KNEWSTART REPORT

What’s Social Selling & Why Should You Care?

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What’s Social Selling & Why & Should You Care?

Welcome, and thank you for downloading this e-Book, which will detail what exactly social selling is

and why you should care. It’s here to help you get ahead in business and learn that when social

selling is used strategically it’s the perfect medium for savvy business owners, sales professionals

and consultants.

Now, before we get started, I just want to stress that this e-Book is meant for those who are fairly

new to social media as tool to increase sales i.e. social selling. The content contained here looks at

the concept broadly. The aim of it is literally to get you started with social selling and help you

banish any apprehension that you might be feeling. It doesn’t contain many advanced strategies –

rather sound strategies that are tried and tested AND work. The advanced strategies are within the

consulting and training courses we offer.

Now, let’s get started!

Part 1

Meet Jessica. She's a buyer and she's looking for a supplier. She doesn’t do a Google search and

then call to make her inquiry. Instead, she searches Google, reviews the supplier’s website,

considers their services, checks their reviews and reaches out to her connections for verification or

recommendations. If she thinks they're OK, after having done all that and having compared them to

other suppliers, she then makes contact via email or the phone.

Chances are, you're no different to her. When you're looking for a new supplier you do the same

thing. Why? Well it’s because buying has changed. And, it doesn’t matter who you are or what

industry you’re in, that's a fact.

Today’s buyers are better informed and better connected thanks to technology. Social media had

lead the way and revolutionized everything.

And, as a result we need to sell in a different manner – that is if we’re going to outperform our peers

and the competition (of course).

More Leads & Better Opportunities

Before diving into this, let’s examine the buying process, as it exists today. First comes awareness,

followed by consideration and then transaction.

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1. Awareness

Buyers stay aware of their needs through online connections with industry groups or communities of

practice. For example, they follow thought leaders and experts on Twitter who keep them informed

with industry news and trends. On LinkedIn, they participate in open, discussions with people who

work in the same positions at other companies, share information and often help to solve each

other’s challenges. Further content flows in from other social networks, informing their workplace

discussions and framing their understanding of business issues.

2. Consideration

When they want to solve their problems, the modern day buyer doesn’t contact a supplier. Instead

they’re more comfortable reaching out to their network. They trust the source much more. There,

they ‘ll ask their colleagues and peers on social media for recommendations or they’ll research

companies through the search engines. For example, a Google search opens up a digital universe

of reviews, testimonials and complaints. According to an IBM sales study, 75% of B2B buyers were

likely to use social media to influence their purchasing decisions.

3. Transaction

By the time a buyer engages with a salesperson, most of the buying process is already complete.

At this point, they’ve formed their own opinion and are ready to start negotiating on price. There’s

very little value a salesperson can add at this point.

So what’s the answer? How can a salesperson influence the sale earlier in the buying process?

How can they add more value and help the modern day buyer?

Here's how...

Optimizing Performance

These days if you’re going to perform in B2B sales or manage a performing team, you need a

strategic approach. Success now depends on responding earlier in the buying cycle. It means

reaching out to buyers at the right times, while knowing more about them and their needs than they

know about you and your product.

It requires you to be savvy, astute and forward thinking. And that’s where social selling comes in.

Organizations that train their sales teams to use social selling as a layer in the sales process see

them hitting their quotas, achieving shorter sales cycles, and retaining more customers. In fact,

according to a LinkedIn study of sales reps in 2013, 45% saw more opportunities and 51% were

more likely to hit their quota.

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Clearly these stats indicate that when sales teams are better informed and more engaged with their

buyers at the critical moments of the decision-making process, or at the zero moment of truth

(ZMOT) as Google calls it, they perform to higher levels.

However, to do this they have to take a holistic approach.

It’s not enough for sales reps to set up profiles on LinkedIn. Effective social sellers monitor and

participate on multiple social networks. They take advantage of the unique strengths of each

platform and they communicate in the language each one demands.

Whenever I'm explaining this to my students or clients I often use the analogy of a puppeteer. Just

as a puppeteer would pull the strings of the puppet to make it come to life, so does the skilled social

seller with their social media platforms. They work each one with skill and they make it look easy

too. Yet, all they're really doing is just following a process.

