social sales ebook brian carter
TRANSCRIPT
HOW SALES SKILLS
HAVE CHANGED & WHAT WORKS IN 2014
BRIAN CARTER
About The Author
Brian Carter delivers entertaining motivational talks on how top
performing organizations can generate more revenue. His topics include
modern sales methods, social media and internet marketing. Audience
members include CEO’s, salespeople, business owners and expert
marketers. Brian’s 18 years of business success plus a background in
stand-up comedy produce presentations that are both entertaining and
enlightening for attendees.
Brian is the internationally bestselling author of The Like Economy,
LinkedIn for Business, and Facebook Marketing. His books have been
translated into Spanish, Chinese & Portuguese.
For 14 years, Brian has developed strategies and built search
visibility and social marketing fanbases for companies of all sizes,
including well known entities such as Microsoft, Universal Studios,
The U.S. Army, The World Health Organization, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.
He has been quoted and profiled by ABC News, The Wall Street Journal,
Information Week, U.S. News & World Report, Mashable, Forbes, Inc.
Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Brian has written for Salesforce, The Huffington Post, Mashable (which
boasts 20 million monthly readers), Marketo, The Search Engine
Journal, AllFacebook, and The Next Web. He has more than 200,000
online fans and his content is viewed over 8 million times a month.
About The Sales Survey
While writing LinkedIn For
Business, Brian networked
with salespeople and
discovered how they did their
work in the digital era. One
third of that book is devoted
to salespeople and the most
effective ways for them to
use LinkedIn.
While working on a Social
Media Sales ebook for Citrix,
he felt it was time to update
those insights and best
practices.
Brian reached out to
salespeople and asked three
questions about:
• How Sales Has Changed
• How Key Sales Skills Have
Changed
• How Salespeople Will Be
Using Social Media in 2014
This ebook contains their
answers. You may also want to
get the related Citrix ebook!
Executive Summary
1. Benefits: Social media provides
salespeople with tools to
improve prospecting, build
credibility and visibility and
contact more prospects more
effectively.
2. Needs: Salespeople still need a
quality product, a direct
approach, to build rapport, to
be assertive in selling and to
use and improve repeatable sales
processes.
3. Trends: Technology will never
stop improving, so your
organization should encourage
quicker adoption of new sales &
marketing techniques and tools.
QUESTION 1:
How Has
Sales Changed?
“What’s the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10 years?”
“How have you had to adjust?”
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff
What’s the biggest change
you've seen in sales in the
last 10 years? How have you
had to adjust?
The biggest change in sales
is that the customers can
speak to each other about a
service or product,
regardless of whether its a
B2c or B2B market.
In the past, Sales might
have been able to spin what
was being offered.
Today salespeople really
have to know their product
and the product has to meet
the brand's promise. That
puts more pressure on
salespeople to be authentic
and direct.
It also puts pressure on the
company to deliver what they
said they would.
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's Executive
Success Acceleration Firm™
Dr. Natalie conducts
Executive Social Business
Workshops with executives
and/or staff and assess what
the company is doing in
social, how it fits into
traditional business
practices and to then creates
a long and a short term
strategic and tactical plan
resulting in increased
revenue and decreased costs
for the efforts in social
media. Dr. Natalie also
teaches Social Media and
Marketing at the MEMES Summer
Institutes at UCLA Anderson &
UCLA Extension. And is on the
board of several start-ups.
Connect with her here:
www.Twitter.com/drnatalie and
www.linkedin.com/in/drnatalie
petouhoff/
Garrison Wynn
What’s the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10
years? How have you had to
adjust?
Buyers want options. People don’t
want to be sold to. They want to buy
they want selection, and more power
in the buying process. Instead of
presenting they want you to give
them options. They want to ask
questions about those options.
Buyers need to see the value.
Technology has made information more
available. People can get the info
they need, so educating means less
than it did.
You have to get personal with the
value. What do they value? And how
will what you offer meet their
needs?
Buyers want to see how it solves
their problems. They have specific
problems to solve. A guy selling
$3,000 suits, instead of telling you
about the suit itself, will now ask,
“What are you doing in this suit?
We’ll customize this suit to how
you’re using it.”
Garrison Wynn
Wynn Solutions
Garrison Wynn helps people
learn how to make the jump
from being great at what they
do to understanding and
developing the qualities, it
takes to be chosen for the
job.
As a speaker, advisor, author,
and entertainer, Mr. Wynn has
worked with some of the
world's most effective
corporate leaders and business
developers, from multibillion-
dollar manufacturers to top
New York Stock Exchange
wirehouses. By age 27, he
became the youngest department
head in a Fortune 500
company's history. He
researched and designed
processes for 38 company
locations nationwide and he
developed and marketed
products that are still sold
in 30 countries.
His top-selling book,
published by McGraw-Hill,
blends a decade of research
and his candid, laugh-out-loud
delivery to finally spill The
Real Truth About Success. His
additional writing credits
include business journal
articles, weekly contributions
to The Washington Post and co-
authoring with Stephen R.
Covey, Ken Blanchard, and Jack
Canfield.
Jill Konrath
What is the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10 years?
Today’s buyers research everything
online: how to solve problems, which
vendors to contact, what criteria to
use, who’s good. Plus, everyone is
crazy-busy. They have way too much to
do, fewer resources and shorter
deadlines than ever before.
How have you had to adjust?
I’ve turned my website into a
resource-rich information hub that
I’m constantly adding to. I use it to
attract prospects, demonstrate
expertise, and start a relationship.
And, I now view myself as a
publisher, which is a big shift.
I also spend lots of time online
learning more about the people I’m
connecting with. I check out their
website, blog, who’s tweeting. And, I
think LinkedIn is a virtual goldmine
for learning personal info and
uncovering key decision makers.
Jill Konrath
CEO & Chief Sales
Officer
Jill Konrath, author
of SNAP
Selling and Selling
to Big Companies, is
a frequent speaker
at sales meetings.
Using fresh
strategies that
actually work with
today’s crazy-busy
buyers, she helps
sellers create new
opportunities, sell
more to existing
clients and speed up
sales cycles. Her
newsletter is read
by over 100,000
salespeople
globally. Her
expertise has by
featured by ABC
News, Fortune,
Forbes, The New York
Times, Inc. and Wall
Street Journal.
Doug Theis
What's the biggest change you've seen in
sales in the last 10 years? How have you had
to adjust?
Changes in prospect behavior are the biggest
change in my selling efforts over the last
ten years:
• Prospects are more knowledgeable - they've
done research about your industry, your
company and the products and services you
provide
• They are harder to reach - they don't
return vendor voice mail messages and they
don't respond to pitchy emails
• They are expecting quantifiable value -
they must see clear pictures of your
products and services and understand how
they might fit.
Easy to understand products are services are
winning business.
Clear marketing messages delivered via
multiple channels of communication are
critical to success.
Purposeful face-to-face networking at
industry and community events is the new cold
calling.
Pushy, pitchy salespeople no longer have a
chance.
Doug Theis
Senior Vice President
of Lifeline Data
Centers
Doug Theis has been
selling, support and
managing IT
infrastructures for over
thirty years. With a
background in both
business development and
IT staff operations, Doug
believes in leadership,
great teams and practical
strategy for long-term IT
success.
Doug is Senior Vice
President of Lifeline Data
Centers, a colocation
(outsourced data center
facilities) provider.
Doug leads sales and
marketing efforts for
Lifeline and regularly
publishes articles and a
monthly newsletter about
industry trends.
Doug enjoys adventure
racing, team multisport
events with an emphasis on
navigation and problem
solving. He has led Team
Ragged Glory for twelve
years through dozens of
races that include
mountain biking,
orienteering, ropes and
paddling.
What's the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10
years? How have you had to adjust?
