Social Media Management - Phase 6 (Sales)

© 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
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SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SERIES
PHASE 6 – LEVERAGING SOCIAL TO DRIVE SALES
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THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS
1. Overview – Imagine!
2. Social Management – Phase 1 (Design)
3. Social Media Management – Phase 2 (Optimize)
– Deliverable: Operational Roadmap
4. Social Media Management – Phase 3 (Build)
– Deliverable: Operational Management Document
5. Social Media Management – Phase 4 (Manage)
– Deliverable: User Scenarios
6. Social Media Management – Phase 5 (Professional Brand-building)
7. Social Management – Phase 6 (Sales)
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ACCORDING TO…
Jim Keenan (author of “A Sales Guy
Blog” - CustomerThink.com 5/13)…
• 78% of sales people using social media
outperformed sales people who did not.
• 33% of social media users exceeded their
quota by 10% while only 26% of non-social
media users exceeded it.
• 48% of social media users hit their quota
while only 44% of non-social media users
hit their quota.
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PURPOSE, PROCESS AND THE PAYOFF
• Payoff: Know…
 The current state of social
technology
 Who is using social today and
where
 How to build your professional
online presence (brand)
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 Find and use existing content to engage [prospective] customers early and often, in
the buying process…
 AND become a trusted voice of your company across social

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WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN???
This training program will help you…
• have an understanding of what the Social
Media landscape looks like today
– who and where [potential] customers
are, and what they are doing/need
• build credibility and visibility as a professional/
influencer
• find and build relationships with customers by
sharing information they value
• find and use existing content to engage
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[prospective] customers early and often, in the buying process…

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SECTION 1
Leveraging Social Media to Find Opportunity

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THE ENGAGEMENT VALUE CHAIN
• Building a successful sales pipeline requires certain steps within each stage, to grow and
enhance relationships with the client.
– A relationship is the strongest asset a Sales Professional possesses and cannot be taken lightly.
Building one is based on customer trust…trust that you have their best interests in mind!
– And like all relationships, it starts with “courting” or connecting around things you have in
common…
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Prospect Position
Cultivate Close
CONNECT SHARE RESPOND COMMENT ASKSEARCH FULFILL
Find
Retain&Grow

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CONNECTING WITH CONTENT
• Your [prospective] customer is a multitasker with limited time and
attention span to consume long, unimaginative pieces of content…
• An essential first step in the relationship building process is focusing on
them and what they want, feel or care about vs. what you want to sell
them…that comes later.
– Start with answering their question…“WIIFM” – What’s in it for me?
• The key is to create a path or content spectrum, that evolves them
effortlessly from things they like personally to things they need
professionally.
– Each step in the spectrum provides you with more ability to drive the
conversation and select the types of content the client will engage with.
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CONNECT SHARE RESPOND COMMENT ASK

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LINKING CONTENT WITH SALES OPPORTUNITY
• The role of content is key to building a successful sales opportunity
– It begins with information that attracts the customers attention and ultimately
encourages them to ask for more…
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Entertain
Inspire
Inform
Teach
Support
Prospect
Cultivate
Position
Close
Retain &
Grow
CONNECT
SHARE
RESPOND
COMMENT
ASK

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WHAT IS CONTENT CURATION?
• Content is your primary resource to connect with new & existing
customers to provide value, and it begins with finding the right content
online and sharing it!
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DETERMINING THE RIGHT MIX OF CONTENT
• Once you have captured the attention of your customer, the next step is keeping them
engaged with a broad mix information and topics ranging in length and frequency. Some
general guidelines include:
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Occasionally where & when appropriate (1 x 2 Months)
Often (2 x Month)
Regularly ( 2 – 4 x Month)
Always (1+ x Week or) as available
Frequently (1 x Week)
Entertain
Inspire
Inform
Teach
Support

