While this article focuses on technical skills that need updating, we all need to get digital "soft skills".
The Wine Group
My mother is 82, she runs a wine group. (In fact she runs 2.) 12 people arrive at her house and they take it in turns to present about wine. The speaker buys the wine, there is a budget of $78 per session, unless it is agreed the person can spend more.
While the speaker gives the presentation, the others taste the wine.
My mother has done presentation on certain wine regions in Portugal, for example. The idea is NOT to be snobby, but to decide which wines you like and of course give retired people something to do and an excuse (if they need one) to get drunk.
Things all went well until Covid19.
The whole of the wine group is in self-isolation as they are all vulnerable.
There is No Way You Can Run The Wine Group Over Zoom!
Like many of you readers you are probably thinking what I thought, which was, why don't you run the wine group over Zoom / Teams.
Anyway, my mum suggested this to the group and there was uproar. There was no way that the wine group can run over zoom. You may recall, that Zoom got caught out with the security, which they quickly sorted.
Anyway, the weeks of self-isolation dragged on and one of the wine groups children suggested they have another go.
I got a FB message last night from my mum that 8 of the wine group members had a session last night.
You Can Run a Wine Group Over Zoom It Seems
We all know that the reason that people said you couldn't run the wine group online was that they were scared. Scared of the new technology, but more importantly scared of changing the process.
We Need to Increase The Digital Literacy of Our Employees
One of the skills that we need in a Covid19 world is the skill to be Social. What I mean there is the skill on how to use social media.
For example, does your sales teams, know how to programmatically make and build relationships on social media?
Now a number of you will be saying to me "right now you already do this". Come on, be honest with me. Go and look at your Linkedin profile and look at your marketing people’s LinkedIn profiles, look at your leaders Linkedin profile and look at your sales people’s Linkedin profiles.
Are You Using Social Media to Prospect, Drive Sales and Close Business - Be Honest With Me and Yourself!
Does it create, curiosity in your prospects? Does it create inbound? Are you connecting with people? Are you connecting with people and they actually want to connect with you? Are you using Linkedin to prospect? Are you joining conversations with your prospects and doing this at scale? Are you using content to move deals through the pipeline and close deals? ...... or are you just posting stuff and hoping? Come on, we know hope was never a strategy.
The companies that are going to win in the current climate are those that are investing in the digital (and social) skills of their employees. They are using outside companies to train and coach your teams so your business and its employees are fitter and stronger when we come out of this.
Social Selling Business Case
We expect each of the people we train in social selling to be able to make (if they do what we say) at least one additional meeting per week. Let’s assume that 4 of those meetings turn into proposals and you close 1 of those proposals. That means you are closing one additional deal per quarter. If your average deal size is $100,000, then each sales person is closing an additional $400,000 per year. As sales team of 10 will create $4 million additional revenue per annum. This isn’t a one off, this is every year. Forever!
Another Business Case
In a recent blog, Alex Low from DLA Ignite, described the social business case a different, but still compelling way.
"Assume you have 1000 employees in your business and 100 salespeople. Everyone knows someone or is connected to someone.
If each one of those employees were able to make 1 meaningful business introduction to your sales team.
10 Introductions per Sales Person or 1 new introduction per month, to each salesperson for 10 months.
Your average contract value/order value/sales value is £$€10,000
1000 unique & relevant introductions made, worth a potential of 10,000 each.
1000 x 10,000 = 10 million pounds, dollars, euros etc of potential business opportunity."
This is the power of the network and the power of your people activated through social media.
The Low Risk Approach
Here at DLA Ignite, we are not pivoting, we have been transforming companies to do this for four years. Exactly how I have explained above. We have the track record, we also know what when we run our social selling programs the results are repeatable and predictable. In fact, we have done this so many times that we are a low risk option.
If you want to get out of this mess, maybe it’s time to talk to us.
One of the best ways to prepare yourself for a post-coronavirus-world is to acquire technology skills. The COVID-19 pandemic is fast-tracking digital transformations in companies as they are trying to become more resilient to future outbreaks and disruptions. The reality is that technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, and robotics will make businesses more resilient to future pandemics, and anyone that can help companies exploit these technologies will be in a great position. Whether you work in a factory or an accounting office in a post-coronavirus world, you need to be comfortable with these tech tools as well as be able to work with them effectively.
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