“I’m starting to see how this is all connected, I’m starting to see how this all works together…..”

I was running a late training session for a client in the US last night, the comment above came out of the session, when things started becoming clear.

This person is a Senior leader at a well-known organisation, they haven’t been particularly into Social Media thus far in their lives, they are happy to admit that.  But, they were keen to get involved with this programme as they are building a business in a new territory and wanted a leading edge on the competition.  Now its all starting to make sense...

This is what happens when we lay out a broad Social Media Strategy for a business and take the management team through a structured and tested transformation programme, the links and interconnects start to become clear.

We work with a lot of clients who’ve wasted money and time on the ‘1 day Social Selling masterclasses’, which do nothing more than serve to confuse the team and put everyone off what is a vital part of modern business.

When we meet management teams who’ve gone down the ‘masterclass’ route, we ask “what changed..? The answer…

Nothing…

Because almost every human uses Social Media, we believe that this has fundamentally changed how humans make decisions. Businesses need to embrace this in all elements of what they do.

That’s why we have created a series of programmes to help businesses transition and adapt to this new way of doing things

Social Selling is not something you do, its something you take advantage of….

Strategic Social Media is for people who are interested connecting with their prospects, clients and teams on a different level, increasing revenue in a consistent and repeatable manner. 

It’s not hints, tips, hacks or stunts to get views. Its not about just posting any old graffiti content and hoping for the best, or doing this tweak or that – its planning, understanding, insight, strategy and consistency.

Doubling down to get the benefits of Strategic Social Media as a Management team takes time, effort, personal development and the openness to change…

The fruits of Social Selling & Influence are well documented but are not easy to reach…

My colleague Adam Gray, one of the founders of DLA Ignite put it well in a recent article:

Why 99% of social sellers quit in the Valley of Despair

"The valley of despair is part of the journey from “start to success.” It’s a well known concept, it’s that place in the middle where most people quit, not just in social media but in most elements of live and business.

The route to success is usually broken-down into 5 discrete stages:

Phase 1: Uninformed Optimism. We all begin with a dream on social media like anywhere else in business and life. This dream is typically this is what encourages us to embark on the social journey “if I deploy these skills and processes I will be more visible, more credible and sell more”… "

The first time I rolled out social selling corporately, we assumed that people something will make the salespeople more money they will instantly do it. It's not, back to Adam's blog ....

"that’s a pretty compelling reason to want to be active on social media and it is achievable for anyone if they want it badly enough and have the staying power.

But it’s not just social media, we see this everywhere and it is this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow which creates the dream, the desire and the motivation to begin. But beginning is the easy part. Selling the dream is the easy part. Like the “earn $100/hour working part time from your own home” or “invest in cryptocurrency and make 30x your money back in 10 days for doing nothing.” 

If you are foolish enough to believe that;

1. there is such a thing as a free lunch, and
2. it’s easy but you’ll be the only one doing it,

then you deserve to fail. 

Every facet of being successful requires hard work and commitment if you think it’s going to be easy…you’re wrong.

Phase 2: Informed Pessimism. This is where the “no such thing as a free lunch” reality starts to bite. In our training programme, this is where you start to write your profile and explore who you are and what’s special about you. It’s hard. It’s outside your comfort zone. Many people won’t or can’t take the leap of faith (and bravery) that is required to get the ball rolling and there’s a realisation that the execution of some of this is much harder than you thought it was going to be.

The dream that you would turn-up and everything would just fall into place crumbles. This is where the work begins. It’s a period of learning, developing and putting gin to action what you usually suspected you might need to do.

Phase 3: The Valley of Despair. This lasts for longer than you want. It’s where you have created a great profile and you are now down in the daily grind of “doing stuff.” Publishing, messaging, engaging…day after day, week after week, month after month. If you think it will take 4 weeks it’ll take 8, if you think 6 months it’ll be a year…it drags on and on and on and on. You MUST remember why you are doing this. You must remain focused on the prize. 

The more you do and the more you step outside your comfort zone the quicker you will see success. If you publish one piece per day for 3 weeks DON’T STOP…keep going it’s only a matter of time.

It is this period where the relentlessness of doing new stuff starts to take its toll. Whether that’s going to the gym (where the reality of what you need to do in order to achieve that perfectly sculpted physique) or winning a big contract this is where the reality of what you need to do collides with the dream of what you’re going to get.

“Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” Biz Sone (Co-founder Twitter)

Phase 4: Informed Optimism. You’ve had a win. You have arranged some meetings, forecasted some business or even signed a deal. This is dangerous territory because you think you’ve arrived. You haven’t. Lots of people fall a this final hurdle.

We once worked with a company and one of their salespeople used social techniques to increase business in a key account they ran. 250% sales uplift in just 6 weeks. Amazing. However…they didn’t do the same thing in their other 5 accounts they thought “I’ve done it…I’ve arrived” but they hadn’t so they slipped-back into the valley of despair and eventually gave up.

Phase 5: Success and Fulfilment. This is nirvana. This is where your social activity has become part of your daily routine, you are posting and engaging and messaging every single day and this is the backbone of your marketing, prospecting and sales methodology. You are there. You are a ninja.

Never quit. Everyone can be successful.

So, this is a shout-out to those people we have worked with, at DLAignite and our clients who have successfully passed through the valley of despair and are either at success…or very nearly there.

Well done to you all. You know who you are…

It’s a tough journey but nothing is quite like it!

We have been doing this for 4 years, we havent pivoted, this isnt new to us.  This ia good thing for you, not just the fact that we have "been there and done it" but we have data to back up our practices and methodology. 

Because almost every human uses Social Media, we believe that this has fundamentally changed how humans make decisions. Businesses need to embrace this in all elements of what they do. That’s why we have created a series of programmes to help businesses transition and adapt to this new way of doing things

Our methodology is tried and tested across sectors, geography and size of organisations. You do "this", you do "this" and you will get results - no fear.  We run coaching one to ones during the programme, everybody learns at their own pace and tone.  Learning in a safe and supportive environment, with people that have done this many times.

We are here to work with you and provide the guide across the Digital divide.

Every time we run this program, we see our clients get 30% increase in revenue and a 40% reduction in the sales cycle.

There are additional benefits. You and your team receive new professional skills and as a leader you are providing the business with a Digital foundation and legacy.  You and your team championed the Digital transition for your business through Social Media.

It all starts with connection and a conversation...you can connect with me here.

Eric Doyle

Crux / DLA Ignite