Every company, at some point, wants to break into a new market

When I was at Oracle, we faced this exact challenge

The goal was to move into the supply chain space, but it wasn’t easy

The market was already full of trusted players who while they all went to market saying the same thing, sold the same way, and looked the same

Even though their differentiation was low, (in fact nonessistant) there was a “supply chain vendor club”, and we weren’t in it

That meant our sales team spent most of their time educating the market

Winning a meeting was a big deal… 

We would fight to get on a short list of five, only to get the dreaded call weeks later that we hadn’t made the final three

Our real success came not from chasing new logos but from innovating within our installed base

I still remember working with the account team to sell a $2.34 million deal to MTN, South Africa’s largest telco

Innovation and collaboration made it happen

If I knew then what I know now, we would have done things differently

Because today, it’s so much easier to break into new markets, if you are backed by a strong social selling methodology

Done properly, social selling enables you to build trust at scale and start conversations with people you’ve never met before.  Easy

I often share the story of my business partner who’s obsessed with “hot hatch” cars

His first car was an XR2 with rally headlights

Today, he drives Audis

Every time he replaces one, he pretends to compare BMW and VW, but it’s really just a way to justify buying another Audi

The funny part? BMW and VW don’t realise he’s wasting their sales teams’ time

So what would make him change brands? Trust and a relationship, of course

This is how you break into a new market

And that’s exactly what social selling gives every sales team, the ability to build trust and relationships at scale

You just need a proven framework

Ours happens to be the only one certified by the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) and they know sales

Conclusion:
Breaking into a new market isn’t about shouting louder, it’s about showing up smarter

Build trust, lead with value, and the market will open its doors

Social selling gives you the keys