that seriously. We need to consistently find high-quality leads, of course, I am stating the obvious here – but on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and others, they are there in their millions, trust me.

Actually, you do not have to trust me, just look at the research! According to a recent study conducted by LinkedIn – 72% of buyers use social media to research solutions for purchase.

Seventy-two percent. That is not a number you can or should ignore.

Fact is… cold calls are a thing of the past

We have to face it. Cold emails and cold calls are today’s sales equivalent of trying to use a sledgehammer to fix a computer. Not only are they outmoded, they simply do not work, and most of the time will cause more harm than good.

According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business School, the average executive is receiving 30,000 pieces of external communication per year. Well actually, that was the number in 2010. We can only imagine what that number is in 2020, right?

There can be no doubt that today’s buyers are flooded with random and often irrelevant, pushy requests all the time. Prospects get annoyed, we get frustrated, and opportunities fall through the cracks. If we do not hit our numbers, everybody loses.

So why would we move to social selling? Well, here your buyers are choosing to engage with you and instead of an unwelcome or intrusive and poorly timed call, they get relevant, engaging, and informative information that they can choose to consume in their own time.

Social Selling and Building Relationships Online

This is an opportunity to engage meaningfully with your existing networks on digital channels, in the time that best suits them. This allows us to attract the right prospects and to cultivate our trusted relationships.

You can make yourself visible without being intrusive, and, when the time is right, your potential customers know where to find you.

In the process of Social Selling, you get to:

Define your reputation
Gain visibility in the market and amongst your existing customers (big win!)
Create and cultivate meaningful relationships
Deliver value to your target market and audience and to establish your credibility.
Help shape their buying criteria before your first engagement (a huge win in my opinion)
Stay top of mind, sometimes getting the opportunity is really about the right timing – make sure you do not miss that
Attract the right clients
This is kind of precision and direct access that we could have only dreamt about when I began with sales in 1999!

What Social Selling is NOT

Every week I get questions about why some social selling efforts may seem to be failing, so, let us discuss what social media is NOT.

Social selling is not a short-term tactic to get a deal immediately. It is also not an opportunity to schmooze and self-promote, and it is definitely not an opportunity for us to harass our clients, or to be pushy and prioritize our own agenda.

It is the practice of showing up on social media with information that is relevant and informative to our audience.

You cannot just show up and ‘throw up’ you do need to ensure that there is substance to your content, that you have structured it well and delivered in your own style instead of a canned pitch through Social Selling.

It is not canned. And it is not spam. Its customised, considerate, and personable.

How do I Build Relationships in an online world?

When we become more sophisticated in our approach we can then also become more strategic in our engagements, consider that according to the CEB buying decisions now include up to 6.2 people, and that building relationships with individuals who are not only key decision-makers but influencers is vital –  I am sure you can see the opportunity here to layer strategic social selling engagement onto your existing account planning and influence mapping.

If you and your team would like help with this, that is what we do – so please do feel free to reach out to us anytime.

Shelley Walters

Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Facebook

Author Profile

The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.

These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.

Similar to Social Selling and Building Relationships

We all know remote working and the loneliness in your team has had a large impact on our mental health with loneliness being cited as the most common emotion being experienced by entrepreneurs, leaders and employees. This can cause us to withdraw and be less committed, creative, collaborative and attentive, and both the quality and […]

  • Author: Paula Quinsee
Michelle MACE Curran

Is Complacency Putting You Risk? Lessons From a Fighter Pilot Flying taught me a valuable lesson about life: complacency can cause serious problems for ourselves and those around us. In this newsletter, share a personal story about the dangers of complacency including the following topics: Complacency Consequences What leads to complacency? Signs Complacency is Creeping […]

  • Author: Michelle "Mace" Curran
Ryan Estis

10 Traits of a Great Teammate when I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure where it would take me. But I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey. Lynn Mandinec was my first friend at my first job out of college. We started our […]

  • Author: Ryan Estis
Erin Hatzikostas

Ways to Use Authenticity is so much more than “being yourself”, and how you can use it as your new career playbook. It was a teeny bit embarrassing. I had just kicked off one of the most important negotiations of my career. I was brand new in the COO role for my company, and one […]

  • Author: Erin Hatzikostas
WS Logo 512

There are several reasons why individuals or organizations might choose to use a Speaker Bureau instead of booking keynote speakers directly. Here are a few key advantages of working with a Speaker Bureau: Extensive Speaker Network: Speaker Bureau typically have a broad network of speakers, including industry experts, thought leaders, celebrities, and motivational speakers. They […]

  • Author: WeSpeak Global
Colin J Browne - Create a Working Culture

Sharing a grand vision is important, but often employees want to know they’re being led by someone who also has two feet firmly on the ground with BEER AND BASEBALL Many years back, I sat in an audience, watching my CEO hitch up his pants in between sentences, sip from his water, and mumble about […]

  • Author: Colin Browne
WS Logo 512

It’s a great time to have Rules For New Entrepreneurs —in the last decade, technology has leveled the playing field and propelled an entrepreneurial revolution. As an entrepreneur, you now have more access to information that enables you to make intelligent choices quickly. You have an advantage over big businesses in that you’re lighter, more […]

  • Author: WeSpeak Global

Last month Renias and I helped a game reserve start a leopard habituation project in the Waterberg and here is my MESSAGE FROM A WILDEBEEST. A Tracker Academy project to track, find and form relationships with leopards. For the benefit of ecotourism lodges in the area. During the day we tracked leopards. In the evenings, […]

  • Author: Alex van den Heever

Our Mission

We are your partner creating memorable and engaging experiences that go beyond the event itself.

© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME