Why Social Selling?
With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, the buying process has changed. In a social sales world, most B2B (business to business) buying decisions now start; move forward and are very often closed online or over the phone without a single face-to-face meeting. That's a frightening thought for the sales professional who has long believed that the only way to "close a deal" is to be sitting across the table from the prospect. Sales people must also recognize and leverage the emphasis that buyers now place on recommendations, comments and the reviews of others.
Using tools like LinkedIn, Gist, Facebook, Hootsuite, Foursquare and Twitter, the number of people that we maintain some degree of one-to-one contact and connect with via peer networks and groups has dramatically increased in the past few years. Social sales people will use these tools to become more adept at successfully navigating the first few critical phases of the sales process: investigate and early qualify. Better information leads to better qualification of sales opportunities. And, if used effectively, social networking saves considerable time during this aspect of the sales cycle.
As technology continues to influence the way in which we do business, social selling can be thought of as a model that allows sellers to attract, interact and close business with buyers online by tapping the conversational power of the web. This new approach - when done right - leads to higher sales velocity, volume and profits.
Getting Started
As with any business initiative, it is important that you don't shortcut the process. Utilizing the appropriate social media tools to improve sales performance represents an investment of time and money. Though many of the social technologies you might choose to implement are largely free, people will need the proper training to ensure their success.
Here are 6 tips for creating social sales success:
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