Selling in the digital era and understanding social capital

Selling in the Digital Era: Understanding Social Capital

Introduction The game of sales has got harder. The digital era has arrived and the way you sell needs to modernize if you’re going to win the game and build a sustainable business. Clients and customers are now researching more thoroughly before they buy. By the time they’ve got to you, they know a lot.

And that’s why it’s essential for you to know that if you’re responsible for selling and business development you’ve just become a brand in your own right. You alone are responsible for your own personal brand, content and relationships. With the money being in the relationships – the network – the list, your profile, reputation and networks have become assets. You’re now of tangible value and have acquired social capital.

This e-book concentrates on the areas you need to consider if you’re going to seize this concept and maximize your sales. The e-book has been split as follows: •

What is social capital?

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What makes you different?

•

Wooing and courting

•

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder

•

Embracing marketing

•

Contact nurturing

•

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

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Are you leaving money on the table?

•

How big is your asset?

Now, before we get started, I just want to stress that this e-book is still meant for those who are fairly new to social media in a social selling context. So whether you’re a sales professional, a sales manager or a business owner the content contained here looks at the concept broadly. The aim of it is literally to get you started with social selling, help you get buy in if needed, and to help you banish any apprehension you might be feeling. It doesn’t contain many advanced strategies – rather sound strategies that are tried and tested AND work. The advanced strategies are within the consulting and training courses I offer.

It’s here to help you get ahead in business and learn that when social selling is used strategically it’s the perfect medium for savvy sales professionals, consultants and business owners. Now, let’s get started!

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What is social capital?

Social capital has been around for a long time but it’s rapidly gaining attention again. It goes hand-in-hand with social selling - a process that claims that sales is changed by social media. Social capital, however, is the concept that relationships and trust are like economic capital and human capital. And, all need to be treated as assets.

We all now need social capital in order to influence others to buy from us and that’s why we need to learn how to build it - both online and offline. My belief is that we need to know our prospects, clients and customers better than ever and that technology can support us with that along with systems and processes.

Let’s look at 8 steps you can take to help you do just that.

1. What makes you different?

What do people say about you? What do people associate with you? What makes you different? How do you stand out from the crowd? What are you known for? What makes you different? What are your USPs (unique selling propositions), or your key differentiators? All of these amount to your brand. In a socially, connected world you need to manage your brand so it works for you.

With the explosion of social media your brand is distributed on a global scale – it’s far reaching and also more quickly consumed than ever before. In the past your prospects, clients and customers would have searched for you on the search engines (mostly Google). Perhaps you may have shown up on your company website, or if you may have acted as a spokesperson or written an article or whitepaper.

Today your prospects and clients want to know more about you. They want transparency and to connect with a real person. They want to hear your story, to know your passions and sometimes even to learn about your vulnerabilities. They want to know what makes you tick and exactly to whom they’re talking.

The days of stale corporate personas and sanitized websites are reducing. The world is changing and evolving.

So like it or lump it, your personal brand needs to be improved and then maintained. People have always bought on trust and are your brand has the potential, or not, to convey that trust. Your brand precedes you now and it can do some of the selling for you.

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2. Seduction We operate in a world that doesn’t sleep and it’s more 24 /7 than ever. Your prospects, clients and customers are super-busy, super-mobile and super-connected. And they’re inundated with noise distractions and messages whilst having to do their job. Buyers can find all the information they want by Googling or by asking questions on industry groups, such as LinkedIn. They can talk about your products or services, or your competitors’ online long before they need to talk to you – the sales person.

Buyers have become numb to cold callers too and many will screen calls through answer machines.

They’re cautious. They don’t want to be jumped on by an over zealous sales person who doesn’t understand their business. They also know that they don’t have to do this anymore in order to do their job.

Let’s face it - what’s in it for them – other than wasting time?

This is why you need to treat the prospecting process more like a “seduction” process. You need to find out about your prospect (the buyer) before having a conversation with them and ideally developing a relationship before the call or meeting. You need to be meeting them where they’re at. Hanging out at places where they hang out and giving them what they want and need. You need to be dazzling them with your expertize and willingness to help them. You need to be shining. You need to want them to want you.

