One of the DLA Ignite team did a presentation to a board of a big company the other day and the CEO said "we tried social selling and it didn't work".

What we had uncovered before the presentation was a number of things

1. They got a LinkedIn trainer in .... a common mistake.  If you want a vegetable garden, I need to teach you how to grow vegetables, just teaching you how to use a tool, like a spade is useless.

We've all heard the saying "a fool with a tool is still a fool" 

50% of the people that reach out to us for help is where they have employed a LinkedIn trainer and got nothing from it.  The clients feel deep down they need to do something with social and are disappointed with the results. 

One senior sales leader asked me recently to teach him about the LinkedIn algorithm, I pointed out, it would be wasting his time and money.

There is so much time and energy trying to second guess the LinkedIn algorithm and really; it does not matter. If you are social and doing the right thing, the algorithm works for you, simple. 

This is all about learning to be social and just learning how to use a tool is only 20% of what you need to know.

2. There was no leadership buy-in - We have all been on a course, where the trainer arrives, we sit a room expectantly.  The leadership does an introduction to the training and then walks out.  I remember, doing an excellent course on creating a deal qualification and forecasting grid.  The management wanted this as there was a big issue with deal qualification and forecasting.  The management didn't take part in the training and then didn't enforce the new grid, no surprises the problem still manifested itself as there was no follow up. 

In the presentation I mention above, we are going to train the leadership team first.  Why?  Because they can then lead and they you will see massive take up by the salesforce and there will be enforcement through the training and after the training. 

3. There other common mistake is that there is no change management.  Social selling requires your business to do something differently, this requires change.

Let's take me, I know, I need to get fit and lose weight, it's pointless me going to the gym for a couple of hours, which is your classic "hints and tips" sessions that seem to be the vogue for companies.  (By the way, they don't work.)  It's pointless me going to the gym for a day, in fact, it will probably do damage.

What I need to do, is get a plan, where I go to the gym three times a week, better still I have a coach who knows about this stuff, that can guide me and can even help me change my diet.

Don't worry there are plenty of people out there that are willing to exploit your ignorance. 

Social selling works

Social selling works, we have happy client, after happy client, the trick?  Social, like so many things in life, like sales, is a process, you need a methodology.  Our social selling and influence course provides businesses with a process that people can use and implement, it gives them a common language and it gives them an ability to measure.  You can measure social, from a salesperson's prospecting right through to closure.  You can therefore work back from the revenue you are generating with social, right back to the keys being pressed by the salespeople. 

So who's social selling?

In case you missed it, the Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch have banned cold calling and have moved all their people to social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.

But surely cold calling has a better ROI than social selling?  Not according to Merrill Lynch.

"They will also be encouraged to contact prospects over LinkedIn, which has a higher hit rate than cold calling"

The CRO (chief revenue officer), Richard Eltham of Namos Solutions, of one of clients posted a comment on LinkedIn about social selling. See here.

“Social selling is not an option now it is the way of the world and you either learn and execute it or fear getting left behind” 

Kevin Murray who is the Head of Sales at MacArtney Underwater Technology recently posted about his success with social selling here and wrote an article about the transformation that has happened in sales here.

I don't believe you Tim!

If you check out this video of Chris Mason CEO at Oracle reseller Namos, fast forward to 19 minutes 55 seconds. Chris talks about a $2.6 million win from being on social, after completing the DLA Ignite social selling and influence course. 

Here at DLA Ignite we don't do "hints and tips sessions" we don't want you to waste your money. Our social selling and influence methodology will provide your sales team with the stable platform for growth. It is also the only social selling program based on 70:20:10 change management principles which gives your business the mindset change and habit change they need in this digital world.