Sales Training Article: Social Selling

Sales Training Article: Social Selling: by Customer Centric Selling

Sales Training Article: The New Door Opener in Selling

By Joel McCabe, Sales Benchmark Index (SBI)


A lot was written in 2012 regarding the change in buyer behavior. With that change came concern. Are sales reps being squeezed out of the equation? Many reps will look at the chart below and think, "That's not happening to me. I'm dialed into my customers. I know their trends and tendencies." And you could be right. Or you could be losing opportunities you didn't know existed. Competitors could be "gleaning" these opportunities from under your nose.
Gleaning was a practice where farmers left some of their crops in the field post-harvest. It was left purposefully for the poor to come and "glean" the excess. This practice was essentially a form of charity or welfare. I assume your organization is not in the business of welfare. Leave gleaning to the farmers (agrarian type - not the sales type).
By the time a customer contacts you, they're 60% through the buyer's journey. Your fears have been confirmed - you've been squeezed out. You now have a 40% window where you used to have 70%.
How do you combat this new trend? Social Selling.
Your organization needs a strong digital presence in your industry. If you aren't maximizing your online presence, assume competitors are "gleaning" your opportunities. As a sales rep, you can't rely solely on Marketing to develop your presence. Their efforts will help, but aren't a solution. This is your personal brand and reputation, and you need to forge the way.
You should consider attending our upcoming seminar with Brian Frank, the CSO of LinkedIn. He'll reveal tips and tricks used by LinkedIn to prospect and grow business. Building a strong digital presence is key to Social Selling and is a consistently growing trend.
For those of you still in denial, think about your last major purchase. Chances are you began your research online. You then probably narrowed down your choices before even picking up the phone. Your prospects and customers are doing the same.
Let's assume you have a meeting with a big prospect. What are they going to do before the meeting? They'll jump online and look for you and your company. What will they find? If they find you, what will they see?

• A LinkedIn profile without a photo?
• Unflattering pictures from this weekend's playoff game?
• Or, a detailed professional bio that presents you as a thought leader?

Social media profiles should sell your strengths. You want your prospect to find a profile that conveys mastery of your industry. Otherwise you might just receive a "too busy right now, let's reschedule" email.
Two Strategies for Building Your Brand Right Now
1) Start Creating or Refining Your Own Brand
How is does your LinkedIn Profile rate? Use the LinkedIn Grading Tool to find out. You can also use it to grade your competitor's LinkedIn presence.

Click here to read more of this article from SBI.

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