The biggest change I have seen in
the last 10 years has to do with
availability of information and
reputation.
Whereas before the salesperson was
a single source of information,
able to provide relatively-
unquestioned “inside” information
on an evolving product in a
nascent space, the ultimate source
of truth, prospects are now armed
with a myriad of information
resources, sourcing data from
their social networks and
connections.
It is easier than ever to crowd-
source and verify information
conveyed by the sales person, seek
out proof points from other known
(more easily identified) relevant
connections (existing or former
customers, for instance) at the
potential vendor’s company.
Shaun Rosenstein
Shaun Rosenstein
Director of Sales,
Sociable Labs
Shaun Rosenstein is
Director of Sales for
Sociable Labs, working with
multiple top innovators in
the IR 500, selling a
platform for on-website
social commerce user
experiences and customer
insights. Previously, he
was Senior Account
Executive at Crowd Factory
(acquired by Marketo),
helping marketers create
highly effective social
marketing campaigns across
all marketing
channels. Before selling
social software, Shaun sold
online media and
advertising solutions to
Fortune 1,000 companies,
focusing on new customer
acquisition. He holds a
degree from NYU and lives
in San Francisco. In his
spare time, Shaun bridges
his online and offline
interests by
taking Instagram photos of
his amateur cooking
exploits. Follow him on
Twitter @Prescovery.
What's the biggest change you've seen
in sales in the last 10 years? How have you
had to adjust?
People have moved more toward marketing. The
sales model since the beginning of time has
been about building rapport, setting up
presentations- people hide behind marketing,
spamming, shotgun sales. 10 years ago we had
100:10:1 ratio, if you touch 100 clients you
get 10 meetings and 1 deal.
Now with modern technology and the
availability of information, we do more of
our lead gen and outreach electronically.
10-15 years ago we didn’t have that at our
fingertips. We had to build our lists, and
prospecting and list building took so much
time. We had the Internet but not social not
LinkedIn or Facebook or Data.com. We had to
do a lot of research, crack something open
to research, go knock on doors. We had a lot
more F2F meetings and rapport was critical.
We had to use the phone to set up meetings
for presentations, which itself was rapport
building. Sales professionals had to dig
deep to build rapport, give something, or
know how they were unique.
Now they can contact 250 people to get 25
meetings or calls to get one sale. That
displaced rapport building to some degree.
It became a numbers game, and I can use
social media to build lists.
Old school salespeople have had to adjust-
the competition are younger folks better at
the Internet- I can use social media and the
Internet now- it’s a learning curve, because
there are so many websites and types of
social media- I’ve had to find those places
to find prospects and where and how to do
the research. It’s not the newspaper or
telephone or networking meeting.
Jeff Thacker
Jeff Thacker
VP Sales
Wynn Solutions
Jeff has 22 years
of experience as
a sales
professional. He
has a track
record of
consistently
growing revenue
from 10% to 27%
per year for an
existing company
and has doubled
or tripled
revenue for
startups.
What's the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10 years?
How have you had to adjust?
10 years ago today the landscape
was completely different. Cold
calling was king. Sometimes you
could lead with a good mail
campaign and affordable CRM
platforms involved hosting a SQL
server to put up and instance of
ACT. The biggest most impactful
changes:
1. Linkedin - You now have the
ability to see who/whom the
individual that your pitching
is and to literally see if
they have the ability to buy
from you based on their
connections.
2. The Death of Cold Calling - I
don't know the last time that
I picked up phone and called a
business without a name,
title, email or path of
connecting with someone
3. Force Multipliers - Email,
Content Marketing & Sales
Automation tools have become
the best friends of sales.
Just imagine that you could
target the customers who want
to buy from you first?
Jim Reynolds
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jim Reynolds
Strategic Account
Executive, Brandwatch
Jim Reynolds is a
season sales executive with
over 10 years
of sales experience in cutting
edge technologies. Jim
currently is the strategic
account executive for
Brandwatch, a leading global
provider in the social
analytics market,
previously Jim worked for
Emerge Partners a CRM &
Experiential marketer based in
NYC & Rochester, NY. Their
core focus was CRM & Mobile
marketing and clients included
Pernod Ricard & Beam Global.
Jim’s role was to create and
define social practices across
the agency including
listening, engagement and
platform deployment for
customers. Previous to Emerge
Jim was the Director
of Sales for Techrigy and
continued on through the
Alterian acquisition. He's had
the opportunity to work with
such client as Microsoft,
Google, Nokia, NASA, Warner
Brothers, Chevron & Mars
Global and agencies agencies
families including WPP,
Omnicom, Interpublic Group and
many others.
What's the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10 years?
How have you had to adjust?
The biggest change in sales I’ve
seen over the past 10 years is the
talk about social media. Everyone
knows they need to be ‘doing it’,
but few understand what they should
be doing.
A few years back it was the
Marketing and Brand managers tasked
with handling companies social
media initiatives, but the problem
was these people already carried a
full work load of marketing plans
to implement. Adding in social
media work was too much for them.
Actual social media positions in
companies are finally being filled,
but still, it surprising to see how
many brands do not follow a proper
strategy.
I’ve adjusted to the change by
staying current; I read social
media blogs, follow thought
leaders, take online courses, and
subscribe to newsletters.
Brendan Mark
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Brendan Mark
Director of Sales,
Marketing &
Sponsorships at
The Heliconia Press
Brendan Mark is the Sales
Marketing Director of The
Heliconia Press – a
leading production
company in the outdoor
industry that produces 5
Television series and
that runs 9 YouTube
channels that have gained
over 14 million views and
40,000 subscribers.
Brendan develops and
maintains all marketing
and partnership packages
for the business to help
brands leverage TV
exposure, YouTube
marketing, and Facebook
impact. Brendan is a
former World Champion
kayaking athlete that
toured North America on
the national team – his
deep interest in
sponsorship led to his
career sales and
marketing.
What's the biggest
change you've seen in
sales in the last 10
years? How have you had
to adjust?
There are a lot of
people relying on
electronic means of
communication when
trying to make a sale.
But outside of meeting
a client in person, the
phone is and always
will be a salesperson's
best friend.
B.J. Shell
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
B.J. Shell
Sales Consultant at
Glad To Have You,
Inc.
Born in Southeast
Missouri, B.J. quickly
discovered that Cape
Girardeau was a nice
place to grow up, but the
ocean was calling his
name! Living on the
coast since 1995, B.J.
has a variety of
experience in hospitality
management, print
advertising, direct
marketing sales, real
estate, Social Media
marketing and Mobile
Applications. Mobile is
the direction that the
world is going, and the
Glad to Have You platform
makes it easy to stay
ahead of the crowd! B.J.
has a proven track record
of delivering results
while working with and
within a team to
implement systems to
create efficiencies and
to generate new revenues
using the Glad to Have
You Guest Management for
Hospitality Managers
platform.
What's the biggest change
you've seen in sales in the
last 10 years? How have you
had to adjust?
You can't be an anonymous
business listing in the
yellow pages to find clients
anymore.
People have to be able to
feel like they can trust you
before they will make
contact. That means getting
your bio out there in the
online local listings,
referral websites and social
media. They have to relate
to you because you know
their problems.
Earl Newland
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Earl Newland
The Kansas City
Dog Whisperer
Earl has been
helping the people
of Kansas City solve
their dog problems
for over 30 years.
When Cesar Milan
came out with his
show people began
calling him the
“Kansas City Dog
Whisperer”.
His website is full
of free dog training
tips for clients and
friends to help them
solve their dog
problems. His
mission is to bring
you the most current
dog training systems
of inducement.
Earl offers free
phone consultations
for clients and
friends and anyone
with a rescue dog.
What's the biggest change
you've seen in sales in the
last 10 years? How have you
had to adjust?
