61% of U.S. marketers use social media to increase their lead generation (InsideView).
It is no longer soely the marketers' job to use their brand's content to sell. Salespeople in this day in age must connect with their buyers through social media and become known as thought leaders. When they do, they can drive revenue!
1. Address the New Buyer Behavior
It used to be that researching a purchase was extremely time consuming, but the Internet and social networks like LinkedIn have completely revolutionized the process.
Today, a prospect considering making a purchase can find out everything he or she wants to know before making a decision, all with a little browsing online. In fact, 57% of of every buying decision is already made before there is any sales rep involvement (Corporate Executive Board report 2012).
Furthermore, an IBM preference study found that cold calls are ineffective 97% of the time, and this number has been increasing by 7% every year since 2010!
2. Find the Right People
By using a social networking site like LinkedIn, sales teams can take a personalized approach to prospecting. LinkedIn offers a powerful search engine where you can browse first- and second-degree connections to get a good starting point for your efforts. You can even search by job title and location.3. Gain Connections to Get More Prospects
Your personal connections on social networking sites help you build a network of people who could turn into new customers!
A warm referral increases the odds of a sales success 200-400% (ConsumerThink).
4. Talk About the Right Things
It would be ideal to be in front prospects at the exact time they were looking to solve the very problem that your product or service addresses. By being active on social media sites, you receive a steady stream of information about what prospects are talking and asking about.5. Boost Results
With social selling, sales reps combine the power of building of relationships with providing knowledgeable insight to drive deals. Social selling gives you the intelligence you need to reach buyers at exactly the right moment!
Does social selling sound intriguing to you? At Blue Frog, your sales team can become part of our marketing team by using our inbound marketing software. Contact us today if you'd like to learn more!
