YOUR Social Media Sales Targets?

Sales is a lucrative career option everywhere including the UAE, but meeting targets takes continuous evolvement and growth. 

That is where social selling comes across..

Related Article: YOUR Social And Digital Transformation?

The question is no longer, “Should I adopt social selling?” but “How can I be the best social seller I can be?”

So what is 'social selling'? Social selling is changing the workflow of traditional sales by giving priority to long-term conversations in comparison to starting with a pitch.

Being able to use social media for these conversations is key for this process and our social media insider, Stefanie Fernandez, Head of Sales Solutions at LinkedIn MENA, has some tips for achieving your sales target effectively and efficiently through social media.

Numbers

Before starting, here are some number from LinkedIn's social selling index - social selling leader are 51 per cent more likely to reach their sales quota and create 48 per cent more opportunities than peers who don't use social media effectively.

Related Article: Increasing YOUR Social Media Followers?

Here Are Her Top Tips For 'Social Sellers'

1. Strategy Before Action and Tactics

Most people already have a sales strategy and try to incorporate social selling tactics in to the process or routine. According to Stephanie, while this is a good idea, you will be far more effective when you implement a strategy to back them up. Start by addressing the integration of social activities into your overall sales strategy.

Who are you trying to reach? What is your core message for them? Which platforms do they use? What kind of content will you share and why? How will you manage the information you receive? What are the ultimate outcomes you seek to measure? Answer these questions and more, then build your social strategy plan (including your tactics) and make sure you execute consistently.

2. It's Never Too Early

You will often hear that buyers are already at least 60 per cent through the buying cycle by the time they reach out to a salesperson. This doesn’t mean you should wait around for them. Seek out your prospects sooner rather than later.

Related Article: YOUR Social And Digital Transformation?

These Are The Benefits an Early Bird Gets:

1. First off, if you get in early, you can share ideas, insights and information that can help them achieve their objectives. This positions you as a valuable resource than just another self-serving salesperson.

2. You’ll develop relationships with key people before they start looking, to build a trust advantage.

3. Finally, by getting in early, you’ll be able to impact the decision criteria instead of just responding to them.

3. Priority To Engagement Over Sales

While it is always tempting to pitch the first time you talk or connect with someone on social media, that would be like taking an axe to your relationship then and there. Social media is not an ideal platform for effective sales pitches.

The best advice is to keep sending them educational material and subtly dropping in something compelling about your company, increasing the likelihood that they will click on it. The rationale behind this is simply to build trust.

Related Article: The Art Of Winning Social Media Conversions?

4. Social Selling is a Habit

Social selling is a process that requires patience and ongoing commitment. You can’t just share one article or favourite one buyer’s tweet and then be done with it. Salespeople must commit to infusing social networking into their daily routines for social activity to have an impact on revenue and sales.

5. Build Your Brand

Your online brand is the one asset you have that differentiates you from the competition. Keep it professional whilst making sure you’re maintaining the human element and being authentic. Your social presence across the networks you choose to publish on should be unique, consistent and compelling. People want to buy from people that educate them, not from robots.

Social selling is an ongoing investment of time and dedication to create relationships, and all sales are soon going to be about just that - relationships and conversations. Start getting social today.

Guest Authored By Dona Cherian. Dona is a writer/reporter for Gulf News Guides. She is an expert in practical UAE life tips and tricks, guides on lifestyle and travel, and rankings from across the globe. She loves digital analytics and is a closet artist. Follow Dona on Twitter.

Related Article: The $7 Million Social Media Marketing Affiliate?

Social selling is an ongoing investment of time and dedication to create relationships, and all sales are soon going to be about just that - relationships and conversations.

Start getting social today..

• 

  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Getting Personal On Social Media?

As a career sales executive, I can say with experience: social media has completely changed how we do business..

Social media is an entire ecosystem of audiences and potential customers that we, as salespersons, can tap into at will - of course, with varying degrees of success..

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Sales Targets?

With Twitter’s launch of a new direct message button, social media strategy has evolved once again.

Now brands, companies, sales reps, you name it, have even more opportunities to actively engage users through chat bots and other automated services.