By learning how to do this through social selling, you can support your efforts on the phone. To be clear, the phone is still a very useful medium. When you get to the phone after using social selling tactics you’ll be able to use it intelligently. You’ll be prepared and you’ll gain trust with your prospect so they’ll invite you in for a meeting.

If you get smart at prospecting, you can radically change the 1 in 200 success rate that many people are experiencing with traditional cold calling (20 dials to one decision-maker conversation and 10 conversations to one meeting).

3. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder A recent IDC study revealed only 1 out of 6 of those involved in selling felt that they were "extremely prepared" for an initial meeting with a customer, and that 57% were either not, or only somewhat, prepared.

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Now this is alarming. There’s more information available via the Internet than ever before. Showing up and “winging it” is unacceptable to the vast majority of buyers. They’ve a multitude of suppliers knocking at their door, many of whom will be prepared. They also know you can do your homework, so they expect you to do so!

Match your research time to the importance of the opportunity. As a rule-of-thumb, spend at least 1 hour preparing for an important 1-hour sales call, 30 minutes for a 30-minute meeting etc. - increase or decrease to taste.

Stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your prospects, clients and customers. Your aim is to be seen as part of their team and everything you do should demonstrate this.

4. Embracing marketing as a united front The world of sales is changing largely as a result of the advancements in technology and social media.

Some believe that marketing is taking over the sales cycle and that sales people will be pushed to the last 20% leaving marketing to do the first 80%. That’s one possible future. Others believe that sales people should now take on the responsibility for getting the content out there.

My take on it is that both camps need to work hand-in-hand – a joined up approach is what’s needed.

Both have a wealth of value for the client. Marketers are skilled researchers and analysts, yet sales professionals are on the ground floor –– hearing directly from their prospects and clients exactly what they want and need.

That’s why, whatever job function you’re fulfilling – whether you’re sales or marketing or doing both you need to be seen as an extension to your prospect and client. You represent them as you’re working on their behalf. It’s now your responsibility to get appropriate content to your prospects and clients that’s optimized for them on a personal basis. It also means having the content you need to represent your personal brand the way you want people to remember it. Challenging? Yes. Impossible? No, not at all.

Just work together.

5. Contact nurturing Research suggests that when it comes to buying, as much as 77% of clients and customers don’t buy straight away - they buy later. This illustrates why it’s vital to nurture the lead. In short, if you want to benefit from a 3-fold increase in your long term revenue, you must nurture everyone from the get-go.

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To do this, you’ll need content, tools and some attention to detail. You’ll need to organize a large number of contacts over a long period of time.

6. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket There’s not one sales person the world over who’s not had this happen to them: You go to meet a prospect for the first time. All goes well and they give you a buying signal - they say, “That sounds good, can you send me a proposal?” You rush back to your office and spend the next few hours doing just that and then emailing it over. The next day you call to follow up but there’s no reply. You don’t worry at this stage. You leave a message on their voicemail and then call again the next day. You get the same result, which goes on and on. You never get a call back - ever.

So why does this happen?

Well it could be for a variety of reasons but one of the main reasons comes down to knowing your buyers – all of them. Just look at the research from MarketingSherpa that shows that there are multiple people involved in buying.

So if you’re just selling to one person you’re taking a huge risk. You need to know all your buyers, all the key influencers and have a multitude of sponsors within the company you’re selling to that can help.

Remember too that if you’re selling to solo entrepreneurs the key influencer can be a family member (husband/wife/mother/father).

Ask yourself: •

Do you know who your buyers are?

•

Do you know their role in the decision process?

•

Were any of them involved in “co-authoring” your proposal?

•

Who are your sponsors within the organization?

Through social selling and good old-fashioned selling techniques (conversations) you can avoid your proposals going to “Neverland.”

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7. Leaving money on the table?

When you work in corporate, it’s normal for the Sales Manager to complain that their sales teams’ accounts are not being maximized to their potential. Cross-selling and business development is often non-existent.

So whether you’ve got a large company or not ask yourself: •

What’s your account strategy?

•

Have you segregated your clients?