More people, not just the
younger generation are
connected through social
media and video. More
people have smartphones
allowing video to be
watched instantly.
In my sales process I make
direct video greetings in
emails and in texts to
customers-allowing them to
see my face, hear my tone
and listen to my words.
This is much more powerful
than just words in an
email.
Elise Kephart
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Elise Kephart
Elise Kephart is a sales and
marketing phenomenon in the
automobile business and is
nationally recognized as "The
YouTube Diva". Since 2007 Elise
has sold thousands of vehicles to
local and out of the area clients.
Her personable and persuasive
sales and marketing videos are
personalized for every customer
creating a strong bond and trust.
Elise has presented at seminars
nationwide, including several of
Jim Ziegler’s Internet Battle
Plans as well as the spring 2012
Digital Dealer conference in
Orlando, where she has
consistently 'wowed' the audience
by teaching how to create and edit
quick and effective videos and
deliver them to customers within
minutes. Elise has visited several
dealerships across the country
teaching her unique technique in
the auto industry and has been
praised by the likes of Jim
Ziegler, Grant Cardone as well as
Dealer Marketing Magazine. Elise
is currently an Internet Manager
at Sunset Honda in San Luis
Obispo, California. Her amazing
videos can be seen at
youtube.com/sunsethonda and she
can be reached at
What's the biggest
change you've seen
in sales in the
last 10 years? How
have you had to
adjust?
I have had to
shift to learn
more inbound, non-
interruption
methods. The old
style of sales is
hardly effective
anymore.
Jason McCullough
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jason McCullough
WordPress Developer, Digital
Marketing Consultant
I started playing around with
web design when the internet
was young, before going to
college to study development
and pursue a career in the
field. Currently I work with
Helpful Nerd, for the
Marketing and Communications
Department, building and
maintaining websites for
clients.
Along with doing web design
for Helpful Nerd and
freelance clients, I also
work on my own web design
projects, my personal blog,
and I am also working on
creating a series of free
courses for startups and
small businesses on how to
better understand and improve
their own online marketing
efforts. Along with web
design I’m really interested
in marketing and business in
general.
I spend a ton of time in
front of the computer so in
my off-time I’m learning
about eating healthy or
trying to take advantage of
the beautiful weather we get
here in Atlanta, GA.
What's the biggest change you've
seen in sales in the last 10
years? How have you had to
adjust?
In terms of mechanism used, I
think social media made a very
big change in that it revived
old brands and businesses that
had deteriorated. It has created
bigger and wider awareness of
businesses, particularly on the
B-2-B front, and those
businesses selling directly to
the end consumers. We can now
see new emerging FMCG and
technology-based business
selling directly to the end
consumers.
Social Media been a leap for
businesses to improve and
innovate not only in
manufacturing or displaying
technology, but in selling and
marketing techniques. With
social media around the corner
for every business activity,
it's become a mandatory for
businesses to shape up or ship
out!
Walid Soliman
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Walid Soliman
Cairo, Egypt
Walid Soliman has
an MBA in Global
Marketing from
ESLSCA, and CEO
Assistant in ART
Channels Network,
and a freelance
Digital Marketing
Consultant to a
number of companies
in Egypt.
How Sales has Changed
in the 21st
Century
Sales has changed in five major ways:
1.Inbound marketing has begun to dominate over
interruptive.
2.Selling has shifted from transactional to consultative.
3.Social Media is everywhere.
4.Thought leadership has become critically important.
5.Content marketing has matured.
Inbound Marketing
Social Media
Content Marketing
Thought Leadership
Consultative Selling
The Shift to
Consultative Sales
Transactional
Sales
Consultative
Sales
Salesperson’s
RoleOrder taker
Trusted subject
matter expert
Where? Web, Phone, F2F Phone, F2F
Buyer ReadinessKnow what
they want
Need education
and diagnosis
Product/ServiceA few sizes fit
allCustom
Buyer’s
Selection
Criteria
Price,
convenience
Salesperson’s
guidance
Sales Cycle Short Long
QUESTION 2:
How Do
Salespeople Use
Social Media?
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects
of sales? What are some of the
do's and dont's you've learned
there?
Yes, I use social media for
sales. Part of that is using
social media to be seen as a
thought leader. Because I
tweet, blog and post in
various places, people see my
thought leadership, what I
bring to the table and those
posts effectively act as
marketing.
In B2B marketing, you really
don't want to try to do a
direct sell. It's more about
offering something of value,
say a white paper on ROI of
Customer Experience, and in
exchange for that the
potential client might sign-up
for your newsletter.
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
Dr. Natalie conducts
Executive Social Business
Workshops with executives
and/or staff and assess
what the company is doing
in social, how it fits
into traditional business
practices and to then
creates a long and a
short term strategic and
tactical plan resulting
in increased revenue and
decreased costs for the
efforts in social media.
Dr. Natalie also teaches
Social Media and
Marketing at the MEMES
Summer Institutes at UCLA
Anderson & UCLA
Extension. And is on the
board of several start-
ups. Connect with her
here: @drnatalie and
www.linkedin.com/in/drnat
aliepetouhoff/
Garrison Wynn
Do you use social media in prospecting or other
aspects of sales? What are some of the do's and
dont's you've learned there?
I use social media to market- Facebook ads- I post
on Facebook and it goes to my Twitter- we sell
books that way and we see that in the Amazon
reports.
I post in LinkedIn groups, and we’ve gotten 3 deals
out of one of those groups. Find a group where the
people in the group are potential customers or a
good referral source. Don’t go in and sell stuff. I
go in and participate in discussions, ask
questions.
I get a discussion going maybe without even giving
input, and I get 240 comments, then I become the #1
influencer and they go look at my profile. One time
this smart guy shot me down and I backed off, and
he ended up looking bad, all these people jumped on
my side and I got a speaking gig out of it.
Somebody liked what I said and had an event coming
up. We were talking about a really relevant issue
that’s really contentious.
My side is more antecdotal but that’s what the
people in positions of power will pay for. The
research side is harder to get buy in for. It’s not
enough to have information or theories- they have
to be easy to communicate and sell. If it’s too
complicated, they won’t believe you. CEO’s aren’t
the smartest people in the company but they do take
more risks. You have to take risks to make money.
The guy with 170 IQ won’t take risks. To get rich
you have to take risks. Geniuses don’t always get
paid much. Einstein invented atomic weapons and
power buy Opperheimer made the money from the
government contract. Same with Edison vs Tesla.
Go to groups, ask questions, answers are good but
start a dialogue. Don’t sound angry or hurt in your
comments. Be careful about trying to be right. It’s
better to be effective than right. I’ve be right
before and nobody wrote me a check. Be helpful,
listen, give something.
Garrison Wynn
Wynn Solutions
Garrison Wynn helps people
learn how to make the jump from
being great at what they do to
understanding and developing
the qualities, it takes to be
chosen for the job.
As a speaker, advisor, author,
and entertainer, Mr. Wynn has
worked with some of the world's
most effective corporate
leaders and business
developers, from multibillion-
dollar manufacturers to top New
York Stock Exchange wirehouses.
By age 27, he became the
youngest department head in a
Fortune 500 company's history.
He researched and designed
processes for 38 company
locations nationwide and he
developed and marketed products
that are still sold in 30
countries.
His top-selling book, published
by McGraw-Hill, blends a decade
of research and his candid,
laugh-out-loud delivery to
finally spill The Real Truth
About Success. His additional
writing credits include
business journal articles,
weekly contributions to The
Washington Post and co-
authoring with Stephen R.
Covey, Ken Blanchard, and Jack
Canfield.
Jill Konrath
Do you use social media in prospecting
or other aspects of sales?
