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78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media. Go to where the buyers are. Build a strong network with prospects and customers by offering value. It’s simple. It makes sense. For speaker, advisor and sales leader, Jill Rowley, social selling is one of the most important tactics a salesperson can employ. It also happens to be one of the most haphazardly applied and misunderstood concepts in the industry today. Building a strong network by listening to individual’s needs and providing solutions means they will turn to you when they are ready to buy. They will also be more willing to spread your message. As it turns out, your best salespeople aren’t always on your payroll. LeadGenius sat down with Jill Rowley, to discuss how social selling is effectively applied at leading companies such as GE and Affinio.
The following is made up of 3 “Monday Tips” articles, each of which talks about 4 helpful tools and resources around a specific area of your business. Today, the subjects are: - Tools to Improve Your Blog - Instagram Marketing Tools - CRM Tools for Leads and Sales...
Via janlgordon
Social media is fast becoming the go-to channel for sales people to find new prospects and reach their sales targets. In fact, 90% of top performing sales people now use social media as part of their sales strategy. And for sales reps that invest in social media, 64% of them hit their team quota – compared to only 49% of reps hitting their team quota that don’t use social media. Furthermore, more than 10% of social sales reps have closed 5 or more deals due to being active in social media. If you want to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of modern day sales, then you need to rethink how you can use social media as part of your sales strategy. Unfortunately, two-thirds of companies have yet to create a social media strategy for their sales organization....
The same advances which have transformed buying, and empowered smart buyers, are now also transforming selling – and offering huge advantages to the socially-savvy. In this guide, we’ll answer: - What is social selling
- Why we’re in The Age of Social Selling
- What is at risk if you don’t invest in social selling
- How to discover sales opportunities using social media
- How to use social to get to know your prospects better
- How to get the right help to make the sale
- How to spot competitive moves early
- How to prevent customer defections...
I’m not a fan of pop-ups. Like most of the Internet world, I find them at best a minor annoyance and at worst a reason to stop reading. I can’t recall a time that I ever signed up for someone’s email newsletter list as the result of a pop-up. I abandon sites when I’m assiduously and repeatedly begged to sign up for an email list. I also get extremely impatient when I’m entirely prevented from reaching someone’s homepage (or content) without first being asked to sign up for an email list—when I’m forcefully diverted to a full-on sales pitch for someone’s whatever-it-is. That always strikes me as incredibly presumptuous—shouldn’t I get to experience you or your content for at least a few seconds before you ask for my email address?
See, I’ve already digressed into how annoying these tactics are! I hope it demonstrates how reticent I’ve been, in all my years of running this site, to place any kind of pop-up that would interrupt the reader’s experience. While I know from experience and reading case studies that pop-ups work, I rarely like how they work. They feel like a trick or a betrayal of some kind. I always figure: If people really like me, then they’ll end up on my list. I only want truly devoted people.
I’ve begun to change my mind, however....
Do you really dislike the word ‘engagement’?It’s a word that is often used within social media and, of course, if people are not engaging with you on social media, then what’s the chance of them taking action?
But the value of engagement is difficult to measure. It’s like going to networking meetings and getting to know people. You know there is value but it’s hard to measure it.
But social media can lead to sales and, increasingly, companies want to see results from social media.In this article, we outline how you can achieve sales from social media....
Social media has been traditionally known for it's "soft selling" approach, meaning most users are not online for the sole purpose of shopping and, therefore, they must be persuaded in a different way. What does that mean for you? How do you "sell" through social media without causing your followers and friends to get tired of your overly aggressive tactics? The answer is in what you post and how you post it. Learn more below about effective social media sales strategies you can use to increase sales and keep your audience happy.
In an age of automated everything, is it possible to put a personal touch to your marketing? Of course--even though customers are used to sites like Amazon and Pandora where they can get everything they need easily without ever talking to a person. Fortunately, businesses evolve right along with consumer demands. As the head of a marketing department, it's your job to research and adopt the right technology to make your company as effective as possible. Marketing automation isn't going anywhere, but that doesn't mean your entire marketing approach has to be robotic.
No matter what, customers want to feel like they matter, like they're heard, and like there's a real person on the other end of that transaction. Recently, Help Scout, which is also a really cool customer service tool, released a report on the "personalization" of marketing. It reveals that 70 percent of final purchases are dictated by how a person feels they're being treated as a customer....
In recent years, psychologists and behavioral economists have shown that our emotional decisions are neither irrational nor irresponsible. In fact, we now understand that our unconscious decisions follow a logic of their own.
They are based on a deeply empirical mental processing system that is capable of effortlessly processing millions of bits of data without getting overwhelmed. Our conscious mind, on the other hand, has a strict bottleneck, because it can only process three or four new pieces of information at a time due to the limitations of our working memory.
