paul writer: social selling
TRANSCRIPT
Are you part of the sales process?
41% of respondents to the 2011 Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer survey said they engaged with a sales representative only after their initial research was conducted on various options
24% said they engaged with sales after a preferred list of vendors was already established.
Where do buyers look?
10
12
21
23
27
27
29Technology or solution provider subject matter experts
Technology or solution provider sales people
Peers/colleagues
Industry analysts
Management consultants
Sourcing advisors
Universities, think tanks
Source: ITSMA, How B2B Buyers Consume Information Study, 2012
What were the first three sources of information you turned to when you began your information search? % of Respondents (N=299)
Company Lens: Business EnablementPHASE AWARENESS LEAD GEN NURTURE CONVERT ENGAGE
Objective
Higher Search RankingsPublicityGenerate Interest
Attract those in the buying processCapture Leads
Continue outreach with those not yet ready to buyMove up the purchase lifecycle
Move target from prospect to buyer
Continue engagementCross-sell/upsellManage post-purchase dissonance
Common Tools
White PapersResearchTweetsLinkedIn GroupsSlideshare Decks Podcasts Speaking Opps
White PapersResearchROI CalculatorsViewpointsCase StudiesWebinarsSpeaking opps
NewslettersCustom White PapersResearchSpeaking opps (for prospect)DemosCo-hosted webinars
Sales PresentationPricing ModelsProposalsCase StudiesAnalyst reccos
NewslettersProject updates/photosCase StudiesAnalyst reportsSpeaking opps (for the client)Workshops
Content plan for sales
PHASE INITIAL RESEARCHPROBLEM DEFINITION
SHORTLISTING SOLUTIONS &
VENDORSFINAL SELECTION POST-PURCHASE
QueryIndustry trendsCompetitor
CasesAnalyst
viewpoints
Operational Benchmarks Technology
Platforms Frameworks ROI
Locations, financials, corp governance Referrals Specific
Solutions Competency Cultural Fit
Best solution Demonstrated
competency Pricing strategy
Rationalizing purchase Benefits Deepen or
disengage
WHY SHOULD YOU DO IT ?
Opens up a multitude of avenues
Differentiate yourself from others
Prolonged careers
Better stature & networking in society
WHY SHOULD THE COMPANY DO IT ?
Build Visiblity
Build Organizational crediblity
Strong personal brands add value to corporate brands and vice-versa
Tool Employee Content
Twitter Links to industry articles along with comments, company news, retweets of company tweets
FacebookLinks to industry articles along with comments, Shares of company posts, Liking company posts, friending clients you know personally (and creating a separate list for them)
LinkedIn Answers to technical questions, Sharing jobs, Engaging in company-run group, Attending company events
YouTube Sharing, liking company posts, links to relevant videos
Slideshare Decks made in public forums such as conferences
google+ +1s for relevant articles, shares of company articles, circle for clients, Hangouts with that circle if appropriate
What’s OK
What’s NOT ok
Financial data
Client information of any type
Internal memos, decks, announcements
Departures, Appointments (unless public)
Anything that contradicts company’s stated position
Anything that contradicts a client’s stated position
The shoals
Facebook is more intimate than the other tools and so requests to connect should be made only to clients you know really well. In the case of employees, you should wait for your reportees to invite you, and never insist that you be ‘friends’
Sharing your views on politics, religion, locally sensitive topics can polarize your network
Define what constitutes harassment, improper language, bad behaviour in electronic media - even in your employees’ personal capacity
Set a guideline for sharing company photos on social media - usually it is that it should not be embarrassing to the employees in the shot, and personal information (like tagging) cannot be provided without permission
Playing safe
Disclose your employer
Disclaimer ‘views are personal’
Follow the ‘listen, respond, engage’ cycle in your social media engagements
When you make a mistake, apologize immediately and fully
What does success look like - individualWhat does success look like?
Acknowledged expert in that field
Known by name not by org title
Personal reputation = > company reputation
Friday 3 December 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmere/62037353/sizes/m/
What does success look like?
% increase in inquiries through Social Media sites
Increase in downloads of content
Requests for information through social channels
% increase in # of touchpoints with customers and prospects
% increase in conversions through nurturing
MARKETING STRATEGY
Product launches, brand integration, rejuvenation and
identity, international
marketing plans, turnkey marketing
solutions
INSIGHTS India’s only serious
marketing newsletter. Quarterly Journal on
the Futurist CMO. CXO conferences- The Futurist CMO and Great Indian
Marketing Summit
COMMUNITY India’s only peer
community for marketers, with a
reach of around 10,000 across
channels. Forum featured in
LinkedIn’s Hall of
CONSULTING. EDUCATION. COMMUNITY.
The Paul Writer team hosts India’s largest peer community for marketers at paulwriter.com, curates India’s only marketing quarterly “The Futurist CMO” and convene the highly acclaimed Futurist CMO and Great Indian Marketing Summit conclaves.
Paul Writer, was founded in 2010 by Jessie Paul, a marketing expert, author of No Money Marketing (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2009). She has held a variety of senior marketing positions including CMO for Wipro’s technology business and Global Brand Manager of Infosys.
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