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8 Data-Driven Reasons Why You Need To Start Social Selling

Jamie Shanks
Jamie Shanks

With some prospects, you can give them all the most logical, most emotional, most persuasive arguments in the world about what you sell and they’re still not going to budge an inch. These are the people who want to see the numbers. While a picture may be worth a thousand words, nothing can really match one really well-supported number.

The hard data firmly establishes that Social Selling is more productive from an operational standpoint, delivers better revenues from a financial standpoint and lays a foundation for recurring sales from a customer relationship standpoint. Let’s run the numbers.

1. 1.5 billion

That’s how many active users there are on social media right now, reported by McKinsey and Company. On LinkedIn alone there are a quarter of a billion users who may be potential prospects. According to the Pew Research Center, Facebook remains the top social media site for adoption with 71% of American adults and 28% currently using LinkedIn as well. Everyone you want to talk to is online and are very likely already on social media. Salespeople who are not capitalizing on Social Selling are handing over sales opportunities to the competition.

Social Media Usage

2. $1,760

Social Selling results put traditional sales to shame. According to Harvard Business Review, $1,760 of profit per sale is needed just to cover the cost of failed sales meetings, assuming that the meeting cost, on average $160. With Social Selling, the process from a first touchpoint to closing a deal is more efficient. Why? Because Social Selling tactics can help you find, nurture and close deals faster. You can learn more about how Social Selling aids throughout the buying process here.

3. Two-thirds

That’s the portion of sales teams today (64 percent, to be precise) who use inbound Social Selling to reach their quotas, according to a report from the aberdeen group. Social Selling is instrumental in helping your entire sales team succeed. I’m not saying that Social Selling is the only tactic sales teams should use to drive revenue however Social Selling has proven to be key in this process.

4. 81 percent

The percent of CEOs who see mobile technologies for social customer engagement as “the most strategically important for our organization” in a new study by Price Waterhouse and Coopers. That’s more than front line sales reps who see the need to focus on Social Selling. Leadership has to take action to make sure that their teams get the right training and sales support to change mindset and behaviour.

5. Number 1

The fastest growing demographic on Facebook are people between the age of 45 and 54, in data from Business2Community. LinkedIn is another popular social network for this generation, accounting for more than half of all users overall There is a mindset shift for those who thought social media was once for the younger generations. Embrace social networks to create new opportunities and strengthen relationships. Use social to really understand potential prospects in a meaningful way. It doesn’t happen overnight but it pays off for years to come.

6. 28%

That’s the true success rate of cold calling, in data from the Keller Research Center. If 72 percent of your time is being wasted, you need to rethink your strategy. The 64 percent of your competitors’ sales teams who are making good use of inbound Social Selling are going to drink your milkshake.

7. 2 out of every 3

That’s how many companies do not have a real social media strategy for their sales teams, according to the Sales Management Association. Haven’t you ever wondered why so many businesses fail every year?

8. 5X ROI in less than 6 months

The ROI of Social Selling training is 5-to-1. The clients that Sales for Life’s has worked with are seeing a minimum of 5X return for every $1 invested into Social Selling training within 6 months. Investing in the right Social Selling program clearly pays off!

Feel Like a Number?

Feeling like a number isn’t so bad when that number is a million bucks. These numbers should convince you that Social Selling delivers measurably better financial and productivity numbers, but you don’t need to take our word for it. Do your own experiments. Let us help you create a Social Selling team within your sales force so you can compare their performance over time. It all adds up to better sales and more positive results for everyone in the organization

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The Ultimate Guide to Social Selling