So, you’ve developed your personal brand, worked out where your buyers are online and have begun sharing relevant content directed at your prospects. The foundations are laid, but you need to start driving business. Here are six ideas to get started.
How to drive business with social selling
1 – Join Twitter Chats
This is still an indirect approach, but by joining in a Twitter chat that your buyer is involved in, you have a chance to stick out by showing your expertise. You may even answer a question your buyer has pitched. Why not do this, then follow up afterward with a direct message, with a view to setting up a call. You will have all that juicy content to discuss from the Twitter Chat.
2 – Ask a Question on Quora
Quora is a platform I have been toying with recently. It’s a very simply Q & A concept that anyone can get involved in.
I’ve noticed some peers and prospects on there, both of which I have moved over to LinkedIn to connect. When there, you have a common social background and can dive deeper into where you might be able to help. Again, the goal is to take this offline and move things further down to the pipeline.
3 – Start Your Own Groups
As an extension to my own personal brand, I have my own Sales and Marketing Group across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and BeBee. I use this to network with peers, but also add prospects if the opportunity comes along.
As an example, I have a friend who works in Dental Sales. He started a Facebook Group a few years ago, which now has 9,000 Dental Professionals. He posts daily and the whole group know who he is, so he has immediate credibility. From that, he’d then be able to potentially drive business for quite some time.
Not everyone has to do this, but if you have the time, go for it. If you are time shy, then perhaps join some pre-exisiting groups and focus on becoming known in them.
4 – Being a Resource (especially on LinkedIn)
I make sure that I post some prospect-centric content on LinkedIn every day. Whilst some posts might pass with zero engagement, that’s not to say that your buyer hasn’t noticed (even subconsciously).
Now, don’t just post for the sake of it, do make sure all your content is of a high standard. Perhaps work on your CTA if you feel a lot of your posts are going by the wayside.
5 – Social Listening
Get involved in some Social Listening. This could reap some immediate rewards. It may be someone looking for your type of service or needing a key question answered about the product or service you sell. I use Google Alerts and Hootsuite to listen to the chat about my industry.
If you are quick and can engage without being salesy / pushy, but providing value, then you might find yourself moving this along the pipeline quicker than most.
6 – Make Good Use of The Phone
Cold Calling is now warm calling, and for most of us, that’s great. Cold Calling is a bit like going to the gym. No-one wants to do it, but once you’re there, it’s great, enjoyable perhaps. Ideally, you should have already built that connection online, therefore, making the call warm.
When you are speaking to your prospect, you can then drive the sale on to the next stage!
In conclusion
There are many ways to drive new business, make sure you keep an eye out and don’t get caught up in lazy efforts. Especially the connect then pitch – there is nothing more off-putting! Keep it positive and think like you are speaking to someone in real life.
This article was contributed by Gary Farmer.
