Social selling is much more than a buzzword. It’s a practice that’s disrupting the way B2B sales are done. Period. If your business has a consistent presence on Facebook and Twitter, or if you maintain a highly active LinkedIn profile, you’re already familiar with the key social selling tools.
But don’t confuse social media selling with your social media marketing and advertising efforts. Selling on social media is an entirely different animal. Rather than selling a product or service, the art of social selling gives you the power to quickly identify which prospects are ready to buy, establish a rapport with them and their network, and shape a personalized sales approach.
Many dedicated social selling companies have been able to abandon the practice of cold calling altogether. In my experience, social selling tools can actually complement cold calling and other “offline” sales techniques. How you place social selling within your funnel is ultimately up to you.
Done consistently, social selling will transform your B2B sales pipeline. For example:
- Individual sales reps can improve their numbers through social selling. But when social selling is implemented by an entire sales organization, its impact becomes exponential.
- A recent “State of Sales” survey by LinkedIn suggests that 83% of top-performing social sellers are employed by companies with focused social selling programs in place.
- Win rates increase up to 120% with deal sizes growing up to 130% with social selling. As many as 71% of all sales reps (and 90% of top salespeople) use social selling tools.
Considering the social selling statistics above, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to learn that you may be losing some business to the more socially savvy competitors within your industry.
But we can change that—starting with an explanation of what social selling is all about.
What is social selling?
Buyers engage with LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media platforms on a daily basis. In doing so, those buyers constantly leave clues about who they are (and what they like) based on the content they share, the people they are following, and the comments they leave.
Social media platforms also offer up insights through job changes (those in new roles often make bold moves), social posts (which hint at top-of-mind questions), and hiring patterns (a sign of new investment) that qualify as CRM-suitable demographic data.
With social selling, sales reps utilize all these “digital breadcrumbs” to find, connect with, understand, and nurture sales prospects. By building a rapport early on with potential customers, you become the first person or brand they think of when it’s time to buy.
Now, let’s move forward so I can show you my 6-step social selling framework:
1. Social selling intro
Before you can incorporate social selling examples into your B2B sales repertoire, your team must understand the when, what, and why of social selling, as well as how to make it work.
Make a list of social selling is and what it’s not. This will help others in your sales organization to avoid the tendency for being overzealous and unintentionally “social spamming” your prospects.
Keep in mind, social selling takes time. From my experience in training and coaching hundreds of sales professionals, it takes two to three months of intense, disciplined effort (on average) to realize measurable success. Plus, don’t expect social selling to replace your traditional sales process.
Social selling is meant to build upon your cold calling and other efforts as a sales professional. Many of your B2B sales may start online but still plan to go offline to close your biggest deals.
2. Profile optimization
Prospects do business with people whom they like, know, or trust. By optimizing your social media networks (specifically Twitter and LinkedIn) with the right keywords and credibility triggers, both your online and offline reputations will skyrocket with potential B2B buyers.
A good place to start is by opening a new incognito window and searching your first and last name. If your social media profiles aren’t ranking on the first page, then there’s obvious room for improvement. Even if your name is a common one, optimization is achievable.
Next, determine the 10-15 keywords you want to rank for that will speak to your buyers, are in tune with your company, gain attention in your market, and further your credibility.
Lastly, make sure your social profiles are 100% complete to rank higher with search engines. Your profile can appear as incomplete because small details like “address” or “work experience” are omitted.
Check out my full article on how you can better optimize your LinkedIn profile.
3. Social listening
By using the right tools, apps, and networks, you can learn everything possible about your buyers. Every time they’re online, your sales prospects share fresh insights into their personal and professional lives. Using this data adds value to your interactions; earning their respect.
Why is earning the respect of your buyers important? Respect = Trust. When doing your social listening and conducting research, try to consider the following four questions:
- Does this individual have buying power?
- From a professional standpoint, what does my buyer care about?
- What problem(s) does my product/service solve specifically for my buyer?
- What's the fastest way I can earn my buyer's trust?
Social listening is like muscle training. It takes time and dedication, but the results are worth it. And the more you do it, the better you will get.
