5 Social Selling Essentials

Opportunities are plentiful in the connected world in which we live. Sales professionals have virtually unlimited potential with the ability to reach out and connect with decision-makers at all levels of organizations all with the click of a button (and a some creativity). All of this is at their fingertips with what we call Social Selling.

 For those less familiar with the term, HubSpot defines social selling as:

“Social selling is when salespeople use social media to interact directly with their prospects. Salespeople will provide value by answering prospect questions and offering thoughtful content until the prospect is ready to buy.”

However, don’t be fooled by the hype surrounding Social Selling. It’s not as easy as just having a LinkedIn profile and connecting with people. There is a lot of competition and differentiation is necessary to stand out from the crowd. Social Selling won’t turn you into an overnight success in the sales world either, but it will help you increase the likelihood that you’ll reach your goals. You may experience intermittent waves of success, but in order to achieve long-term and sustainable success with Social Selling, you are going to need these five things to help keep you on track.

Strategic Planning

Social Media if not managed properly on a professional level may serve a “black hole” vacuum that takes up your precious time. One way to avoid this would be to have a strategic Social Selling plan. Your plan should have a clear objective, SMART goals (both short and long-term), and a performance measurement component (i.e. what metrics will you measure and monitor). This will help you understand your purpose, the Social Selling tools you will you (i.e. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, etc.…), the goals your would like to reach, and how you will not only define success, but also measure it.

Solid Foundation

Building a house requires a solid foundation first before you build the rest. Social Selling is not any different. To achieve sustainable Social Selling success, you must build a solid online presence, often referred to as an online Personal Brand, before you establish the credibility needed to see tangible results from your Social Selling efforts. The first thing to think about should be; does my online brand reflect my offline brand? If these two don’t match, something must change. Your solid foundation will be based upon the premise that your Personal Brand is the totality of everything that you do on a daily basis (both online and offline). I cannot stress enough the importance of having a strong online presence that clearly communicates to your ideal audience how you are different and how you are able to help them solve their needs.

Accountability

This item needs little explanation but will be the difference between your success and failure in Social Selling. It is paramount that anyone seeking to find success online to hold themselves personally accountable for their own success! Social Selling requires thought, creativity, consistent effort, regular measurement and monitoring, and the willingness to give yourself to your audience.

A Giving Mindset

If you have seen the movie “Pay it Forward” you already know exactly what I am talking about. It’s a great movie with a simple theme. If someone helps you, return the favor by helping others. One of the best ways to achieve success is to help those around you achieve their goals. This quickly builds trust and rapport. In return, they will be more likely to help you achieve your goals by providing the introductions to key contacts and business agreements that you desire. One way to quickly deter your efforts would be to do the contrary. A “take” mindset will quickly get you ignored in the social space and your ideal audience will see right through it. Now, I’m not talking about giving away all your resources and time, however in moderation, you can give enough to help others see enough results that they will come back for more and possible refer others to you.

Common Sense

I can’t tell you how many times I have started to type a status update (on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn) only to delete it before I ever hit “send” because I paused to think about what I was trying to accomplish. Before each post, think about what you are saying and the impact it may have on your Plan. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is this post in alignment with my objective?
• Will it help me achieve my goals?
• Could this potentially have a negative impact on my Personal Brand or break down my solid foundation?

If any of the answers to these questions make you question why you are posting it, think twice. People do business with people they know, like and trust. Trust can take a significant amount of time to earn, but may be lost in seconds on social media. For success in social selling, keep these five things in mind, practice them daily, and always focus on your audience.

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I am an devout learning and development professional with an insatiable hunger for knowledge. By leveraging my background in marketing and passion for learning, I strive to help others reach their goals through knowledge and professional development, as well as personal branding.

I welcome any ideas and feedback. For more on marketing, training, personal branding or some of my other random interests, please follow me at @toddgreider and join the conversation. If you are interested in learning and development opportunities in the Sacramento area, visit the ATD Sacramento Chapter website for an upcoming schedule.