I said it. I am over social selling. Totally. Over. It.
Given that I’ve been evangelizing the integration of social media into your selling process for years, you might be wondering why. In a word… noise.
And not just noise, but noise specifically coming from a whole new crop of experts, as well as companies who are looking to capitalize on what they perceive is a hot SEO term. Each camp then goes about finding a way to put their own self-serving spin on the subject. It has become nauseating.
As someone who loves the profession of selling and has worked hard to elevate the perception and professionalism of our industry, it riles me up that this new breed of social selling noisemakers only drag the profession down. These experts don’t actually talk about what it takes to successfully sell today. They can’t. They don’t know how to sell. Oh, they can copy and repeat what others have already said for years and act like they are the first to tout such profound wisdom. They are good at bragging about how many Twitter followers they have or how high their Klout score is. They will beat you over the head that it’s “all about content”. On LinkedIn, they want you to know they have high SSI (social selling index) scores, which supposedly means the higher your score, the higher your sales opportunities will be. Except for one thing. Scores, followers and sharing content have zip to do with the ability to sell.
Let’s talk about selling, shall we.
I love social tools, if put into the hands of those that have been trained in the art and science of core selling skills. –Miles Austin
Anyone with any REAL SALES BACKGROUND already understands that social channels are nothing more than another set of “tools” that you can avail yourself of to reach potential buyers. We know that buyers block cold emails and phone calls, because they just don’t trust vendors to do much more than waste their precious time trying to pitch them.
We also know that as a result of easy access to information, buyers and their teams go online to research companies, solutions and people to get a sense of who will make their short-list when they have a problem to solve. But the latest noise would have you believe that content is all that drives buying decisions. Yes, content is important, but content IS NOT going to close that B2B, highly complex sale. Content may win you the opportunity to have a sales conversation, but from that point on your consultative selling skills better be top notch, because that’s what wins business. I have said this for years, and I’ll keep saying it until there is no more breath left in my body.
This graphic I put together illustrates how I think about the sales process. From my point of view, using social channels (social selling) fits in those first 3 steps you take to connect with and engage buyers in order to secure the sales meeting. You can also use social channels to keep up with ongoing support and the nurturing of your client relationships. But what about those stages in between? Qualify the opportunity, propose a solution, negotiate the terms of the deal, close the business and deliver the service? I can think of few situations where those steps are happening using social channels. These activities are happening when you are actually engaged in the art of selling. You know…when you are talking to and meeting with potential buyers.
Yes, absolutely, integrate the use of social media into your sales process, but I’m asking you not to believe anyone who would suggest that’s all you need to successfully compete for business. You must have great sales skills and understand your buyer’s decision making process well enough to align your approach to theirs.
Being a great salesperson doesn’t rely on cheap social selling tricks. Your success depends on taking a strategic sales approach, great selling skills that focuses on solving problems for buyers and a process that you consistently execute against. You can follow the social selling noisemakers who can’t go further than clicks, likes and shares and believe their hype, or, you can get the training you need and do the work it takes – throughout the entire sales process – to be great at selling.
You might be over it, but I sure hope you’re not out of it Barb. The industry needs people like you who have the perspective of where social selling fits into the broader marketing and sales conversation.
My passion for sales will never die, Jill. What I’m tired of are the surface platitudes and misinformation about what using social media can do for you in terms of driving sales. These tools help support your sales process, but at some point when you are in front of a potential customer, you better have the sales skills. Thanks so much for commenting!
Excellent Barb, well said. Tools are awesome… but the craftsperson still needs to be proficient at the core skills.
Thanks, Art. That’s how I think about sales too… it is a craft and good salespeople are constantly improving their game. I’m all for using tools – like social media channels – to augment our selling process, but to suggest (as many do) that social is all you need to be successful today is just bunk. I really appreciate you taking time to comment.
Great article Barb. So glad, that from your role as social selling pioneer, you articulated this message so clearly. Over and out.
Dave – really appreciate the comment! You are a true leader in what’s needed to be a great seller these days. Sure use tools, but people acting as if the darn tool will sell for you…please.
You nailed it with noise. A 2nd piece is mobile. 45% of LinkedIn users are viewing the site from their phones. It’s even harder to rise about this noise when your message is being viewed on a 4 or 5 inch screen. Nice work!
So true, Chris. I really appreciate your comment. We need to get people into reality… tools only take you so far. You need to be able to sell when you get that opportunity. That’s what so many of these “experts” don’t talk about.
I’m pleased to say this article was compelling enough for me to read it in its entirety, even from my little phone screen 🙂
Barbara, I’m a big social selling advocate (and practitioner) and appreciate you keeping it in perspective as just one component of an effective sales process.
Barbara – Interesting timing…in the last few months, I have noted that for all my efforts at social selling, I am not making the connections or seeing the results that I want. So back to developing strategies that work, Each approach is different, and the pathway to success relies on what you learn about the prospect, their business and the market along the way.
Thanks, Barbara. The prospecting, connecting and engaging piece can work (it does for me), but, of course, depends on your industry, what you sell, who your buyer type is, etc. That you’ve evaluated what’s not working for you and are shifting your approach to other strategies more likely to generate a return says you understand that successful selling is all about adaptability.
Great stuff. I actually understand why they might be saying it & writing it… because when all is said and done sales is hard! I’ve been in business 14 years and the hardest thing I have to do is try to reach out to potential customers. Writing; that I can do. Social media; understand pretty well. So, a lot of them sell the dream, kind of like the people who sell the idea that everyone can make money selling things on the internet. It’s not close to being true, just as social selling tools won’t work for the majority of people.
Loved what you said, Mitch about just like not being able to “get rich quick” selling on the internet as the “gurus” want you to believe. Tools are tools and only a fraction of what successful selling is all about. Thanks for your comment.
Social Selling has become the primary way I have made my living the past 4 years and founded my company with 23 employess iBoom Media. Yes there is still an art to closing the deal but due to my social media efforts we receive obver 15 refferals a month. With the social media accolades reciecved and the skill of using socila media properly it is BY FAR the most success I have ver seen when it comes to selling. I notice those who do not have great success seem to be more pessimistic about htis subject.
Thanks, Justin. If you read the post thoroughly, you know that I am an advocate for social selling. Have been since I began evangelizing the use of social media in sales in 2006. Authored a book on the topic, and have huge success driving business for my company and in the work I do for clients. The point of my post is that I am sick of the hype. The promises that would be social selling experts want you to believe is that a few social selling tactics lead to easy street in sales. Using the technology to bolster our ability to secure more sales conversations is only part of the equation. Good sales skills are required too.
I could not agree more with your comments, I wish that we could drop the whole “social” bit and just refer to it as selling – Yes,prospects are engaging with service providers in a very different way to 10 years ago, if not 5 years ago. They have much more power, hence one needs to influence their buying & decision making process. If done well,, it can be very powerful, but it will only get you a seat at the table, and even the head of the table, but as you put it, you still need to close & social media or a high SSI score is not going to help you when it comes to the crunch point – to quote Jim Young (Ben Affleck) from Boiler Room ” And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can’t. Either way a sale is made, the only question is who is gonna close? You or him? Now be relentless, that’s it, I’m done.”
Thanks, Alexander and love the quote from the movie Boiler Room. It sums things up perfectly!
I think social selling does warrant having its own term, otherwise even more salespeople would fail to see its worth. The fact that it has become over-emphasized by some is perhaps a necessary pendulum swing on the path to a happy equilibrium.
Matt – thanks for weighing in with your comments! It is up to all of us to accurately represent how social fits the sales process. Those that oversell what can be done is doing customers any favors.
First heard about Social Selling from Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion. He calls it Inbound Marketing. Zig Ziglar said that we are always selling. Between what I’ve learned from both, I feel I’ve become a knowledgeable Consultative Account Executive. Selling is filling a need that a client has. Today’s client has already done their homework through Search. We as problems solvers and need fillers can now close our clients based on a more solid foundation that we should have already built. Today’s clients seem to be almost qualifying themselves down the sales funnel. No more smoke and mirrors to greedily get gain.
Thanks for your comment, Mark. As an FYI – social selling is more than Inbound Marketing. Yes, you can definitely pull people to you with specific strategies designed to interest and engage people. And, you can use social platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to do targeted lead generation and prospecting outreach. Using social media helps to bring inbound opportunities, but if that’s all you rely on, you will have a stalled pipeline.
Barbara,
This was a great read! I was a little worried about the title but as I read on I was nodding and nodding. Social Selling is GREAT at the top of the funnel, and is great for staying in touch for small contacts during the buying cycle, however nothing can replace the value of face-to-face.
Lucas
HaHa – glad you read the entire post, Lucas. I believe in integrating social media into selling. Just tired of the BS hype.
Totally agree and what i preach. Social sales tools and skills are about getting you to a table you would likely not be at and differntiating you in the early stages. It does not replace fundamental selling skills or the process. However those sales people who ignore adding it to their toolkit will be at a disadvantage and increasingly miss out on a stronger wider pipe of opportunity.
To be honest I’ve never met anyone that preached closing opportunities based on social selling. Not saying you haven’t but it’s not something I’ve seen and if I did see it I’d probably feel the same way you do. Apart from that I couldn’t agree more.
Thanks for your comment, Josh. If you ever do hear an “expert” preach social selling as the easy button to closing deals, you’ll know to run in the other direction :).