The process has been taught and it is being managed. Both are vital, for success comes when

social selling is integrated into the workflow and that means changing habits.

So let me clarify exactly what I mean here. Social media has not replaced phones or email. Sales

teams who use social selling are actively using both and are actually far more productive using

these tools when they start to use social media platforms to monitor their prospects and gain warm

introductions.

Part 2

The Buying Process & How it’s Changed

As you now know much of the buying process occurs before your buyer reaches out to a

salesperson. However, what you may not be aware of is that it’s not happening behind closed

doors. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Buyers are in your sight line and good leads are there for you -

in full view.

Yes, your buyers are on social media. And, there they're talking about their business needs, asking

questions about issues in their industry, revealing intelligence about their own companies and

reaching out to their peers for advice.

So, the question begs. If they’re doing all of this, why aren't you there too? Why aren't you socially

surrounding them and recognizing their buying signals so you can be of help?

What are buying signals & how can you recognize them?

Buying signals are expressions of purchase intent or indications that a company is putting itself in a

position to buy. Buyers generate these signals in real-time on Twitter, LinkedIn Groups and other

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social networks including blogs and forums. As a result, it’s vital you take a holistic approach to

social selling. You need to be actively listening and not limiting yourself to one social network. Using

LinkedIn is not enough.

Let’s look at some early stage buying signals to illustrate the point.

Example 1:

Meet Jessica. You met her in part 1 and if you remember she's a buyer. Right now, Jessica has a

business problem that she needs to solve. She’s frustrated as she’s purchased a solution (from one

of your competitors) and it’s not working. Time is not on her side as she’s got management riding

her back.

She's also pretty stressed out. What does she do? Well, first of all she goes online hoping to find an

answer. She’s posting on LinkedIn Groups and asking about it on Twitter. She’s also searching for

blogs or guides via Google.

Example 2:

Now meet Sarah. Sarah works in marketing. Sarah has just announced that her company is

expanding geographically and has appointed new senior management hire. This follows a recent

addition to the board of directors. Both hires potentially indicate a new strategic direction.

Let’s now compare these to later buying signals.

Jessica has searched online for a solution to her business problem. She finds a supplier that may

be able to help and contacts them via email. All she wants is a price to fix the problem, as she’s

done her research prior. The conversation is pretty limited at this stage as the sales person can add

little value. In fact, they may well be being competing on price alone.

As you can see, it would have been far better if you'd spoken to Jessica earlier on as you may have

been able to influence the sale much more by adding value.

I say "may" because it really depends on several factors:

1. How credible you are

2. How knowledgeable you are

However, before I dive into this I want to let you know where you need to go in order to find your

buying signals.

Where can you find buying signals?

It goes without saying that you'll find buying signals on social media wherever your buyers are

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hanging out. However, what's worth mentioning (and often forgotten) is that your competitors are

often one of the best lead sources. By tracking your competitors you'll access much information.

So monitor your competitors:

• Corporate social media handles

• Customer support or customer service handles

• CEOs

• Sales executives

• Account Managers

Get Noticed as an Industry Expert

Today’s sophisticated buyers want to speak to someone who can provide value in a consultative

role. They’re fed up of one-dimensional sellers who can only read them a brochure or take an order.

It's understandable. So if you want call-backs from buyers while they’re still developing awareness,

you have to be knowledgeable, recognized, and trustworthy. Professional and performing sales

people need to be experts in their field. It’s no longer good enough to pass your buyers on to

consultants who’ll do this for you and then pass them back to you to close the sale. Selling in this

way is ending. Your sales activity starts with the following 3-stage process:

1. Positioning yourself by creating an online profile (persona) as a trusted advisor

This means that you must:

• Maintain a presence on multiple social networks.

• Create buyer-centric social media profiles that are focused on what you can do for

them. Remember you are there to help and serve them. You are not there to sell.

• Emulate your buyer in an authentic way. Your buyer needs to see themselves in

you. They need to feel that you understand them.

• Be available in real-time to handle questions from your buyers.

2. Monitoring and mining social media to gain knowledge

This means that you must:

• Listen to what's being said on social media and web forums so that you understand

your buyers' changing needs.

• Follow subject matter experts and influencers on social media (including blogs) to

keep track of industry trends.