The sale of the first GoPro camera didn’t begin when the customer walked through the retailer’s door. It didn’t even begin with the huddle of engineers in the tiny innovation department at the factory. The first sale began in the lineup, as the surfers waited to catch a wave.
A marketer’s story typically starts with her idea—with the thing she has to sell. But if you look at any business that has taken off, you will notice that there is a step before the creation of a remarkable product, which lies at the intersection of what the potential customer really wants and what the market doesn’t offer.
Sales and marketing are less about persuasion and more about understanding. The trick is to know who is in your lineup and what they care about.It’s far easier to succeed at making things people want, than it is to make people want things....
Where influencers flock, practitioners can't be all that far behind -- and for a movement that might not be the rule today, social selling certainly has its fair share of champions. Research from Evolve!, Inc. commissioned by KiteDesk produced the definitive ranking of the most social salespeople ruling the internet, which was then neatly packaged into the following infographic. Read these pioneers' content, check out their profiles on LinkedIn, and keep an eye on their Twitter streams to learn how to do #SocialSelling from the best.
Early in my career, I remember our CEO calling the entire sales team into the conference room. There were about 30 of us. With tremendous enthusiasm he announced a new SPIFF program with … drumroll … a prize of $20,000! To win, each rep needed to achieve the following:
Q3 bookings of $275,000 or more
Q4 bookings of $275,000 or more
Sell 25 of any Product
Sell 10 of Product A
Sell 4 of Product B in Q3
Sell 4 of Product B in Q4
Now, even for the highest earners, a $20k bonus was nothing to laugh at. So you can imagine the excitement that rose up from the room. Everyone left determined to conquer the challenge -- exactly what our CEO wanted. But what happened next probably wasn’t what he anticipated...
What’s the difference between your resume and your LinkedIn profile? For some people, the two are practically identical. Each lists work history, career accomplishments, notable projects, and perhaps a fun fact or two. Maybe your LinkedIn page has a picture on it, but otherwise, they’re the same.
But there’s a slight problem with this approach. Your LinkedIn profile isn’t an online resume.
My first pillar of social selling is moving “from resume to digital reputation,” and it requires looking at your social profiles from the eyes of the customer you’re trying to earn trust from. If you’re bragging about your quota crushing abilities or merely listing your work experience, that’s not interesting or appealing to potential clients....
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The fourth edition of Street Fight’s Local Merchant Report, based on a survey of small business owners and decision makers, launched today. The data shows a continued movement to social media as a preferred marketing tactic among local merchants. They deem it their most effective tactic, so they’re increasing their spending. Analysis of the survey suggests that would-be marketing suppliers can help them integrate social with their own site and email campaigns, as well as assisting them with reputation management and reviews. Street Fight surveyed over 250 local merchants on their marketing and e-commerce usage, effectiveness, and challenges. The digital marketing usage trend is consistent with what we’ve seen in previous years’ surveys. Social usage is up slightly from last year, and email marketing retains its number two spot. That’s at the expense of print: newspaper and Yellow Pages advertising are each down by almost half. Those patterns will only get more pronounced. Over 40% of local merchants we surveyed said they would increase their social media spending. Email and local sites will see increases, according to 35% of those polled....
Facebook is constantly evolving and changing. In 2017, one of the most exciting new features has been Facebook Stories! Catching headlines for being a “copycat,” it has certainly been newsworthy…. and much awaited by many. But it makes sense. Everyone is there. And those not there, Facebook feels they should be. So they woo their users, and hopeful users, with delicious digital candy. What’s In It For YouFor most people, Stories will be purely fun. Business owners, however, have a new tool to leverage in nurturing relationships and optimizing their know/like/trust factor. This article will provide insight on: - Quickly integrating Facebook Stories into your Facebook marketing strategy - Determining how to best use the features to amplify your personal and business brand - Finding your comfort zone with the new Facebook Camera...
Via janlgordon
Social selling, or selling your products and services through social media, can be a tricky balancing act for B2B concepts. Sales and marketing teams must toe the line between persuasiveness and pushiness, and a little bit of social media know-how can facilitate enhanced positive interactions with potential clients. After all, statistics point to social selling as one of the most effective tools in sales and marketing. Nearly 75% of buyers consult social media before making a purchase decision, and 77% of buyers don’t talk to a salesperson until performing independent research. Here are four ways to master B2B social selling for your company....
Another misconception I have heard more than once is that social selling programmes require a dedicated team of millennial social media gurus and huge budgets to put together ad hoc content packages.
Trust me, if that is what you have been told, forget it.
