Can I really create content as part of a social selling program
Timothy "Tim" Hughes 提姆·休斯 L.ISP
Should have Played Quidditch for England
I'm currently coaching a company on our?social selling?program about how to create?content.
It's not really work, as I love what we do.
But it's more than coaching, because what we do is change lives.?
What does our social selling and influence course look like?
We start off with a bunch of people that know very little about?social media, they are probably scared, cynical and think it's about posting photos of your?lunch?and all of those things you read in the?press?or see on?TV.?
It's a journey.
With the last session we coach the customers to write a 300 world blog.?
Let's get ready to to learn something new
Through this whole process of learning to use?social media?to "sell" people often start being reluctant.?
We know we should do something but don't, because we don't know where to start.?
And of course it's nothing that people should be scared or concerned of.
Think about it, we all use "content" in the way we work.
- The presentations we have to give.
- The?email?we have to send.
- The?RFPs?we need to respond to.
Often what we have to do is?"action based".?Such as writing to a?manager?to get hold of a resource for a?sale?to support us.?Writing the management summary of a tender or?RFP.?--?In a tender we will write about a client's business requirements and how we solve them.?This could be a blog.?
I always tell the story, which is true about how the?"penny dropped"?for me, for content, which was when I was writing an?email?for a?VP?on instructions for her to use?Twitter.?And I realised it was an email, but with a few tweaks it was also a?blog.?
This is the blog from 2015?here, it wasn't the first one I published, but it's still out there.
That's it.
But I've got nothing to talk about
Working in?B2B?enterprise, we all lead interesting lives.?No come on, we do.
I've met many an interesting business leaders across Telco, Media,?Construction,?Manufacturing,?Life Sciences?and many more sectors.?The stories they tell and the business pressures they face are all great content.?We can all turn those stories into blogs.
We have a saying here in?DLA Ignite, which is,?"there is a blog in that".?Where somebody mentions something in subject matter and we all realise that ...?"there is a blog in that".?
Criticism
Usually the biggest concern people have about writing is that they will be criticised.?
You will be surprised that most?people will actually be very supportive of you.?They know, what it takes to put your views out there.
I have to be honest, when you first post, the most that will happen will be nothing.
So don't be scared.
We love somebody being human we can relate to that
Let's not forget we love somebody being human, we love reading something we can relate to and this will build up your profile that more and more (of your prospects) will know you, like you and trust you.
To the point where you will be the obvious, and probably only choice to your prospects when they come to buy your products or services.?
Post regularly
One final tip is to post regularly, at the same day and same time if possible.?People will start to notice and you will start building a readership and an audience.?
If this article has been useful and you think it would be useful to your network or individuals then please share it.?Please also tag in the individuals.?
Now Imagine .....
Imagine, I pick you up tomorrow in my?car?and drive you to a place which is full of your prospects and customers.?All you have to do is go up and have a conversations with them.
Remember, social media is, social media.?In the past you interrupted somebody with a cold call or an email and pitched your services.?As social media is being social on media, interrupting and pitching does not work.
If I walked up to you at a social event and pitched, you would make your excuses and go and talk to somebody else.?
So how about tomorrow, I pick you up in my car and we go to a place where all your prospects are hanging out.?You can stay as long as you want.?All you have to do is have a conversation with them.?It's that simple, if you are interested, read on.?
What is social selling?
Here at?DLA Ignite, we define social selling as
"Using your presence and behavior on Social Media to build influence,
make connections, grow relationships and trust, which leads to
conversation and commercial interaction."
It's not?witchcraft, it's?enabling your salespeople to work from?home, (or the?office) and create conversations with prospects and customers.?Conversations on social media and conversations that convert.?
The problem with the name "social selling" is that people think that this is selling on social.?All these pitches that you get on social are not social selling, they are?spam.
The other thing you need to know about?social selling?is that this isn't about "putting out some videos" or "putting flowers on your profile" or "going viral".?Here at?DLA Ignite, engagement is important but we are about driving?revenue,?EBITDA, for your business using social media.?This is about you winning business from the competition and having a competitive advantage.?
Social is about having a strategy and there are two key drivers
With anything you do on social there are two questions you need to ask
2. How much revenue / EBITDA am I getting as a business?
Posting and hoping or posting random stuff is not a strategy, in fact I doubt it's driving anything for your business.?
So who's social selling?
In case you missed it, the?Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch?have?banned cold calling?and have moved all their people to?social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.
But surely cold calling has a better ROI than social selling??Not according to Merrill Lynch.
"They will also be encouraged to contact prospects over LinkedIn, which has a higher hit rate than cold calling"
The?CRO?(chief revenue officer),?Richard Eltham?of?Namos Solutions, of one of clients posted a comment on LinkedIn about?social selling. See?here.
“Social selling is not an option now it is the way of the world and you either learn and execute it or fear getting left behind”?
Kevin Murray?who is the Head of Sales at?MacArtney?Underwater Technology recently posted about his success with social selling?here?and wrote an article about the transformation that has happened in sales?here.
Andrew Ferrier?who is the?CEO?of?Display Technology?Ltd and in this?article?it talks about why?Display Technology?have adopted social selling.?His team have also created a social media strategy with help from our partner,?Crux.
Their social media mission statement is
“We want to position ourselves as a forward-thinking, knowledgeable team of individuals who are all experts in our own right, therefore, collectively awesome!”
Andrew also says in that post
"Adopting this (social selling) strategy has taken all of us well outside of our comfort zones but the rewards we have seen in a short period of time have created an excitement within the business development team (new term for sales team).
Because of the nature of social media, quite often you can get instant results.?Even if that is just a comment left on your post, or a like, or someone taking the time to want to connect with you.
The excitement around the sales team is infectious, it’s no longer a chore to reach out to the market place?because the results can be instant and are there, right in front of you."
What sort of results can you expect?
If you check out this?video?of?Chris Mason?CEO at?Oracle?reseller?Namos, and?DLA Ignite?customer, fast forward to 19 minutes 55 seconds. Chris talks about a?$2.6 million win from being on social, after completing the?DLA Ignite?social selling and influence course.?
What happened??They buyer was on social media looking for a solution to their problem, spotted one of the Namos salespeople, who had a buyer-centric profile and asked if the salesperson could help them.?That turned into a $2.6 million deal.?
Contact any of the?DLA Ignite?team,?Eric,?Adam,?Nick,?Vanessa,?Lorena,?Priscilla,?Lenwood,?Alex?and they will be more than happy to help.
Go and look at their?LinkedIn?profiles .... look how they can have digital conversations, create insightful content.?This could be your company!?
We are the only social selling and influence company in the world to offer a certificate in social selling sponsored by the?Institute of Sales Professionals?(ISP).
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Our VP of Sales Just got 83 likes on a LinkedIn post, so that means we are social selling? No!
Save Ferris!
2 年So true Timothy. And, to your point, when people do actually take that leap of faith and post something they are invariably surprised at the positive comments they receive, which usually buoys them up to write more!
Navigating the turbulent waters of defence, marine, and energy sectors with a hearty laugh and a bucket full of experiences! Freelance Technical and Managerial support to a variety of sectors!
2 年I wouldn’t have thought that during a module I could conceive, write and post content all within 20minutes….but I did …..just needed to know how??
Digital Commercial Strategist - Developing people and organisations to become leaders in their sectors - TedX Speaker - Keynote speaker, event host/compere/moderator - Artist
2 年Great blog Timothy, thank you. Many are only accessing 1 or 2 ‘doors’ for content when in fact there are hundreds they can access to create rich and diverse content….they just haven’t noticed. Hold one….there’s a blog in that!