the world of social selling

The world

of Social Selling

The traditional salesman

is dead

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| Social Media Legals

Adapting to a changing world

Power of LinkedIn; over 400M users

Evolving sales funnel

But the world has gone social

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Adapting to a changing world

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Customer is in control in this digital world

Changing the way you work• 75% of purchases now start with an online search by the buyer

• Prospects can compare your product or service to everything like it and buy from the competition without you even knowing they exist

• It’s a challenge to get past the smiling sales assassin on the prospect company’s switchboard. It’s barely worth leaving a message

• Same goes for email. How many carefully penned sales missives sent cold vanish into the ether?

It starts at the top and filters down• If C-level execs are suspicious about social media – if they only see risk &

potential PR disasters from gung-ho staff and damaging customer complaints going viral – they’ll draw down the shutters and cut off all that opportunity

• If they are social media savvy, they invest in training to optimise its potential and reduce risk, to reconfigure operations so that departments work together not in silos

• They will know they can’t afford not to socialise their businesses

• This positive approach will be fed down to HR, who will recruit the most socially-adept staff via platforms like LinkedIn and train up existing staff

• A sales team trained in social media will be listening to the market digitally

Integrated sales + marketing• Sales need to feed back to marketing so they can tailor their content

to speak directly to your prospects

• A well-trained marketer will create compelling content across a variety of media and platforms and understand the importance of engaging their market by curating relevant external information

• Audiences should barely even notice they are being sold to, but see your social media output as interesting and valuable. Be innovative in the way you engage your market

• Don’t tell people what to think. Ask them what they think. Start conversations, invite responses, reward them, e.g. with more free content or special offers. Make them want to share your blogs and posts

Warming up the sales pipeline• Be easily discoverable – make them like you, make them want to

buy from you or buy into you. Make it feel like it’s their choice

• This will make the job of your sales team so much easier

• A well-trained marketer/agency will be competent at using analytics to understand in great detail whether their work has been hitting the target; who it is reaching, when and how often and what the audience has done with it

• Are they more likely to engage with infographics? Video or text-based messaging?

• All this analysis can be fed back into marketing strategies to ensure maximum engagement and conversion, e.g. clicking on to a website page, sales or simply sharing content to push awareness

Secure coverage in target magazine

Create blog to support coverage

Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to gauge interests of prospects

Attend networking events/speaker slots to get in front of prospects, discussing topics you know they are interested in

Follow up via an e-shot directing prospects to media & website content

The ‘Know, Like & Trust’ factor

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8 phases of the customer journey

Building profile & thought leadership

Phase 1 – AwarenessThe first stage in the buying process is still awareness. Either she or her company have identified a need and start looking for a solution – in this example, the office photocopier has broken – or she has become aware of your product or service. She didn’t know she needed it before but your marketers and sales people have done a good job of convincing her it will add value to the business.

Either way, you have marketed your product or service across a range of channels, which you know she will see because your sales and marketing team have done their research and tailored external communications accordingly.

Phase 2 – DiscoverShe’s now in the research phase. She may already have encyclopedic knowledge of photocopiers. Or she may not know her photocopier from her elbow. Either way, 75% of purchases are said to start from an online search. So, she puts photocopier into Google. She’ll probably see some brands she knows and will be drawn to them. That’s years of marketing and branding paying dividends. She might call a peer for advice, glance at comparison or review sites and your website. It’s natural to look for criticism and there’ll be plenty out there. But how did the company handle it? You need to be easily discovered across multiple channels and to have explained the relevance of your product or service to the buyer’s needs. Your marketing will be clear and may have even already identified the profile of this potential customer and what she needs.

Phase 3 – Analysis

3: Now she will be going into the analysis phase, prioritising criteria for her needs and working out which supplier will best meet them, be it on cost, reputation, functionality or post-purchase customer service. You need to have clear information readily available on your website via a search, which will come up easily because you have used SEO.

If she can’t find the information she needs, she may move on to another supplier which does provide it, so she discounts you.

4: Next is the filter phase. She will be honing down the choices to those that best meet her needs.

Although some factors, such as price, may be beyond your control, you can maximise your chances of being in this shortlist by offering likeability and trust in your messaging.

If there’s not much between you and the competition, these are the factors that will come into play.

Phase 4 – Filter

Phase 5 – Scrutiny 5: Now she will move into scrutiny, seeking fine detail and reading objective reviews, analyst or industry reports and any media coverage in depth.

Your engagement with customers via independent review sites and social media channels such as Twitter will be visible.

Bear in mind future business when communicating publicly with existing customers.

Hopefully, your marketing team has placed relevant, lively content in appropriate media that can be accessed online.

Phase 6 – Engage 6: This is the point at which she will seek to engage with you, if it is a significant purchase. She may contact your customer services team via phone or email, probably starting with their preferred service or product, to drill down into the details that are relevant to her business.

Your sales team will seize the opportunity to build engagement, trust and likeability.

Your digital presence will already have done the sales patter, so no need for a hard sell.

Sales execs need to listen and respond, not push, and tailor their approach to the prospective buyer.

Phase 7 – Decision time 7: Decision time. The prospect will identify her preferred supplier and may need to seek internal sign-off.

The prospect may now be a C-suite level exec, acting on information supplied by initial reviewer, which will explain the need, justify the expense and offer preferred alternative suppliers for a final decision.

You will ideally have provided material evidence in appropriate language demonstrating transparency, reliability and how your product/ service will drive performance and ROI to this particular client.

All backed up by testimonials which can all be found online.

Phase 8 – Purchase time!8: Hopefully, that decision was to buy your product.

You should now move into nurturing mode. If the transaction was successful, your sales team needs to retain loyalty. By encouraging the buyer to connect to you socially as part of the post-sales process, they will continue to be aware of your company’s services or products and hopefully return to you when another purchase is required.

Even if you weren’t successful this time, if you can sign them up to your social media feeds, you’ll be in the running next time.

The best case scenario sees the customer become a business evangelist.

Happy customers make the best marketing weapons. There’s no harm in asking them to spread the word via their social media accounts or on yours, or to act as case studies.

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Impact of digital change on all business functions

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Thanks for listening

• Managing Director of Zoodikers Consulting

• Trainer and consultant• Founder AIinFM• 27 years at top level in marketing, PR &

social• TEDx speaker x 2• Chairperson of PRCA’s South East/E.

Anglia Group• Regularly called on to commentate on

social media for BBC TV and radio• Spoken and moderated at high-profile

industry events e.g. IP Expo, UC Expo and Cyber Security Expo

@katieeking

Some of our clients

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Visit Zoodikers on Stand 281

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How we can help your business

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Any questions?

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Thanks for your time!

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