Have you noticed that not only is it getting harder to get meetings with prospects 'live'...it is getting hard to get 'time' with current clients that you are confident are happy with your product/service?  

More and more of my business owner coaching clients are noticing this trend with their clients and they are finally starting to get worried and you should be too.  These are owners of their own successful #financialservices practices, that are having a hard time getting their own clients (long term and stable) to commit to any type of meeting regardless of whether it is in person or virtual.  

Of note: Clients are sharing with me that their clients that enjoy spending time with them personally are open to, among other things, getting lunch, playing golf or having dinner.

No matter what vertical or industry you are in, it is even harder to get prospects that aren't seeking you out to meet than ever before. They don't want to talk to another salesperson unless you are someone that they already decided was interesting and valuable enough to engage with.  Most of that decision is happening online...without you, if you aren't engaged in a strategic social selling process consistently.

Research is showing that 67% of the buyer’s journey is done before speaking to a sales rep (Three Myths of the 67 Percent).  I highly recommend reading the article...it should encourage and convict many of you.

Unless you are one of those rare and happy few that is 100% of the time praying that you can handle the overwhelming amount of #inbound sale conversations you get daily, you need to be pivoting from the old way of interrupt/transactional #salesandmarketing and get on the #socialselling bandwagon.  Note:  make sure you jump on the one that is labeled #strategyfirst.  New technology or a new #saleshack won't get the job done.

Another disturbing trend #salesprofessionals are noticing is that when we do get time with prospects and current clients an increasing amount of that time is virtual/digital...and those meetings are shorter.  What the statistics aren't telling you is that these meetings are getting more and more specific with far less relationship building 'time' than before when we had more face to face meetings.

I think that means we are going to experience, unless we adopt an additional strategic relationship development plan, lower and lower levels of relationship development as we sell virtually and in person.  What is that plan?

Develop and grow your prospect and client relationships strategically on #social.  

You are going to be able to get more 'bandwidth' with your clients and prospects on social than you are going to be able to get in person.  Don't cry about it...get strategic.  Start sharing with a content plan that will be interesting and of value to them even when you aren't in front of them or on a screen.  

If you have mastered the 'analog' relationship development techniques that a #referralbasedsales system contains, you will be able to transition all of them to digital in a #socialselling system.

Tip:  One way to increase visibility with current and prospective clients is to become known as a #giver.  When you refer your clients and prospects to trusted vendors that also understand the new paradigm (and referrals too) you are in effect adding more time with them.  Also, you are becoming known as someone that is different from all the other stereotypical #salesreps out there that are just takers.  You need to be perceived as different and that leads us to Step 1.

Where to begin?  

1. Update your profile so you don't look like everyone else in your profession (hint:  the only people that care you are a #salesdirector are people looking to sell you #salestraining or #salestech, or, are looking to get a job).

2. Start sharing content on purpose and consistently that is human and addresses the challenges and opportunities that matter to your target market.

I hope this was of value to you.  If so, please let me know below and share it out to your network.  I am always up for a conversation about Malbec, mountain biking and developing relationships.

All the best,

Mike