I often see advice from "sales gurus" which is what I would call "questionable".

The thing is, there is too much vested interest in sales advice and coaching making you think that nothing has changed.  Why?  So people can sell you the training they have been selling for the last thirty years.  I was trained on sales methodologies twenty years ago and they are still being sold today.  Sorry, but I think that's bizarre.

Twenty years ago we used Faxes and listened to Sony Walkman, these are now nostalgia items and you would not want to build a business strategy based on such items.  The same with these legacy sales methods.

Anybody Who Says Sales hasn't Changed - Hasn't Changed

The world of sales has always changed, from sending letters to sending emails to the internet to using Linkedin tactically to Covid19, change is a constant.  And we all have to change with it.  The pandemic has accelerated that change.  Back in March, I was able to speak to a conference, now nobody dares run a conference and you cannot see customers face-to-face.  And nothing has changed?  Really? 

How has sales changed? 

Businesses Have Switched to Social Media

Even before the pandemic there was a switch to working online, but Covid19 has accelerated that.

In this October 2020 report by Simon Kemp he outlines the extent that social media has become part of our lives.  

Worldwide social media users: 4.14 billion - 53% of the world's population use social media in other words, more people use social media than don't use it.

Simon says that two thirds of the working population in the world is now active on social media.

Social Media Isn't About Cat Photos

Many people still think that social media is a cat photos and posting photos of your lunch and in the business-to-consumer (B2C) world it could be about that.

I'm talking about having a tried and tested methodology that is designed to help you sell, not Linkedin training but a methodology to use social based on modern psychology. 

But Tim We Need Results Quick

I totally get that you need results quick and anybody that says "social selling takes a long time" does not know what they are talking about. 

I was on the phone today with a new consultant for one of our resellers and he said "at my last company we were told to work Linkedin and if we didn't see results in 6 weeks we had to move onto another vertical". 

Looking at the company he worked profile it is very clear there is no methodology.  The company and the people all looked the same as everybody else on social media.  The sales people look like ...... just another bunch of salespeople.  The message was "buy my product because we are great" which is the same as everybody else.  Guess what?  They got little or no traction on social.

So what do I mean by a "strategic" approach to social and what do I mean by a "methodology"? 

Selling on Social Case Study

This is Eric, he's one of the team at DLA Ignite and he got 6 C-Level meetings from this post. The post took him 10 minutes too create.  He does have posts that have got a better response, the one about Led Zeppelin for example.

This usually shocks people. 

How can a post about Eric's 16 year old son get 18,000 views and 165 likes?

But better still, how can a post like this get 6 - C-Level meetings?

Because, all of Eric's post are strategic.  He knows exactly why he is posting it and knows how to monetise it.

A Quick Look at Our Content Pyramid

Based on our research, we have created this pyramid of content.  Advertising is of course at the bottom, with humanised content at the top.

How As a Sales Person Do I get 6 C-Level Meetings From Post a Piece Of Content?

1. First you need a great profile.  Think about the needs of your audience and work back from there.  Your prospects and clients do not need the world's best salesperson they need somebody to help them.  Your Linkedin profile is your shop window and should show case you 24 hours a day.  The days that Linkedin was a CV have long gone.

2. You need a network (not contacts).  The average person on Linkedin has 903 contacts and they will be x colleagues and recruitment consultants.  You need to be connected to the people you want to influence.  Your prospects, your target accounts, your customers, the people influential in your markets.  Remember that in B2B the trick is to be memorable.

3. Finally you need content.  When somebody comes to your Linkedin profile, you need content to show people what you stand for.  That does not mean you need humanised content all the time.  You need to have content that educates that provides insight, tell me something I don't know!

That said, humanised content will get you the most engagement and it is that engagement that having a methodology will enable you to monetize that engagement.

This is how Eric got 6 x C-Level meetings from that post ..... that only took him 10 minutes to create. 

Anybody sales guru that tells you "social selling is posting and hoping" don't know what they are talking about.

We Do This Already Tim, Our Sales VP Posts a Piece of Content and Their Directs Like The Post

This is where you are going wrong. 

Posting is hoping, isn't going to work, it is just a "random act of social" you have to understand strategically, why you are posting and have a methodology to follow up the engagement, to turn it into meetings.

As I mentioned above, the average person on Linkedin has 903 contacts and they will be x colleagues and recruitment consultants.  You need to be connected to the people you want to influence.  Your prospects, your target accounts, your customers, the people influential in your markets.

You Need a Strategic Approach to Social

Everything you do on social, needs a strategic approach.  

Your profile, is a shop window to the world.  When you approach people or get approached do you look the person that has an affinity with your clients?  Your Linkedin profile needs to work hard for you.

You need to be connected to the people and accounts you want to influence.

You need to be able to create content that is relevant and resonants with your clients.

Where Do We Go From Here?

For those unsure of what to do, DLA Ignite will complete a review of your current social / digital / virtual / remote selling capability.  For free. 

We will take your team (up top 10) and perform a complete root and branch Social Media Performance Assessment.

Sales, Marketing, Management, Technical, HR. Procurement ....whoever you want to include.

This will include: Profiles, connections, followers, inbound and outbound activity, content, engagement, follow up, results.

We will map your business against the DLA Ignite baseline and present back to you our findings. We will show you where improvements can be made and what results should be expected.  No hard sell, just present back to you a road map.  

Please contact me here or one of the DLA Ignite team here, so please pick one of our industry experts or one of our experts in your geographical locality.  Our website is here.