Put the Wisdom of Your Peers to Work for You: A Guide to Social Selling for GVS Account Managers

GVS
Social Selling
Sales Guide
Put the Wisdom of Your
Peers to Work for You
START

TABLE OF CONTENTS
P02
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Click the numbers on the next page to jump to a
specific section, or use the navigation at the top right to
move through the document.
MORE THAN 40% OF SALESPEOPLE SAY
THEY HAVE CLOSED
BETWEEN TWO AND FIVE DEALS
AS A RESULT OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
YOU CAN DO IT TOO.
(Source: Social Media and Sales Quota Survey)

P03
GVS SOCIAL SELLING SALES GUIDE
04 Welcome to the Social World
07 Getting the Story Straight
08 WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?
11 Hear From Your Peers
12 GVS Interview Highlights, cont’d
15 Changing the
Customer Care Journey
16 Selecting and Researching
Target Accounts
19 Warming the Target Accounts
20 Reaching Out to the
Target Account
23 Nurturing the Target Account
24 Continuing to Engage Socially
27 Right Customer, Right Time,
Right Way
28 Determining Your
Social Media Persona
31 Social Communication:
Asking and Answering
Good Questions
32 Using Content Effectively
35 LinkedIn: Forge and
Deepen Relationships
37 Build a Powerful Profile
39 Tips and Tricks
40 Twitter: Share Thoughts
and Drive Traffic
42 A Tweet Deconstructed
43 The “Secret Language” of Twitter
45 Developing a Twitter
Content Strategy
46 Using Twitter Lists
49 GVS Social Selling
Best Practices
50 Where to From Here?

P04
Social media is changing everything – including the sales
function. As with every new venture, we need a guide
to help us foresee obstacles, overcome challenges, and
blaze new trails.
Who should use this guide?
The guide was developed for GVS account managers, by GVS account
managers. To create it, we spoke with several of the skilled social sellers within
GVS to understand the methods and techniques they’re using to engage
with named accounts and prospective customers online. They told us what’s
working for them – and how they’re leveraging social selling throughout the
customer lifecycle.
Why was this guide created?
The most socially savvy sales pros are far more likely to drive more revenue.
In fact, according to LinkedIn, social selling leaders create 45% more
opportunities and are 51% more likely to hit quota, as compared with social
selling laggards. Within Cisco GVS, we are seeing similar results. Our goal for
this guide is to amplify individual success by communicating and replicating
best practices across the organization.
What will you learn?
There are plenty of good, but generic, social media guides out there. There
is also a wealth of tool-based training available on each of the social media
platforms. This guide was custom developed to help you leverage peer-to-
peer learning to address the specific opportunities and challenges you face
within GVS. It will:
• Show you the benefits of social selling
• Explain best practises for social selling for GVS
• Provide GVS-specific strategies for using LinkedIn and Twitter
• Enable you to leverage the wisdom of your GVS peers who have achieved
social selling success
• Serve as an ongoing reference as you advance your social
selling capabilities
WELCOME TO THE
SOCIAL WORLD

WELCOME TO THE SOCIAL WORLD
P05
THANK YOU! MERCI! DANKE! OBRIGADO!
We appreciate the input and expertise of the GVS
Account Managers who brought this guide to life:
• Nathalie Emanuele, Virtual Sales Account Manager
• Nethal Hashim, Virtual Sales Account Manager
• Federica Ingrao, Virtual Sales Account Manager
• Loic Ursel, Virtual Partner Account Manager
GUIDE AT A GLANCE
• Audience: GVS Account Managers
• Objective: To promote peer-to-peer
learning around social selling
• Takeaway: The inside scoop on
GVS-specific tips, tricks, best
practices, and resources for
social selling

GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT
P06
“I use social selling with partners. It’s great for
sharing information, talking about events, and
building rapport.
” Nethal Hashim
Virtual Sales Account Manager

P07
Using social selling approaches does not replace
traditional sales methods. It does, however, offer new
and often highly effective ways to reach, establish, and
maintain relationships with your target accounts.
GETTING THE
STORY STRAIGHT
Social Media: The spaces where we interact with each
other online. This includes a variety of tools, platforms,
and collaboration spaces – including LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, and even Salesforce.
Social selling (aka social media marketing and sales):
Using social media to interact directly with current and
prospective customers and drive business decisions,
actions, and outcomes.
Engagement: 1. To capture, catch, arrest, grab, snag,
draw, attract, captivate; 2. Two-way conversations
between you and your prospects and customers.
• Social selling can help you get to know your target accounts and better
solve their business problems by learning more about their needs, hopes,
and challenges.
• Social selling creates the opportunity for ongoing touchpoints and
maintaining continuity throughout the sales cycle.
• Social selling may seem daunting and mysterious. But success in sales
and marketing has always been about connecting – people to people and
people to data. Now it’s being done through technical means.
KEY VOCABULARY

P08
Social selling pays dividends. In fact, 54% of
salespeople who used social media tracked their
social media usage back to at least one closed deal.
(source: Social Media and Sales Quota Survey).
Here are some other ways that social selling is good
for business:
• Boost your visibility – through social engagement, you can increase the
profile of Cisco as well as your own professional acumen.
• Promote business networking and collaboration – no need to wait
for conferences and other in-person networking events. Through social
media, you can tap the vastness of the network to reach specific people
and experts and advance your professional goals and interests.
• Take the pulse – social media provides an ongoing, evergreen focus
group. Watch social streams to tap into new ideas, conduct quick
research, validate your current thinking, and spot emerging trends.
• Begin the selling process sooner in the cycle – 55% of B2B buyers
search for information on social media (source: MediaBistro). Make
sure they find your content, insight, and perspectives when they first go
looking for information.
WIIFM:
WHAT’S IN IT
FOR ME?