I use social media in every aspect of my sales. I
blog 2-3 times per week. I publish a newsletter 6-8
times per month to over 100,000 subscribers from
around the world. I have 14,500 twitter followers
and 5,000+ LinkedIn followers. I tweet/publish
updates 8-12 times per day. I have a LinkedIn group
with nearly 9,000 members.
What are some of the do's and dont's
you've learned there?
- Do provide value in everything you do.
- Don’t ever be self-promotional; people hate it.
- Do share other resources besides your own:
articles, webinars, quotes, etc.
- Do try to drive people to your website with
enticing content so you can capture their name. It’s
the only way you can create a relationship with
them.
- Do take time to engage people in conversations. It
creates deep connections.
- Do leverage social media to research prospects
prior to initiating contact. Find out what they say
about themselves on LinkedIn. If they’re on
Facebook, Twitter or any other medium, check that
too. See if you have anything in common. Then
leverage what you know to create a connection and
establish rapport.
- Do engage with people via LinkedIn groups. It
circumvents the traditional prospecting channels
(email/phone) and enables you to connect directly.
Jill Konrath
CEO & Chief Sales
Officer
Jill Konrath,
author of SNAP
Selling and Sellin
g to Big
Companies, is a
frequent speaker
at sales meetings.
Using fresh
strategies that
actually work with
today’s crazy-busy
buyers, she helps
sellers create new
opportunities,
sell more to
existing clients
and speed up sales
cycles. Her
newsletter is read
by over 100,000
salespeople
globally. Her
expertise has by
featured by ABC
News, Fortune,
Forbes, The New
York Times, Inc.
and Wall Street
Journal.
Doug Theis
Do you use social media in prospecting or other aspects of
sales?
I use social media to help prospects and clients get to know
me and the company I represent. The company persona
publishes content about industry subjects and current events
inside the business, along with provocative questions posed
to the reader about IT strategy. I use my personal accounts
talk about IT occasionally. I blog regularly on the company
website about industry trends in colocation, cloud
computing, disaster recovery, and IT strategy. I publish
links to the posts on Twitter and Facebook. These posts not
only build credibility, they help with our search engine
strategies. I publish a monthly email newsletter (now in its
fifth year) that provides interesting industry articles, an
original article and no sales pitch. This monthly touch
point to both prospects and clients has built tremendous
credibility and won business. I promote this newsletter on
the company website and on Facebook. For prospecting, I use
a combination of LinkedIn and Jigsaw (Data.com) to identify
and profile individuals in leadership at high probability
prospect companies. I believe that identifying, following
and understanding a company's key players and their beliefs
gives me a strategic advantage.
What are some of the do's and dont's you've learned there?
Do’s
• Always provide value first. Give just enough knowledge
away to make them want call.
• Keep social media comments simple and short, one idea at
a time.
• Be positive. Always.
Don'ts
• I believe it's better not to mix your personal and
business personas on social media. Many prospects want to
see that you're a decent human being as well as an
industry expert.
• No sales pitches. Stop telling people how wonderful you
are. Prove it instead.
• Don't be negative. Don't be a troll.
I think most companies need to find a good marketing agency
and pay them to help with social media strategy, along with
the web properties and search engine optimization. I think
leaving most social media out of the marketing strategy is
OK for some companies that can't dedicate the time or the
resources.
Doug Theis
Senior Vice President
of Lifeline Data
Centers
Doug Theis has been
selling, support and
managing IT
infrastructures for over
thirty years. With a
background in both
business development and
IT staff operations, Doug
believes in leadership,
great teams and practical
strategy for long-term IT
success.
Doug is Senior Vice
President of Lifeline
Data Centers, a
colocation (outsourced
data center facilities)
provider. Doug leads
sales and marketing
efforts for Lifeline and
regularly publishes
articles and a monthly
newsletter about industry
trends.
Doug enjoys adventure
racing, team multisport
events with an emphasis
on navigation and problem
solving. He has led Team
Ragged Glory for twelve
years through dozens of
races that include
mountain biking,
orienteering, ropes and
paddling.
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects
of sales? What are some of the
do's and dont's you've learned
there?
Social media has become integral
to sales success. My job has
evolved to include an even
greater deal of facilitating
conversations among my prospects
and existing customers, as well
as being a part of those
conversations, so that I am
viewed as a trusted adviser and
worthwhile contributor to the
evaluation and analysis of the
marketplace.
Additionally, sales success is
now predicated on leveraging
social networks for introductions
and proof-point validation, and
in particular for me, now that I
am focused on large e-commerce
companies, the world is very
small and social reputation plays
a huge factor in the success of
the business and the ability for
the company and me personally to
close deals.
Shaun Rosenstein
Shaun Rosenstein
Director of Sales,
Sociable Labs
Shaun Rosenstein is
Director of Sales for
Sociable Labs, working
with multiple top
innovators in the IR 500,
selling a platform for
on-website social
commerce user experiences
and customer
insights. Previously, he
was Senior Account
Executive at Crowd
Factory (acquired
by Marketo), helping
marketers create highly
effective social
marketing campaigns
across all marketing
channels. Before selling
social software, Shaun
sold online media and
advertising solutions to
Fortune 1,000 companies,
focusing on new customer
acquisition. He holds a
degree from NYU and lives
in San Francisco. In his
spare time, Shaun bridges
his online and offline
interests by
taking Instagram photos
of his amateur cooking
exploits. Follow him on
Twitter @Prescovery.
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects
of sales? What are some of
the do's and dont's you've
learned there?
Yes, but there’s a lot of
misinformation you have to
vet, same as in the past.
There’s a lot of conflicting
information in the
Information Age.
If I can understand how these
companies are built and where
the buyers are, and the info
fits the organizational
chart.
You need to respect people’s
privacy and don’t bother them
just to “check in”. Either
you have a valid reason to
contact them, a viable
question, or take them to
lunch.
Jeff Thacker
Jeff Thacker
VP Sales,
Wynn Solutions
Jeff has 22
years of
experience as a
sales
professional.
He has a track
record of
consistently
growing revenue
from 10% to 27%
per year for an
existing
company and has
doubled or
tripled revenue
for startups.
Do you use social media in prospecting
or other aspects of sales? What are some
of the do's and dont's you've learned
there?
Yes, I have Hootsuite open monitoring my
competition, a column for my current
clients and I'm a very active user of
linkedin as well as having google alerts
setup to monitor key topics.
DO: Be Interesting - People want to buy
from people that are interesting and
dynamic, if you have a social presence,
don't just post company content- share
competitors content, share funny things,
share things you are interested in. If
you want, it’s okay to have a personal
life that includes children, sports and
PG-13 Content.
DON'T: Don't curse, Don't talk politics,
Don't be a racist, Don't hate on the
competition. That is: Don't be a jerk.
Be Timely - Realize the half life of a
tweet is less than a day, linkedin posts
live longer, but don't post a reply to
someone three months late and expect any
engagement back.
Don't Be Creepy - Just because you can
see personal information doesn't mean
you need to use it in the sales process.
Just because you saw that person X ate Y
for lunch, you don't need to discuss it.
Jim Reynolds
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jim Reynolds
Strategic Account Executive,
Brandwatch
Jim Reynolds is a
season sales executive with
over 10 years
of sales experience in
cutting edge
technologies. Jim currently
is the strategic account
executive for Brandwatch, a
leading global provider in
the social analytics market,
previously Jim worked for
Emerge Partners a CRM &
Experiential marketer based
in NYC & Rochester, NY. Their
core focus was CRM & Mobile
marketing and clients
included Pernod Ricard & Beam
Global. Jim’s role was to
create and define social
practices across the agency
including listening,
engagement and platform
deployment for customers.
