What’s in your social selling secret sauce?
Do you have the social ingredients for successful cold calling on your B2B, B2C or small business prospects? McDonald’s Big Mac has its secret sauce. Jack In The Box has its secret sauce. Even my great-grandmother Michaelena had her secret sauce that she used to make her Polish golumpkis. But, as my great-grandmother Michaelena always said, “You know when your secret sauce is working when your customers come back for more!” And, we always went back for more of her golumpkis. So, what’s your in your secret sauce to get your customers returning to you and your content?
Your sales prospecting techniques might include a handy telephone call list, a script with key talking points, and even some good old fashioned shoe leather. Do you get your telephone call list in order every Sunday? Do you fine-tune your script and talking points every Monday? Do you have a set of email follow-up that is ready to send to hot prospects? Well, those ingredients are the likely ones everyone is using.
Have you ever thought of changing your old approach? It’s time to put that ‘beeper’ away, and spend time warming up your selling recipe. The secret sauce to a successful day of cold calling and selling truly lies with social media. The proof is in the success of your competitors’s success.
Does Social Selling Work?
The Aberdeen Group reports sales teams that use social selling are more successful than those not using it:
- Social Selling Positively Impacts Sales Team Quotas. 31% more sales teams reach their quota when using social selling techniques; achieving their quotes 64% of the time vs. 49%.
- Social Selling Helps Individuals’ Quotas. 46% of reps using social selling achieve their personal quota vs. 38%.
- Renewal Rates & Social Selling. Customer renewal rates increase by 15% when this technique is used.
Why Your Sales Strategy Needs The Social Selling Secret Sauce
Using social media is critical to your selling success because it sets you apart from the competition, positions you as a solver instead of being just a seller and most of all, helps you be more successful.
10 Social Selling Ingredients To Add To Your Sales Strategy Secret Sauce
If you are not cooking up sales with a strategy that includes social media, then it’s time to think about a new recipe. Here are some key ingredients to create your selling secret sauce. Follow this recipe to help you break through the customer clutter and to land on their radar … BEFORE you make your first call. If you connect with your prospects with social media this way before you connect with them for the first time on the phone, then you will increase the likelihood for first-call success! Here’s how to add a little Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to the mix:
1. Twitter. Tweet links to blog posts that focus on industry-, solution- or customer-related issues to create a track record as a thought leader. And, mention your customers with Twitter handles in the body of the tweet to make an in-box impression.
2. Twitter. Increase your tweets focusing on content related to your selling area (e.g., cloud computing, shipping services or yoga services). Your customers, whether they are following you or not, might check in on you thought leadership tweets.
3. Twitter. Retweet your and your company’s influencer tweets. This retweeting may turn into a returned message or retweet from the influencer; finding its way into your prospects’ mailboxes.
4. Facebook. ‘Like’ your company’s posts on Facebook to ensure others see it and your association with it.
5. LinkedIn & Twitter. Polish up LinkedIn and Twitter profiles to ensure you look as professional as possible. This is important to accomplish since customers and prospects are checking you out while on the phone (or immediately after).
6. Facebook. Do a bit of customer intelligence and due diligence by checking out your contacts’ Facebook pages. This sleuthing will help you understand their likes and passions. I know a great social seller who found out from a Facebook page that his client loved wine. This extra knowledge helped him secure an appointment after some wine-based social repartee.
7. LinkedIn. Be active in your top 3-5 LinkedIn group discussions. You should focus on contributing consultative insights vs. sales-oriented answers to make a great impression. And, remember to join all 50 allowable groups on LinkedIn, since it increases the odds of your customers to reach out to you directly!
8. LinkedIn. Use twice-daily status updates to amplify company- and industry-related news items to your first-, second- and third-level contacts. Passing on key and curated news positions you as a credible resource to be tapped for early-sales funnel engagement.
9. Twitter. After finding customers and prospects that use Twitter, retweet THEIR messaging to get on their radar (a.k.a. their Twitter in-box).
10. Twitter. Ask your prospect a smart question by placing their Twitter handle at the very beginning of your tweet. Your direct inquiry should incite a response, or at least is a good reference point when you follow up with a phone call.
Do you have another ingredient to add to this secret sauce? If so, please add it below.
Maybe your selling recipe is getting a little predictable, or maybe your customers are looking to connect with a different flavor of communication? Either way, it’s time to work on your social selling secret sauce. And if you do it just right, you will have your customers banging down your door as my great-grandmother Michealena had us banging down her door for her golumpkis!
Picture sources: Secret sauce bottle from Cerebyte.com
Read more: Creating The Secret Sauce For Your Brand Ambassador Program