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HOW YOU CURATE CONTENT
• Curating is as easy as reading an article, clicking a sharing icon and adding a brief
comment to let the customer know WIIFM.
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WHAT YOUR CUSTOMER SEES WHEN YOU DO
• Sharing high-valued content appears in the News Feeds of your customer demonstrating
your proficiency to provide valued content to solve their business problems…
• More importantly, the responses you receive back from your professional graph indicates
you are influential in your area of expertise.
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RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL ENGAGEMENT
1. Listen First – It’s always important to understand
your audience before socializing. Know how they
use each platform, what they want to communicate
and what they expect from you before you decide
what to say.
2. Think – This is about using Social Media to connect
with customers and help them with their
business…not yours!
3. 10 Second Rule – Always reread and consider what
you are about to say in the digital world before you
hit send! You can’t take it back…
4. Gain the Trust of Your Audience – Audiences have
unique goals. Act as a global concierge, gaining
their trust by having a two-way conversation and
providing them value as they accept your
invitations to connect and read your content.
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5. Define Your Own Voice – Set up guidelines
for what you will and won’t talk about. Be
clear up front as to what you hope to discuss
on each social network.
6. Set the Rules for Engagement – Customers
should know whether to expect an
immediate response from you or if you are
not actively monitoring a platform. Direct
them to the best place to receive the service
they need.
7. Wait for them to ask – As you connect and
share content, make sure that it is valuable to
them in terms of their businesses and
competition. Once they begin to trust you,
they will ask you for your company's specific
solutions and content.
8. Use What’s At Your Disposal – There are
hundreds of fantastic blogs and your
company's branded channels containing
relevant content that a client will value.
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9. Keep a Weekly Calendar – Creating content from
scratch can be overwhelming and a daily struggle.
Organize posts around themes to get the ball
rolling.
10. Share Things That Get People Talking – Your
approach should focus on creating content
customers want to interact with via comments
and sharing.
11. Keep it Consistent – Social media is a
commitment. Regular consistency will keep your
“brand” top of mind with your customers and
your peers.
12. Don’t Be the Last to Know – Set up alerts & RSS
feeds in your social pages to inform you instantly
on industry news & events so you can share
immediately.
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PROSPECT
Finding Opportunity

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PROSPECTING
• Opportunities exist across all of the digital landscape as customers use social more and
more to:
– to build their own businesses & brands
– seek out customers
– create viral marketing campaigns
– grow awareness
– solve basic problems
– Engage with content
• All of their actions leave a digital trail (keywords, sentiment, intentions, opinions) that
can be searched on, and used to connect back
• Finding them and knowing what to do next is the first step in using social to build a sales
funnel
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CONNECT SHARE

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FINDING PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS
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Mary Smith HealthCare Solutions
• The first step is performing a basic web
Search. Keywords in LinkedIn & Facebook
profiles will come up in Google searches
CONNECT SHARE

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SEARCHING FOR OPPORTUNITY
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CONNECT SHARE
• Using the same search techniques in social
channels and listening tools (e.g. Tweetdeck)
can also uncover what your customers are
looking for.
#hiring
#hiring
hiring
How can I find
information on…
#hiring

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STARTING A CONVERSATION
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CONNECT SHARE
Mary Smith
I saw your post in LinkedIn and
thought this article might help…
Hello Ms. Smith
Thought you might like
• Once you’ve found a potential customer, send an invite to connect and make sure it
contains a (WIIFM) reason for them to accept.

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CULTIVATE
Building Relationships

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CULTIVATING
• As you connect and engage with new customers (Likes, Posts, Shares, Responds etc.) the
next step is to provide them with a reason to notice you, listen to you and engage back
• Starting with a sales pitch, is the quickest way to drive them away, so as in any
“courtship,” it’s important to be attentive to their needs and respond to what’s
important to them
– Product information at this stage is too early, since you have not established credibility with the
customer…so why should they listen to you?
• Instead, provide them things that are of interest to them personally and professionally!
– Start with light “snacks” of entertaining and inspirational content and evolve to stories that are
relevant to them, and the success of their business (e.g. industry trends around that might
impact their customers).
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SHARE RESPOND

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ENTERTAIN & INSPIRE
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SHARE RESPOND
Thought you might like this…
• Finding articles on websites, blogs, digital magazines etc. that are
interesting, inspirational and fun, is a great way to break the ice with
customers and more importantly…stay top-of-mind.

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POSITION
Becoming a Trusted Resources

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POSITIONING
• From a sales perspective, this is a critical stage for professionals to increase Probability of
Sale (POS). This is the point where relationships evolve from small engagements and
content shares, to providing information that will guide and educate your customer in
areas that will help them to be successful.
• Social is a key tool at this stage as customers up until now have been able to keep at
“arms length” preferring to do their own research and avoid sales “pressure.”
• By connecting with them early and establishing trust, they will begin to think of you as a
valued resource and appreciate that you have not pushed them…that trust now begins
to payoff as they begin asking you for questions specific to their business and the
experience you can provide.
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RESPOND COMMENT

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SHARING VALUED CONTENT
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RESPOND COMMENT
How am I
going to…
Need help …
• As the relationship grows providing specific information
around issues helps to build their trust in you.