• Drill down into your buyers' profiles so you may better understand them.

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3. Sharing valuable content to establish credibility This means that you must:

• Leverage curated and created content to post to social networks and communities.

• Stay on-brand with consistent messaging.

• Share industry specific news and insights.

Part 3

How to Move Opportunities through the Pipeline Faster

Let’s be clear. Connecting with decision makers takes time. Typically salespeople will spend a

huge amount of their time trying to connect with decision makers and right now, most of their efforts

will involve trying to establish a dialogue with their buyers. Unfortunately, however, most will be

ignored, especially if they’re trying to access those at the top. In fact, according to a report from

Insideview, 90% of CEOs and IT Directors will ignore those who contact them via cold calls or

emails.

That’s pretty depressing if you’re using either method to connect with your buyers. However, it’s

not if you’re using social media. By using social networks in the right way you can achieve a lot.

There, you’ll find decision makers (the buying committee) asking questions about industry topics

and expressing frustrations about their suppliers, in other – in other words - your competitors. Now

isn’t that useful?

So, what more do we know about the buying committee? Well, even without data mining we know

quite a lot.

Let’s use the IT buying committee as an example. Here we know that they’re made up of finance,

business and IT. Furthermore that:

• 3 in 5 use social media to learn about new products and technologies

• 2 in 3 are open to connecting with a new vendor on social networks

• 3 in 4 are ready to have conversations with a new vendor on social media

• 5.4 decision makers make up the average buying group

• 66% leave existing suppliers because they feel ignored

We also know that these numbers don’t lie. You see, when salespeople respond to open invitations

on the social networks in the right way, they’re able to make contact much more quickly, develop

solid relationships and grow leads into opportunities.

So let’s look at exactly how they can do this.

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How to Connect with Decision Makers

There are many ways to build relationships on social media with the buying committee. For

instance, salespeople can follow them via multiple social networks to discover common interests

and other personal information that will turn cold calls into warm calls. They can comment on their

social media posts (blogs, tweets, posts etc.) and share relevant content to initiate relationships.

They can use the social networks to leverage shared contacts for introductions and move higher up

the buying organization. And finally, they can connect with the gatekeepers and influencers before

they can delay or kill a deal.

How to Move Sales through your Pipeline

Connecting on social media, making “friends” and being helpful is all well and good but in order for

salespeople to meet the sales objectives you have to be able to move leads through the pipeline.

And this is where social selling shines. Social selling allows your salespeople to gain clarity. For

example, it enables a salesperson to spend less time tracking down buyers who aren’t in a buying

situation and more time advancing deals with those who are. By using better intelligence about the

status of their pipeline they’ll be able to forecast performance more accurately and allocate

resources strategically.

And let’s not forget competitive research. Through data mining on the social networks salespeople

can better understand their competition, which enables them to better position themselves as the

ideal solution provider to their buyers’ problems.

Through social media, they’re able to get a feel for their leads by monitoring their competitors’ social

media accounts. For example these could consists of the following accounts:

• The main brand

• Customer support

• Marketing executives

• Consultants

• Sales executives

• Account managers

How to Increase the Capacity of your Salespeople

As you’re now aware the only way to generate better quality leads and opportunities in less time is

by prospecting on social media. That’s why it’s imperative to eliminate wasteful cold calls as fast as

you can and maximize research productivity. Furthermore, you must stay in touch with more

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opportunities and stay better informed about all of them. The way to do this is by managing your

pipeline with better information through an effective CRM system.

Having a CRM system that’s used from the top down and is up-to-date is vital when you’re selling.

Without one you’re not only conveying disorganization and being wasteful but you’re literally

shooting in the dark with your selling. To hit home this point; let me tell you a story.

Not too long ago I was working with one of the world's largest consultancies. They'd implemented a

good CRM system, had cleaned all the data but were struggling to get their employees to use it.

Even their senior executives hadn't bought into it. Instead they preferred to keep the data in their

heads or enter it into countless spreadsheets, which were stored on their own desktops or with

individual PAs.

Alarmingly too, few knew these spreadsheets existed. For anyone who was new to the company

and developing business it was an impossible task. Without accurate intelligence on a buyer not

only was the risk of being viewed as incompetent high, but the chances of winning clients were low.

