We talk to a lot of companies about Social Selling and there is a lot of confusion.  

Vendors will have you think it's all about their "tool", but we all know a "fool with a tool is still a fool".  Company after company we talk to, we ask, "so what happened after you purchased the tool?" and they say "nothing".  Of course, it probably isn't the fault of the tool, it's just that the sales team haven't been taught what it means to be social.

Some interesting research from Mulesoft, where they interviewed 1,739 line-of-business managers across the world,

"only 37% believe they currently have enough skills and technology to keep pace with digital projects during this period of upheaval."

Social Selling is ..... Like a Jigsaw

My family are big fans of jigsaws, I remember when my mother taught me how to go about completing a jigsaw.  First you had to start with the edges and then you would have "projects" building the boat, the grass and the sky.  Then you would start filling the jigsaw in.

Eric DoyleDLA Ignite team, likens Jigsaws to social selling 

, whose on the

A jigsaw isn't complete until you have put all the pieces in.  70% of the effort isn't good enough.  It's binary, either the jigsaw is complete or it isn't.

Social Selling is Binary

Equation 1

- What's 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 1

Equation 2

- What's 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 0 = 0

Equation 1 shows that if you do all of the right things in the right order you get a result.

With equation 2, it shows the person has decided to "cut a corner" and not do all of the right actions.  They have still put in energy, but the result is zero.

In the world of analogue 70% effort gets you 70% of the result.  In digital, 70% of the effort, get you zero result.

Why Hints and Tips and MasterClasses Don't Work

A great example of this is "hints and tips" and "masterclasses", you can spend a lot of time and money attending these events.  I was on a call yesterday with a company that had run a two hour digital selling session for their sales team.

I asked them "what happened after the hints and tips session?" and they said "nothing". Of course.

It's like doing the edging around a jigsaw, you do a load of effort but it's binary and doing effort but not all the effort the output is zero.   Just like equation 2 above, 20% of the effort gets you zero result. 

Social Selling Requires a Methodology 

For your business to move to digital you need to have a methodology, preferably a methodology that has been tried and tested.

You need to have a "transformation promise", what is the methodology going to do for you?  Many suppliers usually measure this in savings, but we all know nobody buys savings, a business needs to understand, in $s what you will do for that company.

The New World of Financial Services Sales

The Pandemic is transforming the world of sales and marketing and certainly so in the world of banking and wealth management.

The other week I was on a webinar, I was invited on to talk about digital, digital disruption, digital transformation and the use of social media strategically within a business.

There was a question from a Financial services company who made a comment that I've always get from Financial services institutions.

"But We Are Regulated"

"But we are regulated"

.  It shows a massive misunderstanding of digital, digital transformation and using social strategically.  Let me explain, but let me first set the seen of where we are with the global shift to digital buy all of us, consumers, buyers and companies.

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.

Simontwo thirds of the working population in the world is now active on social media."

says that "

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. 

Social Media In a Regulated World

At this point people from medtech and pharma businesses (and Financial Services companies) are screaming at the screen "but we are regulated".  Here is why you shouldn't be using content that impacts on your regulation in the first place.

Banning Content That Would Impact a Regulated Company

First and foremost, you have to understand, social media is NOT posting things about your company, it's products and is NOT using words like "Guaranteed".  Not because you shouldn't under regulation, but because, nobody is interested in the first place.  In fact, all of the words and types of posts that are banned in a regulated world, should be banned from any companies social media feeds anyway.

Content That Works In a Regulated World

Based on our research, (so based on data and not based on an opinion) the above pyramid of content shows what gets engagement and shows what content does not. 

All of the content that is impacted by regulation companies you shouldn't be posting in the first place.  There is no place in the world in 2020 for "buy my product because it's great" which is the way that companies market today.  There is no place for this in a regulated world either.  So we know we shouldn't do it because we live in a regulated world and we know we shouldn't do it because it gets no engagement and we know we shouldn't do it because nobody is interested.  

So what conclusion should we come to?  Of course, don't do it.

Who's doing this? - 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.  

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.

He doesn't always post humanised content, I'm using this as an example. 

You Need a Methodology on Social

The other problem with social is that people post and hope.  We often see VPs posting and all of their directs liking the post, this is just a "random act of social".  It's unlikely to move the needle and unlikely to generate you anything such as a business.

Everything that Eric posts on social is strategic.  He, using our pyramid of content, knows which content to post and when.  Because he knows which type of content will get him the best effect.  He also knows how to monetize that content.  (This is all part of the methodology we teach in our training and coaching).

As we now know, none of this impacts on the issues of regulation.

No Excuses

I'm sorry to say, that there are no excuses for banks, wealth management, insurance companies, professional services, life sciences not to embrace digital transformation through social.  And as our clients in these industries know, there is a great opportunity for revenue, net new clients, competitive advantage; even in a pandemic. 

Where Do We Go From Here?

Just give me, or one of the DLA Ignite team and hour of your time and we can walk you through what we are doing for other companies.  No hard sell, just take you through what other companies are doing to transform.

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.