Previous to Emerge Jim was
the Director of Sales for
Techrigy and continued on
through the Alterian
acquisition. He's had the
opportunity to work with such
client as Microsoft, Google,
Nokia, NASA, Warner Brothers,
Chevron & Mars Global and
agencies agencies families
including WPP, Omnicom,
Interpublic Group and many
others.
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects of
sales? What are some of the
do's and dont's you've learned
there?
I do research online about all
my prospects. From individual
contacts to businesses as a
whole. Social media sites like
Linked provide great background
information that can help me
understand my contact.
I’ll connect with my contact on
linked in, but I avoid doing
any friend request via
Facebook. Twitter can provide
some interesting insight as
well.
A company’s overall social
media footprint is a good
indicator on what they’re doing
well. How are they running
their Facebook page, what’s
going on Twitter, are they on
YouTube and how many
views/subscribers to they have
are all things I look at.
Brendan Mark
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Brendan MarkDirector of Sales,
Marketing & Sponsorships at
The Heliconia Press
Brendan Mark is the Sales Marketing Director of The Heliconia Press – a leading production company in the outdoor industry that produces 5 Television series and that runs 9 YouTube channels that have gained over 14 million views and 40,000 subscribers. Brendan develops and maintains all marketing and partnership packages for the business to help brands leverage TV exposure, YouTube marketing, and Facebook impact. Brendan is a former World Champion kayaking athlete that toured North America on the national team – his deep interest in sponsorship led to his career sales and marketing.
Do you use social media
in prospecting or other
aspects of sales? What
are some of the do's and
dont's you've learned
there?
I use LinkedIn to find
new leads for my
business. I like to find
new leads by creating
conversations that
provide a benefit to my
potential new clients
without trying to hound
them to make a sale.
Provide value in your
product by discussing a
benefit that your client
may not have realized
they even needed. Like a
Ninja.
B.J. Shell
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
B.J. Shell
Sales Consultant at
Glad To Have You,
Inc.
Born in Southeast
Missouri, B.J. quickly
discovered that Cape
Girardeau was a nice
place to grow up, but the
ocean was calling his
name! Living on the
coast since 1995, B.J.
has a variety of
experience in hospitality
management, print
advertising, direct
marketing sales, real
estate, Social Media
marketing and Mobile
Applications. Mobile is
the direction that the
world is going, and the
Glad to Have You platform
makes it easy to stay
ahead of the crowd! B.J.
has a proven track record
of delivering results
while working with and
within a team to
implement systems to
create efficiencies and
to generate new revenues
using the Glad to Have
You Guest Management for
Hospitality Managers
platform.
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects of
sales? What are some of the
do's and dont's you've learned
there?
I use YouTube to create
personalized video greetings to
customers who are in the market
for a vehicle. This combined
with a phone call I am able to
get CONNECTED with the customer
for an on site appointment-
which has a high chance of
closing.
For social media I create an
"experience" when buying a car.
I instagram and vine these
experiences and allow the
customers to share this with
their friends and family on
facebook, instagram, vine and
twitter.
Elise Kephart
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Elise Kephart
Elise Kephart is a sales and
marketing phenomenon in the
automobile business and is
nationally recognized as "The
YouTube Diva". Since 2007 Elise
has sold thousands of vehicles to
local and out of the area clients.
Her personable and persuasive
sales and marketing videos are
personalized for every customer
creating a strong bond and trust.
Elise has presented at seminars
nationwide, including several of
Jim Ziegler’s Internet Battle
Plans as well as the spring 2012
Digital Dealer conference in
Orlando, where she has
consistently 'wowed' the audience
by teaching how to create and edit
quick and effective videos and
deliver them to customers within
minutes. Elise has visited several
dealerships across the country
teaching her unique technique in
the auto industry and has been
praised by the likes of Jim
Ziegler, Grant Cardone as well as
Dealer Marketing Magazine. Elise
is currently an Internet Manager
at Sunset Honda in San Luis
Obispo, California. Her amazing
videos can be seen at
youtube.com/sunsethonda and she
can be reached at
Do you use social
media in prospecting
or other aspects of
sales? What are some
of the do's and dont's
you've learned there?
I use Facebook and
LinkedIn to prospect.
I have learned to keep
my postings all
professional and keep
out of political and
religious discussions.
Jason McCullough
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jason McCullough
WordPress Developer, Digital
Marketing Consultant
I started playing around with
web design when the internet
was young, before going to
college to study development
and pursue a career in the
field. Currently I work with
Helpful Nerd, for the
Marketing and Communications
Department, building and
maintaining websites for
clients.
Along with doing web design
for Helpful Nerd and
freelance clients, I also
work on my own web design
projects, my personal blog,
and I am also working on
creating a series of free
courses for startups and
small businesses on how to
better understand and improve
their own online marketing
efforts. Along with web
design I’m really interested
in marketing and business in
general.
I spend a ton of time in
front of the computer so in
my off-time I’m learning
about eating healthy or
trying to take advantage of
the beautiful weather we get
here in Atlanta, GA.
Do you use social media in prospecting or
other aspects of sales? What are some of the
do's and dont's you've learned there?
Actually my business is mainly about B2B, and we
hold a large portfolio of business units, due to
the fact that we're a holding company with many
subsidiaries, However, we totally ignore Social
Media, which is weird, considering that I am into
it so profoundly.
My company doesn't use social media seriously. They
have no official pages on social media platforms,
Social is usually run by the PR guy to create
awareness with no established strategy of what the
company would get in return. Awareness is not
enough alone- you have to urge, prompt and
instigate people to take action and you generate
demand. I am in support of developing a strategy
and serious work on this issue with integrated
digital marketing plan that could sometimes use
engagement to retain and in the meantime lure new
prospects to purchase.
Do's:
1. Right content for the right people
2. Customizing content in different occasions
3. Targeting right people
Dont's:
1. Don't trivalize audience psychology and behavior
2. Don’t overuse the same content
3. Don’t ignore fans – reply to them
4. Don’t create content without a strategy
Companies shouldn't be in social only for
advertising their products, It's way more than
that! Social is a symbiotic relationship.
And as you (Brian Carter) said "you can't go viral
if there is no one to infect" and let me
complement, "you can't infect unless you can sense
what’s happening to your prey's behavior, and start
to emit waves and exude a strong substance to attck
and fixat the object, and no sooner than had the
object found out, a new formula must be on the way
to glue the object for a much longer period".
Walid Soliman
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Walid Soliman
Cairo, Egypt
Walid Soliman has
an MBA in Global
Marketing from
ESLSCA, and CEO
Assistant in ART
Channels Network,
and a freelance
Digital Marketing
Consultant to a
number of companies
in Egypt.
Do you use social media in
prospecting or other aspects of
sales? What are some of the do's
and dont's you've learned there?
I don't use social media to
solicit business. I use it to
engage with my friends/clients
and anyone that approaches me
about hiring is steered to
private messaging.
I make a big effort to bring the
latest news, techniques and
philosophies in my industry to
my followers Occasionally I find
some amusing cartoon or meme
that reflects my sense of humor
that is borderline kid-friendly
to post as well. No politics or
religion on my business page. I
always say thank you to anyone
that likes my page in a private
message.
I don't buy likes either. I want
them to be organic in that when
someone visits the page, they
find it interesting because they
see my personality and intent. I
really want to help them.
Earl Newland
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Earl Newland
The Kansas City Dog
Whisperer
Earl has been
helping the people
of Kansas City solve
their dog problems
for over 30 years.
When Cesar Milan
came out with his
show people began
calling him the
“Kansas City Dog
Whisperer”.
His website is full
of free dog training
tips for clients and
friends to help them
solve their dog
problems. His
mission is to bring
you the most current
dog training systems
of inducement.
Earl offers free
phone consultations
for clients and
friends and anyone
with a rescue dog.
What Hasn’t Changed
in Sales?