Eventually they solved the problem but the moral of the story is this. When you use social selling as

a layer in your sales process you must have a "working" CRM system in place. It has to be used

across the company, by all employees, so you can integrate it into your CRM workflow. By keeping

lead records up- to-date with the latest intelligence you can quickly qualify leads by connecting with

decision makers sooner and therefore make more sales.

Part 4

How to Achieve Greater Client Lifetime Value

When I wrote this headline I felt as if I was about to tell you how to find gold in a pot at the end of a

rainbow. Obviously I'm not, but here's the irony. At its core, social selling is about moving away from

purely transactional client relationships and towards consultative partnerships.

You see, when you add social selling techniques to your sales methodologies you’re able to spend

more time on activities that create real value for your clients. By building stronger relationships with

your clients, you’re not only able to hit your targets, but you’re also able to create a foundation for

sustained revenue growth, year-after-year.

I know it sounds like an impossible ideal, but hear me out. Social selling works but only if you

educate your clients.

Here's why.

Those who use social selling methods find clients near the beginning of their buying cycle when

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they can be challenged to think strategically. By taking control of their client conversations early on,

they're able to expand the scope of discussions. Then, over the course of the buying cycle, they

can continuously monitor their opportunities, educating their buyers with relevant content at critical

times.

As a minimum anyone involved in selling i.e. business owners, sales executives, marketing

executives and consultants, should be:

• Leveraging curated content (ideally from their marketing department) to provide relevant

material to individual members of their buying committees.

• Sharing relevant industry news and insights to keep their buying committees informed on

key industry trends.

How to Make Bigger Deals

By using social selling techniques in this way i.e. to position yourself as a trusted advisor before

negotiations even begin, you'll find that your clients will look to you for help and will be far more

receptive to complementary product offerings. Furthermore, if you use intelligence from social

media monitoring services you'll understand the pain points and politics within the companies that

buy from you, so you can expand your sphere of influence and grow deals horizontally.

Here are a couple of things that you can do instantly:

• Monitor your social networks to identify value-added opportunities with current clients.

• Connect with cross-function influencers to expand deals into new departments and

locations.

How to Retain your Clients

Social media allows anyone involved in the sales process to provide value to their clients once the

business has been won and during periods that are traditionally dark. By monitoring your clients on

social networks, you can:

• Discover opportunities to re-engage and discuss business outcomes.

• Recognize dissatisfaction signals such as complaints or requests for recommendations.

• Find out when competitors are making connections with your clients.

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Conclusion

Whilst there are challenges for business owners to overcome when using social media as a sales

tool, make no mistake; there are more advantages available. And, whether you chose to get

involved or not, one thing is certain – your clients, prospects and competitors will. You can treat it

as an asset now; integrate it into your company by training your teams and see the returns unfold,

or get you can get left behind.

Thank you, as always for reading. If you found this useful, please tell others and get them to sign up

to receive more information.

Wishing you much success!

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About the Author

Jane Frankland is a successful technology entrepreneur,

business consultant and speaker. She has built and sold her own

seven-figure business and is frequently invited to speak about

entrepreneurship, women in business, cyber security and social

media at events around the world. She has over 18 years worth of

experience in business development and has held directorships

and senior executive positions within her own companies and at

several large PLCs. She built her last business in her mid

twenties, and through her latest consultancy, KnewStart, provides

strategic business development solutions to existing or aspiring

entrepreneurs.

Jane believes passionately in entrepreneurship, empowerment and freedom. Through her work she

wants to see more businesses survive and thrive. She is particularly interested in modern business

development methods and is currently writing a book, Who The Google Are You, on how to harness

the power of the Internet for accelerated business growth.

Jane has a BA (Hons) from Loughborough University in Design, is a Nominated Young British

Designer and a Fellow of the Institute of Sales & Marketing (ISMM). She’s also a mother to three

children, has a Weimaraner dog and a black and white moggy. The question you’ll hear her ask the

most in business is ‘what’s your objective?’ The reason why is obvious. Time is precious and unless

you know why you’re doing something why do it at all. However, at home it’s always, “Shall we go?”

Jane can be contacted on:

Email: hello@jane-frankland.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneFrankland LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/JaneFrankland

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