We are in the middle of the digital revolution: the takeoff of the phenomenon of Social Selling to sell through social networks is part of this revolution. In this article, we show you what it consists of.
Gone are the days when salespeople had to go door to door to offer their services or products to potential customers, or spend long hours on the phone trying to contact their prospects. Later, with the advent of the internet, many of these calls and visits turned into emails.
Currently, thanks to the digital revolution and universal access to the Internet through the most varied devices, the way of doing business has changed enormously. According to a study published by the Harvard Business Review , 90% of professionals with purchasing decision-making power say they do not answer commercial calls by phone or respond to emails with offers. On the other hand, they do react frequently to short messages and links on social networks.
What is Social Selling?
Social Selling is the set of activities we carry out on social networks to contact and interact with our potential customers to get a sale. Today LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, among other social networks, have become the meeting point for potential customers.
All of these networks allow us, just as good salespeople did in the past, to develop relationship-building strategies. It is not only about getting contacts, but also relating and strategically detecting the most appropriate moment to engage in a conversation and publicize our solution or product as a way to address a current problem. These types of actions, unlike others, are received as a way to make life easier for customers, instead of being an annoying new commercial message to be removed.
It is possible that even without knowing it if you already have a professional or company profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter, you are already implementing a Social Selling strategy.
Why is it important to sell on social networks?
According to Forrester Research , 57% of the buying process for a product or service takes place before the buyer comes into contact with the seller. Through Social Selling, sellers come into contact with potential customers at a stage even before the start of this process. This contact will make it easier to maintain a relationship and generate the necessary trust so that, at the right time, they lead to a sale.
It is a new approach that allows sellers and potential customers to establish a relationship through existing connections and networks without the need to travel or make business calls.
So, if you have not launched a Social Selling strategy yet, it is very likely that you are giving away sales to your competitors who do.
How do you use social networks to generate a sale?
The first step in developing a Social Selling strategy will be to determine which social networks your potential customers are on based on their interests and create a personal or professional profile on them.
The first objective will be to get commercial prospects, that is, potential clients who at a given moment have shown interest in your product or service and have provided their data that you can use to follow up with more information. Once we have identified the contacts, we must interact with them through a personalized content marketing program.
There are different effective methods to get potential customers: contests, access to content that requires registration, webinars, events, videos, etc.
In addition, you will have to keep track of the blogs related to your activity that interest your clients and create your own where you will publish relevant information for them.
Share all the content that you find relevant and that you create on your blog on your profiles on your social networks –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, among others– trying to add a comment that demonstrates your knowledge on the subject.
In the content of your blog, keep in mind the key aspects that will help you get prospects: choose a relevant topic, write a catchy title, avoid explicit sales and above all, give your personal point of view. Add images and/or videos and share your content through posts on social networks.
It is very important to interact with your followers and other companies on their profiles through actions such as “like”, comment, share, favorite, or retweet. If you make a habit of commenting and sharing valuable content, you will get more reach and attention from your new audience, in addition to getting reciprocity and propagation of your posts.
Don't forget to reply to your followers' posts. Introduce questions to facilitate the conversation among your potential customers and the creation of a feeling of relationship and trust around your brand.
If you manage to become a reference in your sector, surely your followers will come to you when they have a need or interest in buying. Do not forget to keep your contact information updated in all your profiles: address, telephone, website, or e-commerce.
After the sale, you should give your customer the ability to submit a review, comment, suggestion, or complaint. Currently, customers want to contact a company through the most comfortable means for them and expect quick responses through the same channel. Do not neglect the messages, tweets, and comments you receive, especially the negative ones. Respond quickly, before potential criticism goes viral.
The best way to deal with negative comments or complaints is to show understanding of their anger and empathize, before redirecting their complaints to your customer service. Apart from being professional, you must maintain a friendly tone so that your messages do not seem corporate or standard.
The keys to success in Social Selling
Companies or professionals who are successful in this Social Selling take into account key aspects such as:
- Stay human, real, and present. Leave the bots for the care services. They are useless for sales.
- Interact and be yourself. The main objective of Social Selling is to build relationships.
- Practice actively listening to your leads and followers when they share information. It will give you unequivocal clues to their needs.
- Monitor what appears about you, your company, your sector, or your competition.
- Track the followers and followed of your contacts. Identify new opportunities.
- Provide relevant content that adds value. Avoid highlighting and talking about the benefits of your product or service. If relevant, also share posts from other users or accounts by including a short comment that relates to your specific field.
- Build relationships. Remember that your goal is not to sell on the first contact.
Social Selling seeks, as the sales process has always been, building relationships, credibility in the ability to provide the right solution at the right time.
In short, a good Social Selling strategy provides your brand with a set of tools that, incorporated into your work, will allow you to maximize the benefits of your relationships and focus on the most productive parts of the sales process.
At PGR we offer Community Manager Services and Social Network management, especially focused on B2B companies in the ICT Sector.