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Have you devised an account plan for them, particularly your major accounts?

•

Have you identified the strategies you’ll use?

•

Have you identified the people that will help you get there?

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Have you figured out what additional products you can sell along the way?

•

How hard have you tried to cross sell within your account?

I’m sure you know that it’s far easier to sell to an existing client than find a new one. Remember Parato’s Law. 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your accounts.

You have the ideal reference story – a story from within the prospect’s own organization. You’ve got a certain level of trust baked in when you sell within the same company too. And, you have a sponsor!

So once you’ve landed a new client account don’t forget to expand. Getting a new client is so much harder than serving a current client. Social Selling will help you even here. You’ll need your brand, your content and your new tools to help you expand effectively.

8. How big is your asset?

We’re always being told that the money’s in the network or the list or more accurately the relationship you have with them. Furthermore that it’s essential to grow your database/list. However, did you know that recent research from IBM values each additional relationship in your network as worth $948 to you? That means that 100 relationships are worth $95,000 to you! That’s enough to buy a nice Porsche!

So think about these questions for a moment:

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•

What are you going to do to improve your network?

•

Do you have a people plan – a target prospect list?

•

Have you got a detailed ideal customer avatar (something that describes your prospect)?

•

How are you going to get to know your target audience?

In order to capitalize on your sales activity, you need to be growing your network in all the directions. The way to do this is not through pitching (although you’ll need that later) but by approaching them from the mindset of helping and adding value.

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Conclusion Make no mistake, your name, your reputation and your network has never been so valuable. The time to understand and value your social capital is now. Treat it as an asset; grow it and see the returns unfold.

The way to do this is by embracing the change and learning a new way to sell – social selling.

Armed with the information contained here, work with marketing to develop a pipeline of content for your prospects and clients. Test and measure your efforts, and when you get it all working – wash, rinse and repeat.

Thank you, as always for reading. If you found this useful, please tell others and get them to sign up to receive more information.

Wishing you much success!

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About the Author Jane Frankland is the Managing Director of KnewStart. She has had a diverse career encompassing art and technology. Kicking her career off in sales for Hays, she rose through the ranks quickly. Seeing a business opportunity in 1997, Jane set up an information security consultancy, Corsaire, with a partner, where she had enormous successes winning large global and FTSE clients.

Whilst remaining a shareholder of Corsaire, after thirteen years she exited the business as an employee and joined Europe’s largest cyber security assurance provider, the NCC Group as an Associate Director of Operations. In addition to her operational role for the SE of England, North American and Australian divisions and leading a team of 45 consultants, Jane played an instrumental role in re-branding the Group’s latest acquisitions, and as a Business Process Owner for SAP. She then went on to head up business development for SensePost, a South African company entering Europe.

Being a creative at heart, having been nominated as a Young British Designer when she graduated; selling work in London, New York, Tokyo and Paris to art galleries (including Christies) and fashion houses, Jane felt it was time to get back to her entrepreneurial roots. After 16 years of ownership she sold Corsaire and founded her new consultancy to help agile, forward thinking, service-based B2Bs solve business development challenges. She combines her skills within cyber security and business development with her interest in emerging technologies and communication. Right now she is particularly focused on helping organizations to really understand the power of using social media for business so they can leverage market share.

Jane Frankland can be contacted on: Twitter:

LinkedIn:

https://twitter.com/JaneFrankland

https://linkedin.com/in/JaneFrankland

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Services The consultancy exists to help you increase your competitive advantage by modernizing the way you do business. Through consulting and training we help you think differently about how you engage and transact with your employees, partners and clients so you can profit.

We specialize in: •

Creating influence

•

Leveraging sales

•

Protecting the brand

Further information is available by contacting Jane Frankland at hello@jane-frankland.com.

Report Disclaimer Please note that you have Personal Rights Use Only to this report. You may not give it away for free under any circumstances. You may not sell it unless you have purchased or acquired Resell Rights or Master Resell Rights through the author. The author has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this e-book, notwithstanding the fact that she does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the author assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are unintentional.

Copyright Notice All content published within this report is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without permission or altered in any way shape or form.

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