I just finished up a meeting with one of the sales directors at my company (yep, I have a full-time job, not a professional six-figure blogger yet, ha!). We are somewhat new in the “corporate” social media arena. We are on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We have different divisions in our business with vastly different products, so naturally we have separate profiles for each.(image credit – thegoldguys.blogspot.com/)
I guess you could say I helped initiate our corporate social media and do a good portion of the management of these profile’s myself. However, as time goes by, more people are getting involved, which is great.
Now, back to where I started. I met with one of our sales directors to give them an overview of how to use some of these new mediums. This person is new to these social networks and wanted to pick my brain as to how to use them, and I think secretly, why. I myself, many moons ago, was in sales, so I try to use some of my former sales skills in marketing by trying to put myself in their shoes and relate what I’m talking about to their life. So once we got past the basic usage of Twitter and Facebook, we progressed into why.
Now don’t misinterpret what I’m saying, I’m not saying to “sell” through social media, but there are some great ways for salespeople to use social media to help with sales.
We started with Twitter, I explained different ways this person can use Twitter to help cultivate sales opportunities. For example, they got pretty excited when I showed them twellow.com and how they could drill down to the specific industry of their target market. Being able to connect with your prospects through social media is powerful. You follow them, begin learning about them, their industry and their business. As most know, a certain percentage will follow back; now you have a direct way to communicate with them.
Next, I explained some of the relationships I have formed through Twitter. They became REAL excited when I gave examples of the relationship aspect of Twitter, after all, isn’t that one of the biggest parts of sales as well, relationship building? This person started realizing how much ground they could cover and how much time they could save by using Twitter as a relationship builder. Then, when the day comes to make a face-to-face call, it is not a cold call, but rather meeting a friend in person for the first time.
We moved to Facebook next. They asked what some of the differences are between Twitter and Facebook. I explained that they are actually pretty similar! Both platforms are used to communicate with other people, just slightly different features.
After we talked for a while, I listened to some of the things they do in their day-to-day. I started coming up with lots of ideas to incorporate Facebook into the mix to make life easier and more effective for them. For example, they were telling me about how they use WebEx sessions to help customers with things such as FAQ’s, different ways to use our products, etc. I mentioned how they could use the discussion board on our Facebook page for that. We have a FAQ section on our website, but I explained how that is a static page, no interaction. On Facebook however, we could answer some FAQ’s, clients could ask questions, and even answer questions among them. I explained how the discussion could be an open forum for clients to talk to each other and with us. Everyone helping and interacting with one another. This my friends are the beginnings of building a community around our brand. Prospects could see this discussion as well and take note of how easy it is to communicate with us, not just with us as a company, but with real people.
Through Twitter and Facebook, salespeople can do much of the same sales related tasks they currently do; prospecting, relationship building, broadcasting messages, interacting, learning and customer service.
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January 21, 2010 at 6:55 am
great information especially about Twitter. I must say I picked up a thing or 2. Interesting perspective on Twitter and Facebook.
January 22, 2010 at 3:20 pm
It sounds like a good way to get the message across to the company execs who rarely “get it”. By explaining it in terms they can understand “prospecting, relationship building, broadcasting messages, interacting, learning and customer service”, the light bulb begins to flicker for them. And of course, the sooner your company execs get it, the farther ahead of the pack they will be. Good job.
January 22, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Yep, you’re exactly right Donna. That is what it takes to explain social media to the “big wigs” in the corporate world.
Sometimes the only exposure and impression people have for Twitter and Facebook is teenagers letting one another know they are toasting bread.
You just have to kind of figure out what each person’s KPI is and explain how social media could help them reach their goals.
January 25, 2010 at 7:34 am
Social media is a great way to increase our website traffic. But we must still know the term of service this social media.
January 31, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I think social media for some are still new. Many execs still use the traditional way of marketing and doesnt want to gamble on such things yet. Though some of them are willing and they just need to be informed properly.