Using social media to interact directly with prospects has become an absolute must for salespeople. It’s become essential part of networking. These posts can help.
The coronavirus didn’t destroy business lunches and spirited conversations. It just forced them online. Welcome to the days of virtual networking.
The good news: Virtual networking works.
Sales professionals can still wine and dine, host unique events and build business relationships when people aren’t getting together.
Social selling could be the most feared and revered sales practice these days.
Many salespeople use social media throughout the sales cycle – 72% of those using social media outperform peers who don’t use it, the Social Media and Sales Quota Survey found. Revered!
Yet, sales professionals don’t exactly know what makes social a powerful selling tool. About 70% admit they aren’t proficient in social selling and are mostly self-taught, a study by Feedback Systems and Sales For Life found. Feared!
Selling through social channels has changed how entire sales organizations operate and salespeople function. And it’s happened so quickly, it might be difficult to make sense of it all.
To help, let’s look at 36 statistics that show the state of social selling:
If you think social media is the most powerful tool to generate more leads, you’re probably right.
But only if you use it strategically.
Nearly 75% of Internet users are on social media, the Pew Research Center found. Where else could you find that many leads?
“If you haven’t incorporated social media into your prospecting activities, you are working too hard,” says Lorraine Ferguson, author of The Unapologetic Saleswoman, sales trainer, coach and associate with Sandler Training.
So stop working so hard. Use these strategies to effectively generate more leads in the most popular social media platforms.
Your competitors aren’t waiting for you to screw up. They’re ready (and likely trying) to steal your customers right now.
Competition can be ugly, especially if you’re on the losing end. But it’s part of sales. The best way to win is to stay ahead of the competition’s attempts to poach your customers.
Knowing how they’ll try to steal your customers is your best defense.
Here’s what they’re doing when you aren’t looking:
You finally got the prospect to agree to a sale. You can breathe a sigh of relief … or not.
Getting to the close is seldom easy. And the next one will require the same kind of hard work.
Here’s what researchers have found salespeople are up against – and what works well – when it comes to closing.
Your next best networking event is very likely right at your fingertips – social media networking.
Networking using social media could be more powerful than any approach you’ve ever taken.
Consider this: More than 90% of executives admit they won’t even respond to cold calls, according to research from HubSpot. On the flip side, 75% of them use social media to help make buying decisions.
You want to be where trigger-ready prospects are. That’s social media.
Online reviews are more than a pat on the back or a testament to your customer experience. They can have a serious impact on the bottom line, new research found.
Positive feedback actually causes increased demand, and in turn, higher prices.
With the holidays around the corner, it’s time to consider seasonal promotions. Here’s one that worked wonders for one company.
ModCloth.com, an online retailer, used its holiday promotion to pump up sales and offer customers quick discounts. Here’s how:
ModCloth “hid” an image of Santa’s famous reindeer Rudolph on various pages of the company’s website. Any customer who found an clicked on an image got a discount on that day’s purchases. As a result, customers:
There are a ton of less-than-stellar practices out there killing marketing initiatives. And most of them are avoidable.
For example:
