Archive for Social Media

Questions Sales Needs to Ask

Posted by: Barbara Giamanco | Comments (1)
Thursday, March 4th, 2010

I wrote in my last post about ways to gain executive buy-in for the integration of social media into a sound sales strategy. Rather than replace the tried and true, social tools can augment great sales efforts today. Used effectively they can also help your sales folks reduce sales cycle time by building relationships early and quickly through social communities. Yes, you can still attend in-person networking functions and you should – provided you are attending the right ones. Easy enough to burn hours of time that get you nowhere for the right events, much less attending the wrong ones. Instead invest some of your sales time each day to participate in online spaces, like LikedIn to connect, source business opportunities and prepare for your sales calls. Welcome to the world of social selling.

As I’ve observed companies considering how social media applies to them, I’ve also seen a tendency to want to short-cut the process. This is a big change and you need to prepare yourself up front for success. Asking and answering these types of questions should be the first step.

  1. Are your sales leaders prepared to adopt new sales communication approaches and tools?
  2. Will your current processes support a smooth integration to using new technologies?
  3. Have you established sales communication guidelines and social usage policies?
  4. What kind of training will your sales people need to make the shift?
  5. How will you hold people accountable to using new media as part of their sales day?
  6. Is your IT organization prepared to assist you in integrating the right social tools with your sales goals?
  7. Do you use customer data, survey’s and focus group feedback to update services, policies and processes on the fly?
  8. How well is your team “listening” to online conversations happening on the various social sites?
  9. How ready is your sales team to respond to negative commentary?
  10. What does your competition’s social media presence look like?

Don’t be seduced by the promise of number of followers = sales. Twitter isn’t for everyone and neither is Facebook for that matter. Think carefully about your strategy. It will make the difference between floundering around and achieving sales results.

Categories : Sales, Social Media
Comments (1)

Securing Management Buy-In

Posted by: Barbara Giamanco | Comments (0)
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Like any other major change initiative, you must present a strong argument for the value and benefits to the organization. Social media is a new way of thinking and it is still being met with resistance. So, there is still evangelism and education to be done.

To secure management buy-in, I think it is very important to forget all the techno speak…present the business case for WHY developing/executing a social strategy is a critical business imperative. It’s important to focus on the number’s, the sales potential, how social selling shrinks the sales cycle and can be used to increase customer loyalty. Talk about how your sales people can use new media to differentiate the products and services they are selling. And, of course,  point out that you can use these tools to gain competitive advantage. In other words, don’t lead with the technology. Before you jump on Twitter, you need to know why you are there.

Start with a clear vision, purpose and plan…then align the technology to your strategic objectives. Focus on measuring your results and build on them. Keep in mind that engaging everyone on your sales team will take time and needs to begin with active involvement from senior leadership. If management is asking their sales reps to use LinkedIn – they need to be acting participating themselves. Leaders model the way for their people!

This is another fundamental shift in how we approach the sales process. Don’t be fooled by the “quick fix” promises of thousands of followers over night. Numbers matter little if the followers aren’t your target customers. Integrating the right social tools will require much more than a few LinkedIn classes. Well…only if you want your financial investment to make a real difference.

Categories : Sales, Social Media
Comments (0)

Social Media During Crisis

Posted by: Barbara Giamanco | Comments (0)
Monday, March 1st, 2010

As Chilean and international rescue forces work through the rubble cause by the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit near Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, users of social media the world over have undertaken their own rescue measures.Twitter, Facebook, and several of Google’s properties aren’t trivial, now. They’re life-saving, informational tools. –Dan Nosowitz, writing for Fast Company Magazine.

During the past year, a lot of people have begun to realize that social media is not only here to stay, but has significant implications for the way that business is conducted. What many fail to realize is the power that social tools have for saving lives and quickly diseminating information in crisis situations as the Chilean earthquake. I remember when it first clicked how powerful Twitter could be during the Atlanta gas crisis in ‘08 that had people sharing tweets about where to find gas in gasoline starved city.

Tools like Google Person Finder, live video streams, Twitter, Facebook pages and more are being used to share information, locate missing people and send much needed financial aid to the area.

Categories : Social Media, life
Comments (0)

SoCon10 Highlights

Posted by: Barbara Giamanco | Comments (0)
Friday, February 12th, 2010

Last month’s social media conference aptly dubbed SoCon10 was quite a hit. It was the 2nd year that I’ve attended, and I found the presentations focused and relevant. There was much more focus on things like…you know…ROI. Check out the video to see what the fun was all about.

Categories : Business, Social Media
Comments (0)
Next Page »

Get Social!

Get Updates in Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Barb Hosts Talent Builders Radio!