Much has been written about social media’s usefulness to Marketing, Customer Service …even HR. Strangely, there’s been far less discussion of its utility for Sales …although we did present that view in a fairly recent post here.
Now Umberto Milletti drives it home in a post on Social Media B2B, saying that social media can help Sales to more quickly qualify leads… and better steer the sales process, by taking into account the particulars of each prospect. By tapping into social intelligence, “sales organizations can achieve massive productivity gains by quickly and accurately assessing the quality of inbound leads as sales-ready (or not!).”
Today, social media proliferates critical qualifying information – such as the prospect’s organizational role, her company’s acquisition/expansion plans or product initiatives – as prospects share valuable insights through their social networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Sales professionals who understand how to connect with “Customer 2.0” can easily access these details to streamline and upgrade the lead qualification process.
Up the ladder…
A common problem for Sales is that the lead provided is typically someone lower down in the organization, charged with doing initial research …but usually not a decision-maker. With the aid of social networks, here’s one path a salesperson might take to circumnavigate this obstacle…
- Determine where the inbound lead sits in their company’s hierarchy by validating title/position.
- If the lead is not the decision-maker, identify decision-maker(s) within the prospect’s company.
- Leverage your social-media connections to identify a common senior-level connection between you and the decision-makers.
- Use social intelligence to determine what the decision-makers care about …enough to convince that common senior connection to agree to make an introduction.
This recipe – along with your superb selling skills – should enable you to convert that lead into a live opportunity!
Another common challenge is that inbound leads typically come as only a single contact …whereas most medium/high-ticket B2B purchases end up with a selection committee. Again, by leveraging social intelligence, Sales can identify those other buying influences, work to neutralize their concerns, and over time turn them into proponents of your solution.
Sales ROI
As these methods are increasingly adopted, productivity improves throughout the Sales organization: leads are qualified faster, and sales teams can focus their efforts on those leads that are likely to convert into opportunities, and eventually into customers. What’s not to like about that scenario?!
Does anyone have a war story about Sales’ use of social media (s)he can share?