Quality
Directness
Rapport
Will
Process
Quality.
More than ever, you need to
be selling a quality
product or service.
Directness.
Phone calls can be more
powerful than emails. F2F
even more so.
Rapport.
People still buy from
people they like;
relationship- and rapport-
building are critical.
Will.
Aggressive action-takers
win, because sales is still
competitive.
Process.
Organizational skills and
repeatable sales processes
yield better results.
Facebook B2B
• Myth: Facebook is only for B2C.
• Truth: B2B companies are getting business from
Facebook.
• If your prospect is in the C-suite, they may not be on
LinkedIn because executives
get hammered by salespeople on
LinkedIn.
• THUS…• Don’t be annoying on LinkedIn.
• Use a Facebook Page and Facebook Ads to reach executives on
Facebook.
The Skills Overlap
For Marketers &
Salespeople
Marketing Sales
Marketing Both Sales
Advertising, Marketing Automation, Content
Marketing
Thought Leadership, Blogging, Curation
Prospecting, Warm Calls,
Consultative Selling & Golfing
Leads From Thought
Leadership
“My blogging and social media
produce one or two highly
qualified referrals per week.
I get speaking opportunities
andpersonal introductions
that lead to much more
business than I had prior to
social media.”
– Coy Davidson,
Colliers Int’l Broker in
Houston, TX
How Coy Davidson
Succeeds
Speaking/
PressTalkShareBlog
• I wrote a post about the Oil
spill and its impact on CRE
market (news + topic)- got
interviewed on local news.
• When prospects Google me, they
see two pages of stuff. I
control how I look to the
prospect.
• I have credibility before I ever
talk to them, so I don’t have to
establish credibility at the
beginning of a sales call.
• I got a referral from a Silicon
Valley guy who knew me from my
Facebook business page. He was
sitting next to a guy who said
“who do we know in Houston?” and
I got that referral.
Coy Davidson Tips
• The blog is the centerpiece of
my strategy. I get 15,000
monthly visitors. If I convert
1% of those, I win.
• Write and post about national or
international topics, you get
known outside of your city.
• So you want to be the best known
in your city. You have an
opportunity to carve out a
niche.
• Social is a long term strategy
that pays off big but not right
away.
• A young broker should do warm
calls but with this strategy I
never have to.
• Social Media doesn’t replace
sales or interpersonal skills,
it just enhances visibility and
credibility.
Speaking/
PressTalkShareBlog
Curating Is
Time-Efficient
“I read 25 niche news
articles a day and find
up to three that are
worth sharing. It’s
ridiculous not to share
something worth
sharing, because it
takes only a second.
“Those valuable
articles start
conversations with
potential buyers and
generate referrals.”
- John Orr, Broker in
Charleston, SC
with Colliers
International
Leads from Curation
• Social posts start
conversations: “I saw your
linkedin story about… your
tweet about…”
• Met a lawyer on Twitter 2
years ago, who it turned
was right across the
steet. His brother in law
moving to Charleston to
open a restaurant. John
got that deal.
• Other Colliers brokers who
do Social- they refer to
each other.
• Speaking, e.g. at ICSC
conference – speaking
creates relationships
which leads to referrals.
– John Orr,
Colliers Colliers
Int’l Broker in
Charleston, SC
QUESTION 3:
What are the
Key Sales
Skills for
2014?
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff
What's different in the
salesperson's skillset in this era
of social and digital marketing?
And what hasn't changed that
effective salespeople still need?
What hasn't changed is that people
buy from people they like. So it’s
important in sales to understand
your audience, what they value and
be attentive and listen.
What's changed is that sales
people need to know where their
customers are online and in
addition to their cell phone and
email, they need their social
identities- like Twitter handle or
blog url, LinkedIn profile page.
Often that's the easiest way to
get someone's attention - via
social - than by traditional
methods - because the traditional
methods are overused. Oftentimes I
can get to someone that would not
take my call via the phone, but
does respond to a tweet or post.
Social is the new way to get
access to a large, potential
client base.
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
Dr. Natalie conducts
Executive Social Business
Workshops with executives
and/or staff and assess
what the company is doing
in social, how it fits into
traditional business
practices and to then
creates a long and a short
term strategic and tactical
plan resulting in increased
revenue and decreased costs
for the efforts in social
media. Dr. Natalie also
teaches Social Media and
Marketing at the MEMES
Summer Institutes at UCLA
Anderson & UCLA Extension.
And is on the board of
several start-ups. Connect
with her here:
www.Twitter.com/drnatalie
and
www.linkedin.com/in/drnatal
iepetouhoff/
Garrison Wynn
What's different in the salesperson's
skillset in this era of social and
digital marketing? And what hasn't
changed that effective salespeople
still need?
I think salespeople need to write
better. You need clearer writing
skills. To post you need to be clear
and concise. You didn’t have to have
that skill before. The post needs to
get attention. If you write jokes, put
the funny thing at the end that gives
it some pop.
You have to be aggressive in your
action taking. You can’t be as
aggressive face to face now- hard
closes only work in certain industries.
Are you willing to go to work everyday
and put the time in. Are you willing to
pick up the phone or take those actions
at the computer? You can’t just be a
homerun hitter. You have to swing the
bat a lot, often, on a regular basis. A
genius idea won’t do it. Some people
get lucky, which is why there are so
few 20 year olds who get billion dollar
contracts. Most successful salespeople
are putting the time and money in, but
not busywork, actual sales actions.
Garrison Wynn
Wynn Solutions
Garrison Wynn helps people learn how
to make the jump from being great at
what they do to understanding and
developing the qualities, it takes
to be chosen for the job. He gets
them to understand why their
products, services, or leadership
styles--or those of their
competitors--are selected.
As a speaker, advisor, author, and
entertainer, Mr. Wynn has worked
with some of the world's most
effective corporate leaders and
business developers, from
multibillion-dollar manufacturers to
top New York Stock Exchange
wirehouses. He has a background in
manufacturing, entertainment,
telecommunications, and financial
services. In his teens, he worked
with Magnavox and baseball legend
Hank Aaron to promote the world's
first video gaming system. By age
27, he became the youngest
department head in a Fortune 500
company's history. He researched and
designed processes for 38 company
locations nationwide and he
developed and marketed products that
are still sold in 30 countries.
An experienced actor in films and a
former professional stand-up
comedian, Garrison Wynn has hosted
television specials and national
radio programs. His new top-selling
book, published by McGraw-Hill,
blends a decade of research and his
candid, laugh-out-loud delivery to
finally spill The Real Truth About
Success. His additional writing
credits include business journal
articles, weekly contributions to
The Washington Post and co-authoring
with Stephen R. Covey, Ken
Blanchard, and Jack Canfield.
Jill Konrath
What's different in the salesperson's
skillset in this era of social and
digital marketing?
• Salespeople need to become invaluable
resources. Their products/services are
no longer the primary differentiators.
They are. That means they need to be
smarter than ever before. They need to
continually be learning too. It’s a
never-ending job to keep up to date.
• Salespeople need to be better
researchers and in multiple mediums.
Prospects expect that today. They don’t
want to deal with sellers who haven’t
invested time learning about them.
• Salespeople need to realize that people
are checking them out on LinkedIn these
days. It’s crucial for them to
establish a strong professional
presence and to continually share good
information.
• Salespeople need to get to the point
quickly. Crazy-busy buyers have no
tolerance for people who waste their
time.
And what hasn't changed that effective
salespeople still need?
It’s all about helping your prospects
achieve their objectives. It always has
been. And, if you keep your focus on
that, you’ll do well.
Jill Konrath
CEO & Chief Sales
Officer
Jill Konrath, author
of SNAP
Selling and Selling
to Big Companies, is
a frequent speaker
at sales meetings.
