Social selling, it works, so why are you still leaving money on the table?
Timothy "Tim" Hughes 提姆·休斯 L.ISP
Should have Played Quidditch for England
Adam Gray and I started DLA Ignite 7 years ago, in that time we have implemented client after client, we have case study after case study.
The data on social selling does not lie, this stuff works.
I can say with every confidence that if your not social selling you are leaving money on the table
But we are social selling, Tim
Now, there will be people reading this saying “we are social selling” and I can assure you are not.
Let's look at the "fools social selling"
Spamming people on social - So pitching on social or connecting and pitching, is not social selling. It’s cold calling on a social network.
Talking in an echo chamber on social - This thing where marketing send out an email and everybody is asked to like it. That isn’t social selling either. In most cases it’s a waste of time.
The hints and tips session - This is another waste of time, your salespeople need to understand what it is to be social and be able to walk digital corridors. If you want to the gym and was given a 2 hour hints and tips session, this won't enable you to get fit and lose wait.
Social selling is a methodology
Social selling is a methodology that you follow, it’s not about knowing how to use LinkedIn, that’s knowing how to use LinkedIn. Today the modern salesperson needs to be able to walk digital corridors.
We now have a social selling qualification
We even have a qualification in social selling launched in May 2022. This is the only one in the world. It’s not a certificate in attendance or a certificate in how to use LinkedIn. It is a qualification in how to be social, walk those digital corridors.
The certificate is back by Institute of Professional Sales (ISP) it will be independently certified. Just like any other qualification you would get at school or college. And like any qualification, it’s a life skill that nobody can take away from you. It’s already becoming a requirement by employers to get an interview, let alone a job.
What is social selling?
Here at DLA Ignite, we define social selling as
"Using your presence and behavior on Social Media to build influence,
make connections, grow relationships and trust, which leads to
conversation and commercial interaction."
It's not witchcraft, it's enabling your salespeople to work from home, (or the office) and create conversations with prospects and customers. Conversations on social media and conversations that convert.
The problem with the name "social selling" is that people think that this is selling on social. All these pitches that you get on social are not social selling, they are spam.
The other thing you need to know about social selling is that this isn't about "putting out some videos" or "putting flowers on your profile" or "going viral" this is about revenue, EBITDA, you winning business from the competition and having a competitive advantage.
With anything you do on social there are two questions you need to ask
2. How much revenue / EBITDA am I getting as a business?
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.
Andrew Ferrier who is the CEO of Display Technology Ltd and in this article it talks about why Display Technology have adopted social selling. His team have also created a social media strategy with help from our partner, Crux.
Their social media mission statement is
“We want to position ourselves as a forward-thinking, knowledgeable team of individuals who are all experts in our own right, therefore, collectively awesome!”
Andrew also says in that post
"Adopting this (social selling) strategy has taken all of us well outside of our comfort zones but the rewards we have seen in a short period of time have created an excitement within the business development team (new term for sales team).
Because of the nature of social media, quite often you can get instant results. Even if that is just a comment left on your post, or a like, or someone taking the time to want to connect with you.
The excitement around the sales team is infectious, it’s no longer a chore to reach out to the market place because the results can be instant and are there, right in front of you."
What sort of results can you expect?
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.
What happened? They buyer was on social media looking for a solution to their problem, spotted one of the Namos salespeople, who had a buyer-centric profile and asked if the salesperson could help them. That turned into a $2.6 million deal.
Contact any of the DLA Ignite team, Eric, Adam, Nick, Vanessa, Lorena, Brentney, Priscilla, Lenwood, Alex and they will be more than happy to help.
Go and look at their LinkedIn profiles .... look how they can have digital conversations, create insightful content. This could be your company!
We are the only social selling and influence company in the world to offer a certificate in social selling provided by an independent qualification body (OfQual) and sponsored by the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP).
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Our VP of Sales Just got 83 likes on a LinkedIn post, so that means we are social selling? No!
Helping SMEs and large Supply Chain Owners with a Certified Net Zero Solution
2yIt's tried, tested and proven.
Digital Commercial Strategist - Developing people and organisations to become leaders in their sectors - TedX Speaker / Coach - Keynote speaker, event host/compere/moderator - Artist
2ySo many experts in echo chambers but still so few actually working a repeatable process for revenue growth and ebitda improvement.
Member of Câmara Internacional da Indústria de Transportes (CIT) at The International Transportation Industry Chamber
2yWELL SAID Timothy (Tim) Hughes 提姆·休斯
Global Enabler, advisor for SDG entreprises.«Altruistic projects, that’s my commitment to spread, popularize GUILD4AI vision.» Founder #GUILD4AI G4AI #AI #AFRIA #CDA #Africa L’Hacienda member 🌶️ #G4AI member 🌵
2ySo good Timothy (Tim) Hughes 提姆·休斯