I’ve just finished listening to Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, and it’s been transformational.
Our business is growing like a wildfire. With that growth, comes the need to better define our company’s core values, culture and higher purpose.
As I was listening to the book, all I could think about is how Tony’s mantra and approach to business is so similar to social selling best practices. Here is a business leader that was sharing, innovating and bringing unparalleled value – BEFORE SOCIAL SELLING. At the tail end of the book, he does talk about Twitter as a great sounding board for their business.
However, deep into Tony’s business core was not just the act of using Twitter and encouraging his entire staff to use Twitter as well, but a foundational framework to social selling success.
Transparency
Tony talks about transparency in multiple forms in his company. While that might mean financial and job security transparency to him, to a social seller, that means showing your client how the “sausage is made”. Don’t be afraid to let your buyers know the pros, pitfalls and challenges of any decision you make, even when choosing your solution. Be a real consultant to your buyer and add value to the conversation. Your buyer will appreciate it!
Helping the Customer, With No Immediate Expectation of Return
If Tony were to see how we help our buyers, he’d be proud. We conduct an “Hour of Power” for every company we talk too. The Hour of Power is us giving their entire sales organization on hour of LinkedIn and Twitter tips that they can implement IMMEDIATELY! Are some of these tips part of our training? Yes. Are some of these tips unique to Sales for Life training? Probably.
Do we care that some buyers might just walk away from the tips with a big “Thanks” and not buy immediately? Not at all. We really subscribe to Tony’s view that relationships are not a sprint, but a marathon, and the nurturing process does not end, EVER!
Educate the Market
Here’s our marketing roadmap that will start the summer of 2014:
- Audio Podcasts
- Video Podcasts
- #S4LSocial Twitter Chats
- EBooks
- Webinars
- Infographics
- Speaking Engagements
All of these marketing initiatives have one thing in common. They are all EDUCATIONAL and filled with valuable tips.
Zappos created an external library of learning for any company that wanted to learn. Education is a social currency that so many companies lack!
Do you want to learn more about succeeding with social selling? I’d be delighted to help. Contact me using the link below.
