If you’re working in sales today, chances are you’ve heard of social selling. In fact, chances are you haven’t just heard of social selling, but you’re also working to integrate it into your daily routine. A study by Forrester recently found that 98 percent of B2B enterprises see the value in social selling in the short- and long- term.
However, only a few companies have their leaders, marketing and sales enablement supporting their new sales initiatives.
The best social selling programs flourish when sales teams have all three. But, anyone who has done social selling knows, these efforts can only go so far. The individual salesperson must establish a routine, a process and learn to effectively use the tools they’re given.
To explore how new members of our team are using social selling I recently sat down with one of our full-cycle inbound/outbound salespeople, Mike Yebio, to ask how he has integrated social selling into his sales routine and what challenges he has faced.
What have been the biggest challenges in integrating social selling into your daily routine?
Mike Yebio: There are a lot of tools out there—it’s hard to know what works and what doesn’t. I hear this a lot from our clients, too. There’s a lot of people who claim they know everything about social.
Once you assemble the stack of social tools, which is about 5 -7 really effective ones, and get into a daily routine, you really start to see it pay dividends.
How have you integrated social selling into your prospecting as well as your efforts to stay in communication with prospective clients?
MY: There’s really so much to choose from—it’s like choosing the best food from a buffet.
When I’m targeting accounts, I’m socially surrounding them, I’m looking at saved searches to see what exactly people are sharing, I’m commenting on my buyers articles. Basically I’m doing whatever I can to maintain that ongoing relationship and stay top of mind.
Could you shed some light into your social selling routine—what does that look like?
MY: The first thing I do is review information or insights for my target accounts. I’ll look for things such as:
- What key decision makers are sharing
- New hires
- Buyers changing positions
- Work anniversaries
If I can add a value-driven comment, I will. Doing this on a daily basis really helps me set a tempo for the day, because I can use these insights to drive personalized outreach. I can actually talk to them about what’s on their mind.
After that it’s just pick up the phone and go. Those [sales] fundamentals are still there, and I’m a firm believer in them. Now, we’re just doing it smarter.
What tools do you use to assist in your social selling efforts?
MY: Feedly.com, Twitter, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Vidyard.
What advice would you have for sales professionals or leaders who are just breaking into social selling or are still skeptical about its ROI?
MY: The one thing that you want to keep on the top of your mind when you’re thinking “social selling” is it’s not that difficult.
You need to be open to shifting your mindset. Think about where you buyer is, and even about the way you make big purchases. I know I go online.
It’s just one of those things that you need to truly believe in and have an open mindset. Once you find five or six or seven unique tools and that routine that works, you’ll never look back.
What’s there to lose?
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