What is social selling and how can it benefit you?

Social selling could seem like a trendy buzzword today. Its new methodologies and a different approach as opposed to traditional sales techniques to sell in Business 2 Business (B2B) formats.

Will it be okay to Call it SALES 2.0?

We all love LinkedIn right? Some may say YES, I LOVE LINKEDIN with such great energy, because I can build wonderful long-lasting relationships, share my content, interact with people with whom I resonate, it is a piece of knowledge well AND ON OTHER SIDE, some may say I am a professional, LinkedIn is the only professional network, that makes me be here.

Whatever you say, today's fact is LINKEDIN is the only professional platform and we are all here to sell some think. Sell ourselves to your new employer, sell ourselves to be an influencer, sell ourselves to generate new business, sell ourselves to showcase the content we create, sell ourselves to as an inspirer, and this list can go on. Thus, it would be fair to say, WE ARE ON LINKEDIN TO SELL.

When we are on a Social Platform and that too a professional one – LinkedIn, our traditional method of selling is no more applicable and needs and 180-degree change.?

Let us have a situation here to explain this and I am sure you will relate to this situation as you are facing it every day.

Situation 1- someone connects with you for the first time and without any personalized message of the reason for connecting and then pitches an elevator pitch- could be sales, could be for a job, etc. is it not we are on backfoot in those scenarios? My guess is our backfoot is entire because there is no relationship, the trust established and resulting our mind to immediately act.

Situation -2 Now let us just reverse the situation, someone connects whom you know, has a relationship, you trust the person and then he pitches the elevator message. There is a 100% possibility you will listen to this individual and may open a chance for dialogue. This action from us is only because we have a trust factor embedded in our mind and that’s remembrance kicks in. Do you agree?

Since you have related to both situations now let us understand how we approach LinkedIn and sell ourselves. These methods can be adopted for any of your objectives but as we go further down this article we will focus more on the "B2B" sales process.

These new methods of selling – Sales 2.0 is called Social Selling.

What is Social Selling?

Achieving sales goals through social selling involves using social networks to find the right prospects, build trusted relationships, and ultimately sell to them. Cold calling is eliminated with the help of this sales technique, enabling better lead generation and prospecting. You and your customers can build and maintain relationships easier within a network you both trust.

Developing and sustaining great relationships is the core of social selling. The conventional sales approach, on the other hand, leads to immediate and short-term results.

What the value of Social Selling brings?

Social selling is a powerful sales tool that’s gaining tremendous traction in today’s sales environment. Not all B2B sales teams have integrated social selling into their sales process, but many have seen how social media can be transformative for companies large and small across all industries. These shifts have been documented in some industry studies and experts, so take the following statistics for example:

What is needed for Social Selling?

To begin the journey of social selling, these are the foundation pillars.

To build a successful long-term business relationship that will increase sales, you must first establish a good foundation with your potential clients. The proven method and skills are

Have patience listening skills- In sales often the person selling is not listening to what the client wants. When you see a Post, don’t jump in positioning your product or services as your response to the post, rather understand what your prospective customer is talking about. Ask a relevant question to confirm your understanding and start the engaging journey. Stop assuming and start listening. This way you will understand what the pain customer wants to be solved vis-à-vis your perception.

Positioning you Offer- Once you have listened, this helps you to formalize and be crisp clear in what is your customer expectations. Considering your expertise, get the affirmation and would they be interested in your solution or product. Why you need to do this – cause you want to attend and be different from all other offers. This way you have gained one important factor from your customer- respect. Now you must lead to the next level of building trust. There is a possibility that would be of interest to purchase. Get the door to be opened for you.

Stay Connected – You might be able to work with your potential client later if they are not interested in working with you today. Do not forget to show up and support their mission by showing up and offering connections or connecting with someone whom you know can add value and stay connected on LinkedIn.

Why is Social Selling Important??

With social media and digital taking over, B2B sales have seen some changes: Buyers' behaviour has changed, Sales professionals have adapted, and the majority of companies have adopted social selling. The way buyers do research, receive advice and make decisions has also changed, and digital has influenced the way they make their decisions. Being the first to respond, add value, and guide them could be a serious competitive advantage for your business.

Impact of Covid

No country is immune from the impacts of Covid-19, as everyone, from public to private, is affected. During times when many businesses are in survival mode, and they are cutting costs like advertising or even downsizing, one of the solutions can be to try and generate more revenue but not by recruiting more staff or investing in technology, but by training the existing sales team to become more productive and successful. And social selling can be helpful.

B2B Buyers are harder to reach

When they are even opened, emails struggle to get the right amount of attention. 90% of prospects hit the delete button. Cold calling is no longer as effective as it used to be, with a success rate of just 0.3% of cold calls converting to appointments. Instead of being perceived as intrusive and interruptive time wasters, it is more effective to stand out on digital channels, where your ideal customers are, and achieve traction by being seen as trusted experts on which your customers can rely.

More expectation from B2B buyers

Salespeople have been able to find and approach buyers and customers through social media, and the same buyers and customers have found information on social media, communicate with suppliers, and made purchase decisions. B2B buyers conduct online research on products and services, just like we all do. Social media and peer-to-peer recommendations are ideal sources of relevant insights from people they know or trust. This phenomenon is only expected to get more?common over time, as 62% of them said they could develop selection criteria or complete a list of vendors based on online quality content. ( Forrester research)

Most sales leaders agree that relationship and value are the two biggest factors impacting sales success: If your sales rep has a great and lasting relationship with all the people involved in the buying process and has shown that your solution offers the best value, then he is most likely to win the deal.

What's NOT social selling?

A social selling approach does not involve bombarding strangers with unsolicited direct messages. That’s spam. Don’t do it. Social selling is not just about adding new contacts to your contact list. A lot of it comes down to making those interactions meaningful and presenting your brand as being a solution to a problem. Developing trust and loyalty is easier when you do that.

How to get started with Social Selling?

Choose the most relevant social network and for B2B it is – LinkedIn!

Create TOP accounts you want to have as your customers and follow them!

Follow the right LinkedIn users- your prospect customer!

Use LinkedIn’s Search feature and create alerts for the type of designation you are looking for. LinkedIn will notify you each time new sign-up matches that profile!

Join and participate in LinkedIn groups and contribute as well engage with the post you resonate with implement a social listening strategy and start responding to what people are saying about your brand!

Provide value by sharing relevant content!

Social selling will help you sell more.

These social selling tips and techniques will help you find and contact prospects on LinkedIn, one of the most influential networking platforms, but the best results are achieved when you make it your primary objective to offer value to prospects and build relationships.

Social selling is not a one-time exercise and should be used along with other sales prospecting techniques.

It can be challenging to get started, particularly if you're new to social media, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

Prospects, customers, and competitors all use social media to do business. Be open to it and watch your sales grow or ignore it and get left behind.

What do you think about social selling? Are you interested in giving social selling a try?

Let me know below. If you find it interesting, do follow me on Linkedin or follow my hashtag - #dxsolutionadvisor to never miss my post!