Rocket Readings: Sales Enablement & Social Media: 3 Social Channels to Pump Your Pipeline

Sales Enablement & Social Media: 3 Social Channels to Pump Your Pipeline:

from B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify by Kurt Weiss

For any sales team, there’s nothing better than being handed a batch of freshly qualified leads. But even the best Marketing department can’t tell you everything about who’s picking up on the other end of the line. Lucky for sales, there’s social.
I used to work in politics, and before any political candidate makes a dial to fund their next campaign, they want to know three things about the lead: what are the names and ages of their children, and do they have a dog. In sales it’s no different – well, okay, it’s a little different. We talk a good deal less about our dogs, but it does help to know that little something extra you can’t get from a job title. In this digital age, whether it’s the name of your Border Collie or the company you worked at two years ago, that something can probably be found on a Facebook Wall, Twitter feed, or Linkedin profile.

My SEO conversation with a former SEOMoz employee is not even close to the one I’ll have with the customer whose entire career has been spent in print media. Knowing a lead’s resume informs me how to inform them. And a quick LinkedIn connection is a great way to encourage someone to go back to their inbox for another look at my email.
What you’ll find here:

Resume
Alma mater
Specific responsibilities and focus
Common connections

Twitter

Twitter is the social space where customers and businesses interact. Some Twitter feeds read like a client testimonial page. As a sales rep, I need to understand how my customers do business, and nothing starts off that conversation better than discussing the big deal they just closed or the bar they went to celebrate it.
What you’ll find here:

Ongoing company campaigns
Restaurant, movie, and event check-ins
Sports affiliations

Facebook

With Memorial Day weekend at the end of this month, vacation and travel will push deals to the brink of the 31st. Facebook may not be a hub for professional discussion, but when someone is looking forward to 5 days on a beach in Cancun, they usually let you know on Facebook well in advance. It’s those little insights that might get you dialing that lead before their next post about security lines at the airport. Keep in mind: many folks opt to make their Facebook profiles private, so this might not always be an available channel.
What you’ll find here: