In the good old days, cold calling and salespeople going around knocking on doors were some of the best ways to find customers. Tedious, you’ll agree, in comparison to the digital new approach of ‘social selling’. Incorporating social media channels into the sales process as the vehicle to reach your prospects, generate leads, build and maintain connections with customers, and establish brand loyalty, has become the norm.
It’s amazing how social selling can do so much, and more for businesses! It’s a more personal, word-of-mouth approach putting the buyers directly in touch with the sellers, without any interference from other sales channels. Consumers are after all, more likely to buy based on the recommendation from friends on social media. Social selling cuts short the sales cycle and eliminates the need for cold calls.
This is potentially just the tip of the iceberg. Social selling remains one of the most underutilised tools that marketers can rely on to build relationships and increase sales.
Here are the top three reason you should be social selling
- Your customers are already there
It’s like walking into a virtual market hall full of potential customers. More and more consumers rely on feedback and reviews from their social network when making their purchasing decisions. They search for forums, they research companies, and they ask around and compare the competition. Using social media contacts has become a common part of the purchasing process. They’re online and in the right frame of mind to purchase, which means you need to be there, too.
- You’re losing out to your competitors if you’re not social selling
Almost half of all B2B enterprises for example already have an active social-selling program in place, and only 2% have no plans to do so in the near future. There’s no denying it, the value in social selling is no longer a secret, which means your competitors are likely taking notice. A whopping 90% of top sellers are already using some form of social selling and it could be the key to your success.
- Enhanced relationships with your target audience
No one likes a cold call. In fact, 90% of top decision-makers never respond to them. Social media makes it easier to reach out to your target audience and their linked networks with mutual affinities. It allows marketers to take a more personal approach and build rapport keeping the sales pitch warm and conversational and reaching a more targeted audience that’s genuinely interested in what your brand has to offer.
If you have not yet included social selling into your marketing mix, you’re likely already losing out on sales to your more socially savvy peers, so get onto it and grow your profits and market size.
