Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.
Whether you’re a full-time sales person or a “non-sales seller”, as Daniel Pink says: “we’re all in sales now.”
Simultaneously, we are also all getting onto social networks in droves. The problem is, traditional selling methods and tactics don’t work well in the new, virtual spaces where we are conducting many of our business relationships.
Social selling is a set of adaptive behaviors that can help us “sell” our products and our services – even ourselves – in online social networks without coming across as pushy or “salesy”.
Here are six ways you can succeed at social selling:
1. Connect with your clients.
This is the key group to connect with on social networks since they are already your customers. They have trusted you before, and people like to recommend businesses they use because it confirms their choice. Also, if you’re not interacting with your clients online, who will? Social selling focuses on strengthening client relationships.
2. Connect with your respected peers and centres of influence.
Most businesses operate in an ecosystem of other businesses and influencers. Aligning yourself with the most highly respected peers in your space increases your visibility and profile. Social selling is about building a community around your business.
3. Connect with high-value prospects.
You should connect with all of your important prospects on LinkedIn. You should also reach out to those who are on Twitter or other social platforms. This way, you can learn more about them and their interests, and they’ll be alerted when you post something they might like. Social selling is all about building relationships first.
4. Share valuable content regularly.
If you are connected to your high-value relationships in social networks, then sharing great content becomes a way to add value and stay top of mind. Curate and “aggressively” share great articles on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. Tune into the data and take note of what your audiences are interested in reading, clicking and sharing. Social selling is about sharing and adding value.
5. Pay attention to your clients, peers and prospects.
Social networks facilitate conversations and conversation are always two-sided. You know how great it feels when someone likes, shares or comments on your content? Well, give that feeling to your network. You get as much or more from your network when you pay attention to them as you get from desperately trying to get them to pay attention to you. Social selling is about giving in order to get.
6. Publish your subject matter knowledge widely.
There are many, many places to share your knowledge and you should be using as many platforms as possible. Publish to your blog. Publish variations on these articles to Linkedin. Do you have a good slide deck? Then, publish it to Slideshare. Your PDF white papers will also work well on Slideshare. Social selling is about sharing what you know in order to help people move through the sales funnel.