Author: Shelley Walters
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.
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.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Facebook
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.
Me to My Husband, Bill: Bill – look! My phone is blowing UP with all these stories about people getting this flesh-eating bacteria from getting into the ocean! Bill: You’re kidding. (Not even breaking stride in his email checking) Me: It’s true! It’s right here. A man who’s about to lose his arm. A 12-year old who is about […]
The Olympics are finally here after a year-long COVID delay and how Gratitude Wires Your Brain. The Olympic Games are incredibly inspiring. These men and women give a clinic on Peak Performance for twelve action-packed days. There will be thrilling victories, world-record-breaking performances, and soul-crushing defeats. But everyone competing will be showing you what peak […]
Unleashing the Power of Motivational Speakers: Jason Hewlett and David Allison In our journey towards personal and professional growth, we often find ourselves in need of inspiration, guidance, and a gentle push to unlock our full potential. This is where the power of motivational speakers comes into play. These dynamic individuals have the ability to […]
Are you hiring employees of the past or employees of the future and Do You Need People Analytics? How we think about employees and what they value has changed drastically over the years. Decades ago, employees were there to punch their time cards and climb the corporate ladder. Even just a few years ago, employees […]
In April, 2020 I wrote an article describing four possible scenarios for how the The Coronavirus Scenarios could play out: “Much Ado About Nothing”, “The Camel’s Straw”, “Spain Again” and “Walking the Tightrope”. At the time the cumulative number of global cases was 2 400 000 and deaths 165 000. Seven months later, the figures are 60 000 000 and […]
My mind jumped from one random thought to the next, my heart raced, and my mouth went dry, Using Are Eustressed to fuel performance. Radio calls were being made, but I wasn’t processing what was being said. I was behind the aircraft. I was experiencing a helmet fire. In reality, I was sitting securely in […]
Vincent Berends is the Top 35-under-35 and founder of the Optima business group – a group of companies that bring the disciplines of accounting, administration, finance, financial planning, insurance and legal practices together, as opposed to clients having to use various professional service providers. Name: Vincent Berends (33) Region: Northern Region Job Title: Managing Partner / […]
What’s on your resilience resume? For most people in North America, this week marks the first anniversary of the pandemic changing our lives. It started with disbelief, upheaval, and constant change and progressed to the monotony of sameness. Regardless of the phase, there has been a consistent undertone of uncertainty as to what comes next. […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
