OK you know the drill.
We’ve all been on the LinkedIn Social Selling course, we have a shining Buyer Centric Profile. Just before we head off for the meeting we have looked the people from the prospect up on LinkedIn to get a feel for them. Off we go, high five to us Social Seller's right?
What you don’t know is: -
Before you visit your prospects have you really done your homework and understood your customers digital body language?
LinkedIn state that for every enterprise deal 5.4 people are involved. CEB say a buying group size has grown from 5.4 to 6.8 people. People buying in groups is not new; there has always been more than one person involved in a sale, but nowadays probably more so.
Your Customers are leaving “buying signals” all over the web, are you picking them up and using them to your advantage to help you sell?
Are you covering all the Social Bases?
Let’s pick up on the 4 bases that are not being covered off above:
Somebody from that company we are about to pitch to visit your web site and downloaded a white paper, they spent twenty minutes reading about your proposition, but they are not at the meeting.
Not sure about you but the fact somebody has downloaded one of your White Papers and have spend 20 minutes on your website to use an old phase, this is a “buying signal” to me.
The fact you don’t know this and could “pop in” and see while you are having the other meeting is a major base not covered. Maybe the rest of the team has forgotten to invite them and you are making a journey for nothing.
There’s a seemingly pretty influential person, they don't have a C-Level title, but seem to be connected to a whole bunch of outside influencers. He’s not at the meeting.
These are the classic characteristics of a ChangeMaker!
Research from Google states that most C-Level people have read an In-flight magazine and know there is something happening about Digital but they don’t really get what it is.
They have therefore delegated decision making to ChangeMakers. Changemakers are between the age of 28 and 35, enterprise sales most if not all organisations need to make a change to implement your product or service, this can be a change to process or a change to behavior or both. Millennials may understand digital but Changemakers also have business acumen.
When I did a Miller Heiman sales training course 25 years ago the answer was easy. You found an internal sales person, a coach, I've also head them called an Angel.
You still need to find this person, but will they stand up and push through the change in the organisation? This is a new person to look out for in organisations, the Change maker!
You can spot a Changemaker. They will be Social, will be on LinkedIn, definitely be on Twitter. They tend to gravitate to other ChangeMakers and through their own influence will be influential on Social.
They are highly unlikely to be in the C-Suite or have a big title. They may not have authority, but they have influence. And a lot of it.
Your brother-in-law plays golf with the CEO, they are not connected on LinkedIn but they are on Facebook.
The fact that you could ask your brother-in-law for a game of golf and Tee-off with the CEO and cut out a lot of the sales cycle is a major base not to cover.
LinkedIn only has 30% of the Social Graph. Many family relationships are not on LinkedIn but they are on Facebook. If you are an A-Player sales person then you need to stop thinking that Facebook is “just for family photos and friends”. It’s a tool to help you sell.
Your contact at the company has the same type of dog as you, she posts the photos on Instagram.
When I started in selling, people told me to build rapport. Don’t think that has changed, the fact you have a great way to build a connection with this person in the account. Maybe you could even go to an owners club meeting together, is a another social base you need to cover.
I've not not made any of these examples up, they are all real life.
So, if you have a LinkedIn only Social Selling program, you can see, you don't have all your Social basis covered.
This is just a short blog, there are many more tactics you can employ, whether its apps or applications to help you sell and win by using Social which I cover in my book. Now the fact you have read this on-line means that maybe, just maybe your competitors have already read this. Just in case, if like me you don’t like losing deals, here is something might be worth the investment.
Want to know how to sell to the modern, connected buyer? If you're interested in a blueprint to help you in your move to digital and social then I recommend my book. “ Social Selling - Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers ”. Written in a workbook style, it's designed to help you implement a Social Selling strategy across Sales and Marketing. To order follow this link to Amazon there is also a Kindle, eBook version.