Using fresh
strategies that
actually work with
today’s crazy-busy
buyers, she helps
sellers create new
opportunities, sell
more to existing
clients and speed up
sales cycles. Her
newsletter is read
by over 100,000
salespeople
globally. Her
expertise has by
featured by ABC
News, Fortune,
Forbes, The New York
Times, Inc. and Wall
Street Journal.
Doug Theis
What's different in the salesperson's
skillset in this era of social and digital
marketing? And what hasn't changed that
effective salespeople still need?
What's Changed:
• Everyone has access to mountains of info about your
industry, your company and your products. You
better be good. You can't fake it any more.
• Detachment is more important than ever. A sales
professional must walk in to an opportunity
understanding that prospects may or may not be a
good mutual fit. Forget that quota for a few
minutes, listen, and find out if there is a way to
help the prospect.
• The Internet gives an individual sales professional
the opportunity to build credibility as an expert
in their field, and to win business because of it.
Sales pros who publish regularly and deliver
valuable industry information can build credibility
with potential buyers without ever meeting them.
And those prospects will remember that credible
sales professional when they are ready to buy.
What's the Same:
• Sales professionals must write clearly and
concisely. They must be able to communicate
effectively in proposals, emails and on the phone
to win deals. Sales pros who publish original
content can build big credibility.
• Although it has always been important, listening
and understanding a prospect's pain is the key to a
great relationship with that prospect, whether you
ultimately sell them something or not.
• Using a repeatable sales process is critical to
success. Now and forever. Amen.
Doug Theis
Senior Vice President
of Lifeline Data
Centers
Doug Theis has been
selling, support and
managing IT
infrastructures for over
thirty years. With a
background in both
business development and
IT staff operations, Doug
believes in leadership,
great teams and practical
strategy for long-term IT
success.
Doug is Senior Vice
President of Lifeline
Data Centers, a
colocation (outsourced
data center facilities)
provider. Doug leads
sales and marketing
efforts for Lifeline and
regularly publishes
articles and a monthly
newsletter about industry
trends.
Doug enjoys adventure
racing, team multisport
events with an emphasis
on navigation and problem
solving. He has led Team
Ragged Glory for twelve
years through dozens of
races that include
mountain biking,
orienteering, ropes and
paddling.
What's different in
the salesperson's skillset in this
era of social and digital
marketing? And what hasn't changed
that effective salespeople still
need?
Sales people have always been
relationship builders, and that has
not changed, if anything it has
become a more crucial skillset due
to the amount content and resources
available.
Salespeople also need to be
truthful evangelists in an
unprecedented way, painting a big
picture grounded in unproven
assertions is less important than
painting an accurate picture of
what is currently possible, due to
social fact-checking.
Effective salespeople need to learn
how to be a part of (and passively
guide) conversation without
overreaching, which could result in
social shunning, and choke off a
crucial channel for
driving sales success.
Shaun Rosenstein
Shaun Rosenstein
Director of Sales,
Sociable Labs
Shaun Rosenstein is
Director of Sales for
Sociable Labs, working with
multiple top innovators in
the IR 500, selling a
platform for on-website
social commerce user
experiences and customer
insights. Previously, he
was Senior Account
Executive at Crowd Factory
(acquired by Marketo),
helping marketers create
highly effective social
marketing campaigns across
all marketing
channels. Before selling
social software, Shaun sold
online media and
advertising solutions to
Fortune 1,000 companies,
focusing on new customer
acquisition. He holds a
degree from NYU and lives
in San Francisco. In his
spare time, Shaun bridges
his online and offline
interests by
taking Instagram photos of
his amateur cooking
exploits. Follow him on
Twitter @Prescovery.
What's different in the salesperson's
skillset in this era of social and digital
marketing? And what hasn't changed that
effective salespeople still need?
There’s a lot of information and people
are better at using it. They understand
how companies are built. It gives new
salespeople a jumpstart.
We used to have to find and go to
networking functions to mingle, find other
contacts. Now that’s electronic and the
skillset that’s different is people can
focus more on getting info to clients, not
having to dress up for a F2F meeting every
day. 15 years ago our skillset was
rapport, list building, door to door.
You had to be sharp, look good and sound
good be nice and open. Now they use the
internet info and rapport- no telephone
book, networking meetings, or knocking on
doors. They can close deals through email.
So how good are you at emails? How good
are you at making that first impression
electronically? Rapport is still the
essential, fundamental skill. It comes
back to the relationship. People buy from
people they like.
Jeff Thacker
Jeff Thacker
VP Sales, Wynn
Solutions
Jeff has 22
years of
experience as a
sales
professional.
He has a track
record of
consistently
growing revenue
from 10% to 27%
per year for an
existing
company and has
doubled or
tripled revenue
for startups.
Jim Reynolds
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jim Reynolds
Strategic Account Executive,
Brandwatch
Jim Reynolds is a
season sales executive with
over 10 years
of sales experience in
cutting edge
technologies. Jim currently
is the strategic account
executive for Brandwatch, a
leading global provider in
the social analytics market,
previously Jim worked for
Emerge Partners a CRM &
Experiential marketer based
in NYC & Rochester, NY. Their
core focus was CRM & Mobile
marketing and clients
included Pernod Ricard & Beam
Global. Jim’s role was to
create and define social
practices across the agency
including listening,
engagement and platform
deployment for customers.
Previous to Emerge Jim was
the Director of Sales for
Techrigy and continued on
through the Alterian
acquisition. He's had the
opportunity to work with such
client as Microsoft, Google,
Nokia, NASA, Warner Brothers,
Chevron & Mars Global and
agencies agencies families
including WPP, Omnicom,
Interpublic Group and many
others.
What's different in the salesperson's
skillset in this era of social and
digital marketing? And what hasn't
changed that effective salespeople
still need?
I feel the biggest change in the
sales person skill set, much like a
analyst or marketer or event a IT
person is discernment: so much data
is coming at you, how does one
separate the good from the bad? The
best Sales 2.0 reps have that ability
and the laggard don't.
The second is adaptability, because
things are changing so quickly a
sales person more and more has to be
a consultant rather than a pitch man
to insure they meet the clients
needs, if not you won't be valuable
and your value is equal to a
commodity. Things that will never
change is drive, you still need to
SPEAK to your client understand their
needs and win their trust.
Third is activity, those who win the
business are those who work for the
business. If you don't take the time
to work you simply won't win.
What's different in the
salesperson's skillset in
this era of social and
digital marketing? And what
hasn't changed that effective
salespeople still need?
My approach to sales has
always been to help people. I
enjoy it, and it helps build
long-term relationships with
my clients.
The common ground with any
client is business, and how
to improve it. I use my
social media skills as open
resource that my clients can
ask questions about.
It’s hard to be proficient in
all social media platforms,
but mastering a couple of
them can be very useful. My
focus has been on YouTube and
Facebook.
Brendan Mark
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Brendan Mark
Director of Sales,
Marketing &
Sponsorships at
The Heliconia Press
Brendan Mark is the
Sales Marketing
Director of The
Heliconia Press – a
leading production
company in the outdoor
industry that produces
5 Television series and
that runs 9 YouTube
channels that have
gained over 14 million
views and 40,000
subscribers. Brendan
develops and maintains
all marketing and
partnership packages
for the business to
help brands leverage TV
exposure, YouTube
marketing, and Facebook
impact. Brendan is a
former World Champion
kayaking athlete that
toured North America on
the national team – his
deep interest in
sponsorship led to his
career sales and
marketing.
What's different in the
salesperson's skillset
in this era of social
and digital marketing?
And what hasn't changed
that effective
salespeople still need?
Again, people seem to
think that sending a
creative email is
enough. Sales is a
relationship business
and that will never
change. Care more about
the needs of your
client more than you
care about your
commission and you will
find success.
