Even if you use social media in your personal life, it can still be hard for sales people to know how to get started with Social Selling, so here I’m sharing my 3 ‘Start Today’ Top Tips on Social Selling for B2B sales people:
If you’d like to understand more about Social Selling, take a look at our resources, or click here to find out how you can book onto one of our free Social Selling 1-day masterclasses.
- Sort out your Linkedin profile
Linkedin is without doubt the most important tool for Social Selling. Think of your LinkedIn profile as your very own TripAdvisor page: where, at any time of the day or night, anyone who chooses to can see what interests you, what information you have been sharing, find out your areas of expertise, see what others say about you and get in touch with you. Where a company can use their website as their portfolio, to showcase their abilities and successes, an individual sales person has their LinkedIn profile.
Your prospects will use the information contained within your profile to choose whether or not to connect with you and that connection is critical because, once in place, it acts as a window for both parties, allowing each to look through and see what the other is up to. So go through your LinkedIn profile with a fine tooth-comb. Ask others for their feedback on what they think your profile says about you. Write and re-write. Ask existing customers if they’ll add recommendations and endorsements.
- Get Reading and Following
Across your social media platforms, start following organisations and influencers who are sharing content that’s relevant to your customers and prospects. Follow your customers and your customer’s customers. Keep abreast of what your competitors are sharing.
- Share, Comment and Engage
Whilst writing blogs, case studies and whitepapers is extremely valuable, you do not have to create all of the content you share, quite the opposite. Sharing content from a wide range of sources ensures those following and connected to you:
- can see that you’re knowledgeable in your area and are keeping abreast of what’s going on
- that your priority is sharing insightful and relevant content, over just trying to sell your own products/services
As well as just clicking the ‘share’ option, adding comments to posts gives you additional exposure and heightens credibility – this might be as simple as ‘Great article on….. loved the different perspective on….’ to adding comments based on your own experience ‘Thanks for sharing this (name here), a really insightful post. In addition to the points you raised, I’ve also experienced….’. And be sure to respond to all comments that others add to content you’ve shared, even if it’s just a ‘Thank you’.
The final step, which will propel you from Social Marketer to Social Seller, is to really start engaging with your prospects. It’s no good just sharing content and sitting back, waiting for the phone to ring. Use the insight you’ve gained and connections you’ve harvested to identify and qualify needs and start conversations.
To be a successful Social Seller requires discipline – you need to make time for Social Selling activities every day. It should be a significant part of your prospecting activities.
To read my other blogs in this Social Selling Series check out the following links.
How Social Selling Aligns with Buyers’ Needs
Social Selling – Where To Start
The 3 Biggest Social Selling Mistakes
The Positive Power of Social Selling
The Evolution of Social Selling
At Salestrong, we’ve been incorporating Social Selling into our programmes for some time now, but this year have launched a dedicated 1-day workshop to arm you with the knowledge and skills required to achieve amazing results for your business. To find your nearest city and book your place, click here.