Having trained thousands of sales professionals in real social selling best practices, I have come to realise it is needed to take a step back and differentiate between what social selling is and what it definitely isn't....
Social selling continues to be one of the rising stars of the sales industry as large and small businesses continue to incorporate in into their existing processes.
But what results are they seeing? How do they go about implementing social tactics? What challenges do they face?
Here's an infographic from SalesForLife that looks at the current state of social selling, including trends, benchmarks and results.
Key Stats:
The importance of social selling will continue to increase in 2016 as (almost) 63 percent of respondents state that social selling is important to close more business.
61 percent of organizations that are actively engaged in social selling report a significant positive impact on their sales revenue growth....
If you haven't started incorporating social media into your sales process, you're not alone. According to a survey from PeopleLinx, only 31% of sellers currently use social to sell.
But a quick look at the data backing social selling indicates that the trend will only get stronger in the years to come. For instance, 79% of salespeople who actively engage on social media outperform their peers, and over half of buyers consult social channels as part of their research processes -- up from 19% in 2012.
While there's no shame in not being a social seller today, salespeople who refuse to join the party will get left behind in the near future. Need some convincing? Check out the data in the following infographic from Sales For Life. Better to join the ranks of social sellers late than never.
According to Invesp, social commerce is expected to grow and will represent 5 percent of online retail revenue this year, resulting in an estimated $14 billion in sales by the end of 2015. Given those numbers, it’s no surprise that many large retailers are making significant investments in social media marketing, to offer millions of potential customers a seamless, flexible and more personalized shopping experience.
While these large businesses may have significant budgets to spend on social commerce and marketing, smaller-size companies too can leverage the new social trends to drive increased revenue. Consider these five strategies to boost sales in 2015...
Just like anything shiny and new, social selling suffers from a fair amount of hype. And with hype comes misunderstanding.
Sales reps and leaders eager to embrace the next generation of selling tactics often jump in with both feet. While this enthusiasm is great, sometimes they dive in before they understand what social selling really is, or what they’re trying to achieve. This is a recipe for disaster.
So instead of another piece listing the benefits of social selling and the results that can be reaped through social selling tactics, I thought I’d combat some of the hype by writing on what social selling isn’t. Then business leaders can go in with a clear understanding of what they’re getting into -- and what they’re not....
Why should we care about social selling? Isn't it just another one of those buzzwords used to describe something we already know about? Isn't it just sales under a different name? If that's true then why are we seeing organisations increasingly using new digital channels as part of their sales strategy?
Maybe it's because engaging with our audiences in new ways is just more exciting than traditional sales channels as it provides a way of interacting with our potential buyers. It's also because it's a lot cheaper, digital channels allow us to reach a wider audience, with the same resources. We're having a look at who is the most influential in this up and coming topic, and figure out what brands are driving most engagement on social media....
Poor Gil.
While I doubt any salesperson today is quite as old school as Gil, many have not embraced the role that social media and online presence plays in sales today. This SlideShare from Marketing Think, replete with pictures of Ol' Gil and his unsuspecting and, in some cases, angry prospects, is brimming with statistics on the changing world of sales that might make you rethink your strategy....
...According to the report, "social sales is cited as a priority for just over 7% of respondents. This is inconsistent with Google Trends data, which shows 'social selling' as a term rising dramatically in popularity." Is social sales more sizzle than steak , or has the practice simply not caught up with the buzz?
What remains clear is there is a missed opportunity here to capture critical contextual information that makes warm leads even warmer, particularly when you consider nearly 70% of sales professionals cite social media-sourced leads as the most important leads in the first two quarters of 2014."...
You’re probably aware of HubSpot’s presence on social media. Whether you follow our Twitter account, like us on Facebook, or are even in our Inbound Marketers LinkedIn group, you know that we take social media very seriously.
For us, social media isn’t a fad. It isn’t a practice you do only if you have time. It’s one of our main channels for lead generation and is essential to each and every stage of the inbound methodology. As part of HubSpot’s social media team, I am writing to share with you some exclusive glimpses into our social media strategy....
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![Meet the A-List of Social Selling [Infographic] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/a29kGlQjI6fe0AgiJANkmjl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
![What The Simpsons' Ol' Gil Could Learn From Social Sales [SlideShare] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/Norl9URo7JJbUE0nMWeFFDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
![Is Social Selling All Hype? [Data] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/8p_95J23Dz-ns345olCU9jl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
![How to Use Twitter for Social Selling [SlideShare] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/2kkIJZP8vU8bjZpw6G1rHzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Jill Rowley says social selling is one of the most important yet misunderstood tactics a salesperson can employ. Valuable insight!