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RESPONDING TO NEED
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RESPOND COMMENT
• Knowing (and bookmarking) the best sites to find content specific to your customers needs, will
become a great asset to you in your continued positioning process. Having answers to their
questions quickly will get you noticed.
How am I
going to…

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CLOSE
Becoming a Trusted Partner

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CLOSING
• Obviously a sales professional’s success is based on closing a majority of the
opportunities in their funnel.
• And although nothing replaces face-to-face and telephone time, social is a great tool to
use as a way to keep the conversation moving between those meetings by:
– Allowing for Check-ins and answering quick questions
– Providing referrals from other satisfied customers
– Keeping the opportunity and solution “top-of-mind”
• The key to success at this stage is converting customers from consideration to purchase.
– If you’ve taken the right steps to create a trust and dependency in you to provide what they
need and when they need it…like all relationships, it matures into a positive, long-term
commitment!
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COMMENT ASK

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PROVIDING INFORMATION
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COMMENT ASK
Ok I need to
order service,
can you help
me?
• Industry and branded content (e.g. DIY videos) at this stage helps explain to the customer
how things work!

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SOCIAL REFERRALS
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COMMENT ASK
• Social is also a great (and credible) resource to connect customers with peers to get
referrals and reviews to assist in the final consideration to purchase journey…
Do you have any
referrals I can speak
with?

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RETAIN & GROW
Supporting Your Customers

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RETAINING & GROWING
• The final step in managing a robust Sales Pipeline is to ensure that existing clients remain
satisfied even after the close.
• In addition to being a continuous source of organic growth, existing customers in social
can provide you with:
– A brand advocate that can speak to your prospects by providing referrals & testimonials
– Additional content & positive feedback
– New sales contacts
• This is also a stage where many sales professionals “drop the ball” which is why social is a
key tool for you at this point.
– In efforts to build trust to close a sale, you now have a responsibility to keep that relationship
going. Although the sale is completed, what your customer thinks from this point going
forward is crucial to retention and growth opportunities.
• One of the most important pieces of content that any sales professional can possess is
the testimonial of a satisfied customer!
ASK
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SUPPORTING YOUR CUSTOMER
I don’t understand
my bill…
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ASK

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SUPPORTING YOUR CUSTOMER
Send Your Customer a Message
Your Customer
How is Everything Working???
Just wanted to follow up and see how things are
working and if there is anything else you need?
RE: How is Everything Working???
You
Everything is great…give me a call next week to talk
about next steps and thanks!
How is everything
working???
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ASK

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SUMMING IT ALL UP!

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SUMMARY
• The massive of growth of the digital space/social media over the past four years has
created a major shift in how sales professionals operate today in terms of finding and
engaging with [new] customers.
• Traditionally customers needed information immediately, so Sales Reps were involved
early and often throughout the process.
• Today however customers have the ability to research online without contacting a Sales
Rep until they are deep into the consideration process, meaning they already have a
strong opinion or made up their mind by the time they engage you.
• They also have very little time to view content sent by Sales people meaning they are
selective on what they chose to consume, or ignore.
• You rarely get a second chance to make first impression, so how you approach your
customer early in the relationship process, ultimately determines whether or not they will
let you in…
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
• For sales professionals to meet the challenges of the changing landscape, an “education”
on social media is a key first step in preparing them to become highly successful.
• An education implies many different factors, all of which are important to their
professional success, however at a minimum their training should focus on:
– Understanding the Company's Best Practices on using social media
– Building their Professional Brand to make them Influencers and evolve from Follower to
Followed.
– How to provide valued content that establishes confidence in them (and their employer) they are
innovators in their field.
• Most importantly, training should start with Social Media Basics and how it can be used to
build and manage a robust sales funnel, as well as guide them in successfully closing sales
with a higher level of consistency…
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Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without
strategy is the noise before defeat – General Sun Tzu
azurite blue inc. - we are a consulting firm that has the
experience and ability to help clients articulate their needs
with regards to “all things social,” and create an operational
roadmap to get there!
More importantly, we help design strategies that are based upon executable
tactics and tactics that support achievable strategies!
Contact:
Jim Clark – 908-305-8475
jim@azblueinc.com
www.linkedin.com/in/azblue/

Social Media Management - Phase 6 (Sales)

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