I was on a call with a sales leader last week and they wanted me to back a activity on social media to promote a "kick start" of sales people starting to outbound prospect.
Of course I said, I'm not sure why people stopped but it would seem to be the case.
My view is that the more that people sell, the more people buy and the more companies will start to spend again. The more we will "kick start" all our economies again.
I once visited a farm on north Zambia and I was told that for one person that worked on the farm and got a wage, another 10 people were reliant on that wage.
Not quite the same in the first world where I live, but if people start earning, then they will spend at cafes, shops, dry cleaners, restaurants, which is what we need right now.
The Number One Thing Right Now
The number one thing our clients are asking us to teach them is how to prospect with social.
The Three Things You Need Before You Start
1. A Linkedin profile
, this is your shop window to the world. A major part of the sales kit bag in the modern world, it is through your Linkedin profile you can sell in your sleep.
An example, is your summary title, this should work hard for you. Did you know on Linkedin there are:-
19 Million Sales Directors
1 Million serial entrepreneurs
450,000 thought leaders
250,000 best selling authors
The "point" of you summary title is for people to get "curious" and come over and read the rest of your profile.
2. A Network
I was part of a conversation last week, where somebody in Sales Enablement was pushing for the sales team to post "corporate content". The thing is the sales team had no network, so they were literally talking to themselves.
The really clever sales people build a community. This is where your network "know, like and trust" you and they take your message into their network.
The average person on Linkedin has 500 connections, your network is therefore 500 connections x 500 connection, which is 250,000 connections.
Activate your network to share your content (selling through your network) and your network is now 125 million.
"Obviously" if you grow your network from 500 connections to 2,000 connections, you have more chance of reaching more people with your message.
3. Content
In my first book "Social Selling - Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers" (available on Amazon worldwide) I talk about the 4-1-1 rule.
This is where you share 4 pieces of content, which are not company related, but bolster your position as an expert. Somebody that you prospects, customers and network can "know, like and trust".
I use the free app Flipboard to do this.
1 x piece of corporate content.
1 x piece of content that shows your humanity.
Let's not forget that people buy people and if people "know, like and trust" you they are more likely to buy from you.
Based on our research, the more insightful you are, the more educational you are, the more yourself you are, the better the response.
All the senior people I talk to say "tell me something I don't know", "be relevant to me, my company and my industry".
That isn't a list of your products and services.
If you want to know how you can get back to be pro-actively prospecting then get in touch with me.
The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and there is still a massive amount of economic pain and high unemployment, but in the world of B2B sales, we seem to be emerging from the other side of the crisis and entering a kind of New Normal. Some businesses are reopening, some are testing the waters again after being hesitant to spend or invest during the lowest points of the crisis, and the stock market has recovered much of its losses. Although we are not completely out of the woods yet, it’s safe to say that lots of B2B buyers are coming out of the bunker.
