getting started with social selling

GETTING STARTED WITH SOCIAL SELLING

by Nick Frost (@Thinker on Twitter)

© 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ● NICK FROST ● @Thinker on Twitter

• THE WHAT AND WHY OF SOCIAL SELLING • SIMPLE TOOLS AND THE BASICS TO GET STARTED • IDENTIFY THE TEAM’S TOP LINKEDIN SOCIAL

SELLING INDEX SCORES • HOW TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER IN SOCIAL

SELLING (CONTENT, TIPS, MENTORSHIP)

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WHAT WE’LL COVER:

http://twitter.com/thinker


WHAT IS SOCIAL SELLING?

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© 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ● NICK FROST ● @Thinker on Twitter 4

Social selling is the process of researching,

connecting, and interacting with prospects and

customers on social media networks - for

Mattermark, LinkedIn and Twitter are the best.




Social selling is:• Endorsing a customer on LinkedIn. • Running LinkedIn searches for outbound targets • Sharing the company’s latest blog post on Twitter,

LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. • Studying prospects on LinkedIn and Twitter before

a meeting. • Following key accounts on Twitter and LinkedIn. • Joining and engaging with relevant threads in

LinkedIn Groups • and much more…




The major 🔑 to social selling = being engaged with

your customers and prospects on social media.




Social selling is not:

• Delivering the hard sell on LinkedIn. • Closing deals on Twitter. • A replacement for talking to prospects. • A magic bullet for making quota. • Being “creepy” by engaging TOO much.




WHY SOCIAL SELLING?

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Instead of a hard closing tactic, social selling more closely resembles lead nurturing.

Therefore, social selling isn’t for reps seeking quick wins or a silver bullet.

Salespeople have to be willing to put in the time and effort to engage with their target buyers on an ongoing basis, and even then, there’s no guarantee that their efforts will pay off.

WHY SOCIAL SELLING?



Through commenting on, liking, and sharing prospects’ and customers’ posts, salespeople create relationships with buyers and boost their credibility by taking an interest in what they’re interested in.

Building rapport on social media makes your live interactions more meaningful and personal.

WHY SOCIAL SELLING?



Aberdeen Group’s research found: • Teams sell more with social selling: 64% of sales

teams that use social selling hit quota, compared to 49% that don’t.

• Reps hit quota with social selling: 46% of sales reps using social selling achieve quota, 38% who aren’t, don’t.

• Renewal rates increase with social selling: Sales reps who use social selling report a 55% customer renewal rate and a sales forecast accuracy of 54%.

WHY SOCIAL SELLING?



Major 🔑 = social selling makes the

selling process more powerful.

WHY SOCIAL SELLING?



HOW?

You have to be genuinely interested in learning from sales and SaaS thought leaders.

More knowledge increases your awareness of trends, key players, and sharing what you read helps you be seen as a thought leader.



THE HOW OF SOCIAL SELLING?

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HOW?

Major 🔑 = your social media is essentially a drip

campaign for your prospects and customers.



The BasicsADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS

Set 20 minutes aside to look for ways to network and meet new people on social media. Social connections can help influence deals and customer happiness down the road. Socially surround your connections — connect with them in multiple ways on multiple networks. After you’ve made solid connections with one person on multiple social networks, take a look through the prospect’s followers and see who else you can connect with. As long as you aren’t stepping over the line into creepy territory, you’ll be able to build relationships pretty easily on social media.

– @Jill_Rowley, Social Selling Evangelist



Listening & EngagingADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS

Take time to listen to what people are saying in your industry through Twitter hashtags. Get a pulse on what your buyers are saying and leverage that to start a conversation. Start off engaging in 5 conversations daily as your KPI.

– @JackKosakowski1, Global Head of B2B Sales Strategy, The Creation Agency



Dig Into The DataADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS

“Who’s viewed your profile” on LinkedIn is a goldmine for helping you make connections with people who already demonstrate an interest in your personal brand. Monitor these and send personalized emails. Leverage LinkedIn to create personas based on activity, groups they participate in and, topics of interest. Look for correlating behaviors and defining attributes that align with your target buyers to establish propensity to engage, and even buy. – @KokaSexton, CEO of Social Selling Labs, previously at LinkedIn



SIMPLE TOOLS AND STEPS TO GET STARTED

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1. Optimize your social media profiles. 2. Join LinkedIn groups and other relevant forums.3. Set up social listening alerts.4. Subscribe to blogs, newsletters, and podcasts.




• Post a professional picture. • Write your positioning statement. • Link to your company’s Twitter account (Example:

Sales Rep @company). • List your LinkedIn profile. • Include hashtags that your buyers follow. • Offer a mini insight.


Optimize your social media profiles: Twitter



• Have a current, hi-res picture. • Make your headline a mini value proposition. Don’t just use

your title. “Who do you help, and how do you help them?” • Write a 3X3 summary. Reiterate your value proposition in

the first, and provide some social proof in the second, and a call to action in the third.

• Write the experience section with an emphasis on how you enabled customers to improve their businesses.

• Seek recommendations from close customers to increase your credibility.


Optimize your social media profiles: LinkedIn




Join LinkedIn groups and other relevant forums.

Find groups that are relevant to your target prospects and current customers. - Go to the LinkedIn profile of your prospects, scroll down, and see the groups they’re in.




Tools:- Download Twitter app - Download LinkedIn app - Use IFTTT.com to connect RSS feeds from

Mattermark sales posts, and sales blogs you trust to automatically post to your LinkedIn and Twitter.


http://IFTTT.com



12 step plan every morning:1. Find content to share 2. Share it to social networks 3. Check on who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile 4. Send a connection request to any target buyers who looked at your

profile 5. Look at who liked or commented on your posts 6. Send connection requests to people who engaged with your

content 7. Review LinkedIn alerts 8. Organize “hot” buyers in a LinkedIn folder 9. Share content with hot buyers 10. Review any additional trigger event alerts 11. Respond to messages 12. Create a handful of new conversations



MEASURE HOW YOU’RE DOING

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• Start off engaging in 5 conversations daily as

your KPI. • Watch the interactions on your posts to see

what is getting traction. Use this to determine

what you should continue sharing. • Tracking your LinkedIn Social Selling Index

Score




Go to linkedin.com/sales/ssi to see your score


http://linkedin.com/sales/ssi


LET’S WIN TOGETHER!

• Ask each other how you use social media. • Learn from their best practices to up your game • Engage with each others content to increase traction

Major 🔑 = winning as a team.



LET’S WIN TOGETHER!

Thanks for reading! Reach me on Twitter @Thinker if you have questions, comments, or just wanna say hi 😀
