Few people would disagree that today we all in one shape or another suffer from information overload. Social Media hasn’t helped with this, but Social Selling is trying to redress the balance with a targeted approach.

Surely it’s better for us to help our customers and maybe our friends to break through that noise. We should be using targeted messages and information that they actually want. That can only come about as a result of us understanding what they actually need.

Why use social media in the sales process

Social media offers us the chance to pull back the curtain a little. It gives us a greater understanding of what these needs, aspirations and interests could be.

Sales is a tough game traditionally reserved for people with a thick skin. It takes persistence and a great skill at understanding what people want and need. I’ll say that again because it’s the most important part…

“Understanding what people want and need”. 

These two things are not mutually exclusive and can often be very different. The skill of a great salesperson is working out the difference between the two and helping the customer to come to terms with that.What do sales people need to understand?

What do sales people need to understand?

Traditional businesses are all too often caught up in an old model of selling. This includes badgering, chasing and generally upsetting their buyer by contacting them at the wrong time. At its worst, it’s seen as buying not selling, which often leads to talking to them about things that they don’t want because the salesperson has not taken the time to understand whether they need it.

The good old round peg in a square hole!

Social Selling is undoubtedly about being where your customer is and conversing with them there. It’s about building your network based on what other people’s interests are and not just your own.

Social Selling in the sales process is about creating an opportunity for your sales force to get closer to your customer’s needs and interests allowing you to be able to serve them better as a result. 

Are you eating your own dog food? To put that more tactfully I ask a simple question of my clients:

“When your customers search for you what is it that they find.” click to tweet

If you can confidently answer that question and you know that when they find you they find a great social presence demonstrating how you can add value or help your customers then you are off to a good start. However, if they find no trace of you at all or what they do find is contrary to the image that you portrayed to them, well then you will lose every time to those who can be found and have a great social profile.

If this resonates with you and you think you could use some help in this area I would be more than happy to help you to bridge to gap in your social presence.