The revolution of sales will not be televised. It’s going to happen quickly and it’s already beginning to change the way business is done across the. Whether you accept it or not, social selling is changing the way organizations sell, recruit, hire and build relationships.
The buzz surrounding social selling continues to grow. More and more businesses are looking for opportunities to capitalize on social networks and technology to drive sales and results. Marketers and social media influencers have spent years talking about the promise of social media and how it would drive real results for businesses. Finally, that promise is becoming a reality, as social selling is becoming real. Some people think we’ve already seen the peak of social media and its impact. We’re of the belief that it’s just getting started.
According to one of the latest eMarketer reports, nearly one in four people worldwide were actively using social networks in 2013. By 2017, the global social network audience is expected to total 2.55 billion people. This type of growth will cross into industries that have yet to be truly disrupted by social media. It will force sales professionals who have felt safe from social selling to embrace the change that is in front of them.
The future is exciting. But so is what’s happening in this space today. We already live in a world where social selling is making a difference for organizations and driving real results to their bottom line. In a recent study from Jim Keenan, it was revealed that sales professionals who use social media are 78% more likely to outsell their colleagues who don’t. And the evidence continues to pile up. Here are a few other reasons social selling has us excited:
Technology: It’s said that technology doesn’t start a revolution but instead that a revolution is started with technology. The revolution of social selling is going to happen on the backs of technology that has come before it. Social selling will only become real through a commitment to leveraging existing social channels within organizations along with the adoption of new and innovative technologies.
Partner Integration: The opportunity for social selling also lies in the ability for organizations to integrate their social selling technologies with existing tools. As we continue to push our technologies to integrate with tools like Salesforce, we look forward to a seamless integration between social selling and the CRM.
Smarter Decisions: At the end of the day, one of the key benefits of our technology is the ability to make smarter decisions. We provide our customers with the ability to see potential at-risk accounts based on reports that show relationship strength over time. It’s this type of insight that can help businesses retain customers and make calculated decisions around their relationship efforts.
Real Results: When a business starts to see results, they start to see the return on their investment. The integration of technology and social selling tools will give businesses an opportunity to clearly see how their sales processes are improving and how these social selling technologies are driving real results.
Social selling isn’t rocket science. Even if you don’t have an analytical bone your body you can capitalize on the power of social selling for your business. There is no excuse for b2b sales professionals to continue ignoring an opportunity to build stronger pipelines and close more deals.
What ways are you using social selling to get ahead?