But user beware; this newly-automated nature of “direct messaging” prospects can only take sales and marketing efforts so far. Bots and automated experiences lack the intuitiveness of a sales rep, to know when an engagement needs to be nurtured long-term, or when to provide an in-depth client experience.

Let’s face it, we’d rather talk to a person than some bot. That’s why today it’s crucial marketers and sales reps develop a client-brand relationship on social media that’s personal. Give your fans the first-class social experience they deserve!

Here Are Five Ways to Put the Personal Back in Social

Related Article: Social Media Influence And Big Dollars?

Create Short And Compelling Content

The average viewing attention span is only 7 seconds, down from the high of 12 seconds in 2000. Across the industry, there is an unmet need for shorter content.

For your next pitch, consider producing a short video about what you do. Less is more after all. Another idea is to take your webinar content, splice pieces out, and create shorter, snackable pieces of content primed for social media sites.

Show Me You Know Me (SMYKM)

If you’ve read my posts you know I’m a huge believer in the Show Me You Know Me philosophy. The eighty million Americans – the Millennials – are not some single monolith, and they shouldn’t be treated as such. They enjoy being stereotyped or pigeonholed as much as Generation Xers or Baby Boomers.

That’s why it’s important to do your homework, and find out who your potential client is not “what” they are. You need to go beyond the basic Three Gs: gender, geography, generation. Craft your message with nuance and details.

Related Article: The Art Of Winning Social Media Conversions?

The heart and soul of outreach is knowing your buyer. So, take a step back, and personalize your interactions with customers. Context and a well tailored message are now imperative to reel in a prospective client.

Host Your First Networking Pow-Wow's

Go beyond who you already know and find the people on the edges of your network, where other’s networks overlap. Chances are, there are hundreds of contacts who just need a simple introduction.

Gather your staff for an “Account Executive Social Pow Wow.” Go from being a “third degree” connection to a “first degree” connection with a simple introduction from your colleague. Think of it as a LinkedIn Party – an office social event to tweak and boost online profiles – with a kick.

Find commonalities anywhere! Be creative. Perhaps you know someone who went to the same college, likes the same baseball team, television show, or has a similar leisure activity.

(As a bonus: Meetings such as these also boost morale and collaboration across teams).

Related Article: Creating A Powerful Social Network?

Social selling Is Not A Suggestion, It's A Must Do!

Like your email address, a hashtag is now an extension of your brand, company, and you. It’s all ties back into personalization. A hashtag makes you searchable, memorable and encourages others to carry that message forward. It can be emotive, topical, or humorous.

Additionally, offer advice through your social account. Stay away from “share, share, share,” as it lacks creativity and can sometimes annoy. Instead leave insightful comments related to relevant posts. Then promote your own materials for followers to see - in moderation.

Create A Campaign or Contest Between Sales/Marketing For Referrals

The networking universe is constantly expanding – so why not be proactive in keeping pace? Unfortunately, far too many people let this slide, and let social network growth and referrals fall by the wayside.

Related Article: Increasing YOUR Social Media Followers?

Develop a system to refer people that you know or to help others out. Increase the number of people you are connected with who can offer resources or support. Even consider revisiting old opportunities and reinvigorate past networks. These are small, but important steps, and again, this builds morale between competitive reps.

People aren’t the least endeared by the “take a number” approach to customer service, or automated phone transfers that never seem to direct you to the right service desk. Why, then, would anyone want cold, generic dialog from a social media interaction? Personalize your approach to social media, and your audience is sure to follow suit.

Guest Authored By Samantha McKenna. Samantha enjoys Networking and easily obtaining new business through strong relationships, exceeding client expectations in sales execution, and superior consultative sales skills. She's continuously promoted into positions with increasing responsibility due to outstanding performance and consistently surpassing sales goals set before her. She oversees global legal directive and Enterprise sales team, working with clients on marketing initiatives that drive revenue, increase brand awareness and shorten sales cycles for their sales and BD teams. She's focused on demand gen, content marketing and revenue conversion. Follow Samantha on Twitter.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Sales Strategy?

“People aren’t the least endeared by the “take a number” approach to customer service, or automated phone transfers that never seem to direct you to the right service desk.

Why, then, would anyone want cold, generic dialog from a social media interaction?

Personalize your approach to social media, and your audience is sure to follow suit.." -Samantha McKenna

• 

  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)