B.J. Shell
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
B.J. Shell
Sales Consultant at
Glad To Have You, Inc.
Born in Southeast Missouri,
B.J. quickly discovered that
Cape Girardeau was a nice
place to grow up, but the
ocean was calling his name!
Living on the coast since
1995, B.J. has a variety of
experience in hospitality
management, print
advertising, direct marketing
sales, real estate, Social
Media marketing and Mobile
Applications. Mobile is the
direction that the world is
going, and the Glad to Have
You platform makes it easy to
stay ahead of the crowd!
B.J. has a proven track
record of delivering results
while working with and within
a team to implement systems
to create efficiencies and to
generate new revenues using
the Glad to Have You Guest
Management for Hospitality
Managers platform.
What's different in the
salesperson's skillset in this
era of social and digital
marketing? And what hasn't
changed that effective
salespeople still need?
Over-deliver from the start
without any expectation of
making an appointment or sale.
Give free advice and never be
short or in a hurry to end a
conversation. Ask questions and
listen.
Give them useful information
free of charge and they will
appreciate it and tell others
even if you should have been
paid for helping. That is when
you can ask for a review and
expect to get it if you make it
easy to do (e.g. a review button
on your website of free tips or
a url they can use at a referral
website like Thumbtack or Angies
List). You want lots of positive
reviews to get attention.
Earl Newland
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Earl Newland
The Kansas City Dog
Whisperer
Earl has been
helping the people
of Kansas City solve
their dog problems
for over 30 years.
When Cesar Milan
came out with his
show people began
calling him the
“Kansas City Dog
Whisperer”.
His website is full
of free dog training
tips for clients and
friends to help them
solve their dog
problems. His
mission is to bring
you the most current
dog training systems
of inducement.
Earl offers free
phone consultations
for clients and
friends and anyone
with a rescue dog.
What's different in the
salesperson's skillset in this
era of social and digital
marketing? And what hasn't
changed that effective
salespeople still need?
Salespeople still need to be
good on the phone AND face to
face. With social media, it
has made some people better
over the computer...but when it
comes down to it a sales person
needs to be a PEOPLE person
face to face. The social
aspect and digital marketing
aspect of it simply ADDS to
their process. From both
aspects I have been able to
grow my business nationally in
car sales, as well has been
recognized globally as "the
youtubediva". I have been
flown across the country to
teach this process to other
salespeople in our industry!
Elise Kephart
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Elise Kephart
Elise Kephart is a sales and
marketing phenomenon in the
automobile business and is
nationally recognized as "The
YouTube Diva". Since 2007 Elise
has sold thousands of vehicles to
local and out of the area clients.
Her personable and persuasive
sales and marketing videos are
personalized for every customer
creating a strong bond and trust.
Elise has presented at seminars
nationwide, including several of
Jim Ziegler’s Internet Battle
Plans as well as the spring 2012
Digital Dealer conference in
Orlando, where she has
consistently 'wowed' the audience
by teaching how to create and edit
quick and effective videos and
deliver them to customers within
minutes. Elise has visited several
dealerships across the country
teaching her unique technique in
the auto industry and has been
praised by the likes of Jim
Ziegler, Grant Cardone as well as
Dealer Marketing Magazine. Elise
is currently an Internet Manager
at Sunset Honda in San Luis
Obispo, California. Her amazing
videos can be seen at
youtube.com/sunsethonda and she
can be reached at
What's different in
the salesperson's
skillset in this era
of social and digital
marketing? And what
hasn't changed that
effective salespeople
still need?
What's different is
the salesperson must
depend on more modern,
techy methods.
What has not changed
is the "art of
conversation“.
Jason McCullough
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Jason McCullough
WordPress Developer, Digital
Marketing Consultant
I started playing around with
web design when the internet
was young, before going to
college to study development
and pursue a career in the
field. Currently I work with
Helpful Nerd, for the
Marketing and Communications
Department, building and
maintaining websites for
clients.
Along with doing web design
for Helpful Nerd and
freelance clients, I also
work on my own web design
projects, my personal blog,
and I am also working on
creating a series of free
courses for startups and
small businesses on how to
better understand and improve
their own online marketing
efforts. Along with web
design I’m really interested
in marketing and business in
general.
I spend a ton of time in
front of the computer so in
my off-time I’m learning
about eating healthy or
trying to take advantage of
the beautiful weather we get
here in Atlanta, GA.
What's different in
the salesperson's
skillset in this era
of social and digital
marketing? And what
hasn't changed that
effective salespeople
still need?
Networking Skills and
the need to answer
freely in an outgoing
manner and
professional way.
Social media requires
immediate answers and
reaction from social
marketers.
Walid Soliman
Dr. Natalie L.
Petouhoff
CEO, Dr. Natalie's
Executive Success
Acceleration Firm™
x
Walid Soliman
Cairo, Egypt
Walid Soliman has
an MBA in Global
Marketing from
ESLSCA, and CEO
Assistant in ART
Channels Network,
and a freelance
Digital Marketing
Consultant to a
number of companies
in Egypt.
Conclusion
Technology is always evolving,
and salespeople would do well
to try out new techniques.
There are sales skills that
we’ll always need, but each
salesperson needs an edge, and
for some that will come from
digital marketing or
prospecting.
Adopt an attitude that you’ll
try new things more readily in
the future so that you can stay
ahead of your competition.
Takeaway Actions
1.Blog or Curate + Hootsuite
2.Ask questions in LinkedIn
Groups
3.Answer questions in
LinkedIn Groups
4.Put together an eBook
5.Prospect with linkedin
Advanced People Search
6.Use Data.com to get contact
info
7.Video conference with
prospects, or Google
Hangout!
About The Author
Brian Carter delivers entertaining motivational talks on how top performing
organizations can generate more revenue. His topics include modern sales
methods, social media and internet marketing. Audience members include
CEO’s, salespeople, business owners and expert marketers. Brian’s 18 years
of business success plus a background in stand-up comedy produce
presentations that are both entertaining and enlightening for attendees.
Brian is the internationally bestselling author of The Like Economy,
LinkedIn for Business, and Facebook Marketing. His books have been
translated into Spanish, Chinese & Portuguese.
For 14 years, Brian has developed strategies and built search visibility
and social marketing fanbases for companies of all sizes, including well
known entities such as Microsoft, Universal Studios, The U.S. Army, The
World Health Organization, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. He has been quoted and
profiled by ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, Information Week, U.S. News
& World Report, Mashable, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Brian has written for Salesforce, The Huffington Post, Mashable (which
boasts 20 million monthly readers), Marketo, The Search Engine Journal,
AllFacebook, and The Next Web. He has more than 200,000 online fans and his
content is viewed over 8 million times a month.
Have Brian Come Speak
To Your Salespeople
Brian is an entertaining and
informative speaker with a comedy
background. Here’s what audiences
and meeting planenrs have said
about him:
“I am so happy that you were our
keynote. The feedback so far has
been great. You were the perfect
choice, exactly what I was
wanting.”
- Microsoft (Meeting Planner)
“You were like a rock star with how
many salespeople came up and said
they loved your talk!”
- Collier’s International
(Meeting Planner)
“Thank you again for the excellent
presentation and you had me hooked
when you started to show the ROI
results.”
- Microsoft (Audience member)
“Fantastic, informative and FUNNY!
Thank you for delivering such a
perfect blend of Facebook and
LinkedIn ideas for lead gen.”
- Citrix (Webinar Planner)
“In less than one hour, we
had a firm understanding
of the major social media
outlets, the advantages
and disadvantages of each,
how they work, how we can
make them work for us, and
how we can start using
them immediately. Brian’s
presentation was a hit!”
- Volios Group
(Meeting Planner)