Social selling has definitely taken off in the last year, and many sales reps are beginning to find tangible success directly related to their social sales activities. These success stories are leading companies to mandate social selling as part of their sales force’s daily activities, but oftentimes this mandate comes without much guidance.
rFactr is dedicated to arming sales reps with the basic tactics they need to find success. The tips below are designed to help both the sales rep that is just getting started with social sales and the more seasoned social seller who wants to refresh their strategy.
1. Fish Where The Fish Are
Before jumping into social sales, it is important to research which networks your prospects and clients are on. You may have a great Twitter presence, but if all of your prospects are on Xing then there it won’t help your cause. More importantly, it is important to know which networks are driving the highest amount of participation from your prospects. Check out everything from LinkedIn Groups to industry-relevant hashtags on Twitter to find out where conversations of importance are occurring.
2. Know The Network
Each social network has its own “code of conduct” which dictate everything from how users interact to the language they use and the overall tone of the site. For example, Twitter only allows users 140 characters with which to write their posts, making acronyms and short-hand phrases popular.
There are also a number of network-specific actions and language markers that you’ll want to understand, such as mentions, hashtags, likes, and favorite, before you dive into engaging with prospects.
3. Focus On Making Quality Connections
There is a definite focus placed on the number of connections a user has on social media. While a large network is something to strive for, social sellers should focus on growing a valuable network filled with prospects, clients, and industry thought leaders. These types of connections are better suited for helping sellers reach their bottom-line goals.
4. Value Participation Over Promotion
Social selling requires quite a bit of finesse in order for it to be truly successful. Instead of flooding their social networks with shameless promotions, social sellers should instead be focused on sharing content of value to their prospects. This is not to say that there isn’t a place for promotion, but it should be done subtly and at a lower frequency.
5. Leverage Engagement Opportunities
One of the greatest things about social media is that it offers sellers a way of communicating and interacting with their prospects in real time. Social sellers can take advantage of this opportunity by engaging with users that comment on or interact with their content and by forming and sharing an opinion with content shared by others. This type of one-on-one engagement offers the sales rep a perfect forum for starting a conversation with an engaged prospect and increases their chances of setting an appointment.
Read more: Consumer Electronics Social Sales