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How to Move Your Team to Social Selling
The document discusses the importance of social selling in B2B sales, highlighting the shift from traditional sales methods to social platform interactions. It outlines best practices for adopting social selling, including focusing on pipeline progression, early engagement, and social proof, while emphasizing the need for better alignment between sales and marketing teams. The conclusion stresses that organizations must embrace social selling through leadership commitment, training, and collaboration to succeed in building relationships with senior buyers on social media.
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How to Move Your Team to Social Selling
- 1. 1 HOW TOMOVE YOUR TEAM TO SOCIAL SELLING
- 2. 3 INTRODUCTION Relationshipsstill matter to B2B sales, but buyers and sellers are connecting more often on social platforms and less often in person and over the phone.
- 3. 4 INTRODUCTION Ina survey of buyers conducted by IDC, respondents said they agreed with these statements (percentage is those who agreed or strongly agreed):
- 4. RELATIONSHIPS MATTER INSOCIAL SELLING
- 5. INTRODUCTION 6 RELATIONSHIPSMATTER IN SOCIAL SELLING Salespeople and their companies should embrace the reality of social selling and respond with an effective strategy. Social selling has challenges, but it also has raised the quality of the buyer-seller relationships by enabling better targeting and more meaningful conversations. Source: Demand Gen Report’s 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Study
- 6. BALANCING RELATIONSHIP-BASED CULTUREAND PERFORMANCE
- 7. INTRODUCTION 8 SOCIALSELLING ADOPTION BEST PRACTICES • Focus on Pipeline Progression • Focus on the Earliest Possible Engagement • Focus on Social Proof • DON’T Focus on the Status Quo Focus on Pipeline Progression Focus on the Earliest Possible Engagement Focus on Social Proof DON’T Focus on the Status Quo Source: Koka Sexton, Global Sr. Social Marketing Manager, LinkedIN
- 8. INTRODUCTION 9 SOCIALSELLING ADOPTION BEST PRACTICES Focus on Pipeline Progression • Quality of leads • Connections, Number of connections within target companies • Current social activity • Referrals/Recommendations
- 9. 10 SOCIAL SELLINGADOPTION BEST PRACTICES Focus on the Earliest Possible Engagement • Questions about industry-related topics • Critiques of a competitor’s solution • Job changes
- 10. 11 SOCIAL SELLINGADOPTION BEST PRACTICES Focus on Social Proof Testimonials, recommendations, case studies and referrals—these all provide insight into your target prospect and company.
- 11. 12 SOCIAL SELLINGADOPTION BEST PRACTICES Don’t Focus on the Status Quo Be prepared for follow-ups and new opportunities as the sales relationship develops. You’ll need to stay informed on your prospect’s updates, changes, connections, and opportunities—social selling is an ongoing process.
- 12. SOCIAL SELLING SATISFIESREVENUE DEMANDS AND BUYER NEEDS
- 13. INTRODUCTION 14 SOCIALSELLING SATISFIES The average B2B buyer who uses social media in the decision-making process is more senior, has a bigger budget and makes more frequent buying decisions, according to research from IDC. They also have a greater sphere of influence than those who do not access social media as part of their buying process. • Buyers with Larger Budgets Are More Likely to Use Social Media • Frequent Purchasers Are More Likely to Use Social Media Kelly Houston National Account Executive Capella University
- 14. 15 SOCIAL SELLINGSATISFIES Source: IDC’S Social Buying Study, February 2014
- 15. DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGEIN A SOCIAL WORLD
- 16. INTRODUCTION 17 DRIVINGORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN A SOCIAL WORLD B2B companies’ inability to align sales and marketing teams around the right processes and technologies has cost them 10% 10% or more of revenue per year. Sources: LinkedIn Global Study of 1,500 B2B Decision-Makers and Influencers, May 2014
- 17. 18 DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN A SOCIAL WORLD “Relationship building is alive and happening, but it’s no longer the job of just sales,” said Craig Nelson, Founder and Principal at Sales Enablement Group. “It’s also the job of marketing. The more aligned they are, the better the success.” Craig Nelson Founder Principal Sales Enablement Group In addition, B2B buyers turn to vendors with whom they have relationships with or vendors who are able to build relationships within the buyer’s company.
- 18. 19 DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN A SOCIAL WORLD LinkedIn has done research and found that: 69% of B2B buyers are more likely to choose a vendor who is recommended to them, and 46% more likely to choose a vendor who builds relationships with the buyer’s other stakeholders. Sources: LinkedIn Global Study of 1,500 B2B Decision-Makers and Influencers, May 2014 69% 46%
- 19. BECOME A TRUSTEDADVISOR AND WIN MORE DEALS
- 20. INTRODUCTION 21 BECOMEA TRUSTED ADVISOR AND WIN MORE DEALS Today’s buyers are looking for sales professionals to take on more of a consulting role, rather than simply enumerating the features of their products, said Nelson of Sales Enablement Group. 65% of buyers said the winning vendor’s content had a significant impact on the purchase decision. And, more than 80% of buyers reviewed five or more pieces of content. Sources: Demand Gen Report’s 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey 65% 80%
- 21. 22 BECOME ATRUSTED ADVISOR AND WIN MORE DEALS Adapting and curating content to be shared allows sales people to project thought leadership and enhance personal credibility, but not every sales person will be able to do this. Sales-enablement teams must feed social-ready content for sales people to leverage. Source: Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer and Executive Vice President, HMI Research Institute
- 22. HOW LINKEDIN ANDOTHER LEADING COMPANIES DRIVE A RELATIONSHIPS‑FOCUSED SALES CULTURE
- 23. 24 LINKEDIN SALESNAVIGATOR AND SSI LinkedIn’s Sales Solutions team has proven the value of Sales Navigator within their own organization. LinkedIn analyzed their own sales people’s performance across all global regions by mapping their SSI performance, and showed that sales reps with an SSI above 90 were three times more likely to go to club than any other rep. SSI leaders above 90 are 3X more likely to go to club 3x Source: Mike Derezin, VP of Sales, LinkedIn
- 24. 25 LINKEDIN SALESNAVIGATOR AND SSI A large percentage of our sales team’s wins come from warm introductions through using Sales Navigator’s TeamLink feature, which surfaces who in the company has a relationship with a prospect, regardless of whether our sales rep is connected to their colleague. Source: Mike Derezin, VP of Sales, LinkedIn
- 25.
- 26. CONCLUSION With themost influential and senior buyers on social media, B2B organizations cannot ignore the power of social selling, and the good news is that the relationship-building 27 foundation that has always been a part of sales remains.
- 27. 28 CONCLUSION Gettingstarted is a matter of: • Making sure leaders are committed and demonstrating their commitment through their actions; • Setting expectations on the personal and organizational level and adjusting performance metrics to align with expectations; • Providing training and tools, such as Sales Navigator, that enable sales team members to make social selling part of their daily work; and • Bringing Marketing and Sales closer to collaborate on content development and targeting to help build long-term relationships through networking.