Well may you ask, has it not always been so?

Sales has always been at least somewhat social, the old ‘not what you know but who you know ‘ sort of process. However, the last decade or so things have become so competitive that the numbers have taken over, and we often seem to put the social dimensions back into second place.

The numbers however, have hidden the essential truth that people buy from people  not from organisations. The social selling tools that have evolved have put another  layer onto the selling process that enables scaling of effort, but at the end, people still buy from people.

Most of my clients these days are B2B marketers, some have embraced the social platforms around, but most see them as a place to stay in touch with family and friends, and have a point of common dislike of all the cat photos infesting social media.

However, leveraging the social platforms as selling tools that span the numbers and the people aspects of selling can make sales efforts highly effective. The platforms provide leverage to your efforts and when used well can deliver significant results.

Following are a few  commonly asked questions, and my usual response:

Which of the social platforms are best to use?

LinkedIn and Twitter are the most common for B2B, but B2C is a different matter, where Facebook and Pinterest dominate, but the needs change. What is clear is that you  cannot be all things to all people  so it is more about figuring out where your major prospective customers may hang out when in a professional mode rather than a social one, and going there. No different to the old sales techniques where you joined the golf club inhabited by your target prospects.

How to I spend my time productively?

Social sites can be prodigious consumers of that most rare of resources, our time. In my experience if you join platforms based on where your prospects are, you will maximise your time by limiting it to a combination of  two networks. This implies that you have a clear view of the interests, habits and digital behaviour of your primary potential and current customers, which is a whole new topic.

How do I connect?

Connection is a two way process, you need to reach out to them, but they need to be able to see that you might be worthwhile them investing some time, no matter how little in ‘being reached. ‘ Even if you are just asking someone to accept a connection invitation, most people will make the conscious decision, Yes or No, and there are things you need to do swing the numbers to’ yes’.

• First you need to make the choices well. If you appear to be somebody who just seeks connections at random, and it is apparent that numbers are your objective, the rejection rate will be high. Think of your own behaviour, you are more likely to reject a connection request if it is just a generic request from someone you do not know. If you appear to be discriminating in your connections, that the circles you have a may be of value to the person on the receiving end, and the request is personalised, you will significantly improve your acceptance rate. It also takes more time.

• Second, your profile needs to be one that is attractive to a potential connection. There is lots of advice on the net about ‘personal branding’ and while much if it is just common sense and tosh, the foundation is right. Imagine you are at a social gathering, you are more likely to be drawn into conversation with someone who appears to share your values and interests than someone who is way outside your normal fields. This is human, so consider it as you fill in your profile.  Ask yourself what it is about you that might interest those with whom you wish to connect, and highlight those characteristics and experiences.

• Third, answer the question of yourself  “what is the value I can bring to this connection?. If you have nothing, why bother, and why should they bother.

• Finally, send them a personalised message, something that offers evidence that you have done a bit of homework, and have something of value to offer them. Better still if you have a mutual acquaintance to who might be prepared to offer you the courtesy of using their name as a referrer. Importantly do not try and sell a new connection anything.  Again, think of the social setting. When you are introduced to someone who just talks about themselves, or immediately goes into a sales pitch, most of us just want to get away as fast as possible, and it is no different on social platforms.

Having done all that, the work of sales starts.