how to implement social selling

1© 2016 Amanda Calhoun. All rights reserved

CORRECTLY

IMPLEMENT

SOCIAL SELLINGThe What, Why, and How

© 2016 Amanda Calhoun. All rights reserved

2 © 2015 Amanda Calhoun. All rights reserved.

THE WHAT



Social Selling is the process of developing relationships as part of the sales process

While social selling is sometimes confused with social marketing, there are two key differences.

Social Selling:

• focuses on sales professionals, rather than marketing professionals

• aims to create one-on-one relationships, rather than broadcast one-to-many messages



THE WHY


5 © 2016 Amanda Calhoun. All rights reserved

Social Selling:

generates 40% more qualified leads than cold calling

allows you to build genuine connections

enables the 93% of buyers on social media to take notice of you

adapts you to the ever-changing sales process (79% of salespeople who use social media as a selling tool outperform those who don’t

prepares you for the initial client meeting (vs. the 57% either not, or only somewhat, prepared

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leverages your social brand to fill your pipeline with the right people, insights, and relationships 4



THE HOW



Establish a professional presence on social media outlets with a complete

profile

Prospect efficiently with search and

research

Discover and share valuable information

to initiate or maintain a

relationship

Expand your network to reach prospects and those who can

introduce you to prospects

Create a professional brand Find the right people Engage with insights Build strong relationships


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Be authentic 1

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO ESTABLISH YOUR REPUTATION AND CREDIBILITY:

Showcase your sales expertise, credibility, and integrity

3 Highlight personal information (e.g., education background, personal interests, religious affiliation, nonprofit activity, etc.) to find common ground with potential buyers and channel partners

Create a

professional

brand


Find the right people

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Do your research. Monitor and/or search social networks for signs of customer interest, immediate buying intent, or qualified prospect status based on industry, role, geography, etc.

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME:

Match individuals to their target buyer profiles/personas (if relevant)

3 Take time to understand your prospective customer, business partner or client

Find common ground and use it as an entry point to initiate dialogue and establish a connection. Building a relationship with this person starts with knowing who they are

4 • Who are the key individuals within the organization?

• Do you have any connections to them?• What’s happening in near real-time?• What level of engagement do you have?• What are those customers looking for from

the business?• What are they complaining about? What are

their problems/pains?


Engage with insights

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Pay attention to key events in your prospects lives (e.g., change jobs, promotions, mentioned in the news, birthday, or work anniversary. A simple message like congrats may not seem like a lot, but it’s better than trying to force a sale on an unqualified, non-sales-ready prospect

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO ENGAGE YOUR PROSPECTS WITH VALUABLE INFO:

Share relevant blogs, articles, insights, etc.

3 Create and publish your own relevant content through posts, Slideshare, blogs, etc.

4 Take part in relevant debates, discussions, and conversations on social networks



Build strong relationships

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Deepen your relationships – and your credibility – by building trust. People want to invest in, work for and partner with professionals they know and trust.

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROSPECTS AND CLIENTS:

Don’t seek transactions. Engage people to create authentic and genuine connections. Nurturing relationships takes time and calls for authenticity at all times.

3 Focus on communication and feedback via Social CRM. Social Relationship Management tactics include listening and responding to customer feedback online, and re-posting user-generated content regarding company. Remember to directly engaging with stakeholders online

4Advocate for your company. Leverage your own social presence to share positive news, stories, and insights about the company with your network



In many sales situations, the competitive differentiators are so small that any advantage can be the difference between success and failure.

Typically, you wouldn’t see a competitor’s strategy until their new marketing campaign is live. But the reality is, these initiatives are generally the results of months of planning and market testing first.

Social tools can give you advanced notice to positioning shifts:

IT DOESN’T END THERE THOUGH… KEEP TRACK OF YOUR COMPETITION6 Ways to Monitor Competitor Social Media

• Set up Google Alerts for competitor terms (brand names, products, key people)

• Join key customer groups on LinkedIn to see what they are saying

• Monitor Slideshare, Scribd, etc. for new presentations or documents created by the competition, their partners or events they are attending

• Follow customers, competitors, and thought leaders on Twitter to see what they are saying

• Look at Q&A sites like Quora for additional insights

• Use connectors like in SFDC’s App Exchange to integrate all these into your social profiles

Monitor what your competitors are saying (including comments)1

Spot competitive movements (positioning shifts, messaging, etc.)2

3 React to these changes earlier to stay ahead of the competition


On average, companies lose 50% of their customers every five years. Few customers leave on a whim though – moving a business to usually costs significant time and money and is marked months of debate about what’s going wrong and research into a better solution (especially in B2B)

Peer recommendations are the #1 trusted source of information for any business decision (and have always been). And social networks have become the binding force, making it easier than ever for people to share information and solicit recommendations about services and suppliers… and most are public:

IT DOESN’T END THERE THOUGH… PREVENT CUSTOMER DEFLECTION While you can learn a lot by watching and listening to what customers say online, sentiment tracking solutions can help you delve deeper.

You can automatically analyze what is the sentiment of the discussions… and help mine for new opportunities

Obtain insights into your customers by using e the same tools used to monitor the competition1

Delve into any areas you may be failing to spot or issues your customers are having2

3 Take action to address these issues before they need to a costly break-up


• Determine goals and KPIs

• Measure social selling and its effectiveness• LinkedIn’s SSI (Social

Selling Index)• Klout• Revenue Attribution

(most complex)

• Optimize based upon results

• Capture social profiles for deeper insight

• Share thoughts on customer needs and problems

• Identify buyers and build out your audience personas

• Share marketing plans and calendars

• Share tools (e.g., templates, scripts, guidelines, content examples, and customizable emails)

• Join the conversation• Collect content ideas,

periodically review and determine what’s will best meet customer needs

• Create content engine

2Content1 Collaboration 3 KPIs and Measurement

WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED


SO?



The success of the social-centered selling depends on adoption of program – a structured approach is a must.

The 3 phases of social selling framework can, if followed properly, assure the maximum out of the social selling program

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PRE LAUNCH: all planning activities related to the program launch including:

• defining the key performance indicators (KPIs) of the program

• understanding and bench marking the digital presence of audience

• creating the buzz around the program to excite the participants

• enabling the CRM system to track the leads generated from social selling which will help measure the ROI of the program

• communicating benefits of program to participants

EXECUTION: on-boarding participants to social platforms by:

• enabling creation of their profiles• coaching the participants on publishing

content

• identifying prospect• approaching / engaging with prospects

POST LAUNCH: all activities to support participants adopt the program by:

• providing relevant content and queries resolution

• tracking the benefits of the program by reporting the leads generated from social selling

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• evaluating KPIs defined in the prelaunch phase and

• communicating these benefits to the management


Interested in learning more?Connect with me:© 2016 Amanda Calhoun. All rights reserved

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how to implement social selling

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