SALES BEST PRACTICE:
8 WAYS TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO
DRIVE ENGAGEMENT
1. Share content from Cisco
2. Share “intelligence” – including market
buzz and insights on the industry
3. Start a conversation
4. Offer advice
5. Ask for advice
6. Collaborate with a current customer
7. Like, share, and retweet content from
your customers and partners
8. Provide customer support
9. Co-innovate new solutions
WIIFM: WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
P09
SOCIAL SELLING LEADERS
ENJOY THESE BENEFITS:
45% MOREOPPORTUNITIES CREATED
51% MORELIKELY TO ACHIEVE QUOTA
80% MORE
PRODUCTIVE(source: LinkedIn)

HEAR FROM YOUR PEERS
P10
SALES BEST PRACTICE: LISTEN UP!
What is social listening? It’s using your
digital eyes and ears to monitor the social
media activity related to your prospective
and current customers. Social listening
enables you discover information and insight
that can inform the sales process –
and leverage that information in online or
offline conversations.
“The great power of LinkedIn is more information
about the customer — not just generic information —
insight into his or her mind!
”Loic Ursel
Virtual Partner Account Manager

P11
To develop this guide, we spoke with social selling
leaders within GVS for 45-60 minutes each. Here’s
what we heard:
• Social listening is an especially powerful
capability. The biggest benefit social sellers
cited was the ability to bring a deeper level of
context to their client interactions via what they
learned through social listening. Regardless of
whether their prospective clients were active on
social media platforms or not, social sellers wove
social listening into all aspects of their approach.
• Social sellers combine traditional and social
selling approaches to create the biggest
impact. Social sellers stressed the importance
of researching the account, the market, and the
client’s social footprint to decide whether a social
connection or a traditional approach is the best
• Social selling promotes breadth as well as
depth. Interviewees told us that social selling
has benefits whether they’re trying to drive
engagement with a large group of partners or go
in depth with one particular customer. fit as their
main or first interaction point. In either case,
however, they have better information about the
client through the use of social media.
HEAR FROM
YOUR PEERS

P12
During our interviews, GVS social sellers shared their
tips, tricks, and techniques. Here’s what we heard:
• Social selling drives efficiency and speed.
Social selling enables GVS account managers to get information fast and
share information faster.
• LinkedIn is an especially effective social selling tool.
Multiple interviewees mentioned the ability to share information, connect
with prospects, and organise and research their target accounts faster
due to the LinkedIn tool set – which includes LinkedIn, Sales Navigator,
and Pulse. In particular, the “warm introduction” feature of Sales
Navigator helps social sellers see which of their relationships has a
connection to the target account – and this leads to faster introductions
and a more receptive point of contact.
• Social sellers value Cisco’s Social Ambassador Hub.
It provides well-crafted social content that can be mapped to the different
stages of the buyer journey. This takes the burden of content creation
away, so the GVS team can focus on selling.
MORE GVS
INTERVIEW
HIGHLIGHTS

MORE GVS INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
P13
“As a social seller, I spend 20 minutes per day going through Sales
Navigator to see what my customers are doing and sharing their
news. I have 300 accounts, and it helps me plan my day better.
For example, yesterday I added an account and noticed that he
published something on IOT. I plan on calling him tomorrow to
talk about it. This gives me content and context for the call!
” Federica Ingrao

CHANGING THE CUSTOMER CARE JOURNEY
P14
THE SOCIAL SALES APPROACH
Select and
research
target
accounts
Begin with social
listening and
researching the
target account’s
social footprint.
Opportunity to add
new contacts within
company line of
business to expand
the connection points
at company.
Start and continue
conversation on
social media
channel(s), when
appropriate. Use
information learned
through social as a
conversation starter.
Use social to provide ongoing support and thought leadership to socially
accessible target accounts.
Reach out
to the
target
account
Warm
socially
accessible
target
accounts
Nurture
the
target
account
Continue
to
engage
socially
Book
sale

P15
CHANGING
THE CUSTOMER
CARE JOURNEY
The Internet is having a huge impact on how your
customers buy – and it’s dramatically rearranging the
sales cycle.
Before Social Selling
Using traditional approaches, many companies struggle to connect with
buyers throughout the sales cycle.
• Cold calls have a limited rate of return
• Stand-alone webinars and in-person events exist in isolation
• After the sale, the burden of engagement is on the customer – and the
customer rarely connects unless he has an issue or problem
Bottom line: Episodic, needs-based transactions
After Social Selling
Social business affords opportunities to connect throughout the buyer
lifecycle by creating ongoing relationships and open communication.
• Use social channels to share content and conversation throughout the
buyer’s awareness and evaluation phases
• Provide ongoing resources for product and services up to and after the
point of sale
• After the sale, continue the engagement – and proactively begin the
lifecycle anew
Bottom line: Consistent, relationship-building interactions

P16
As a first step toward social selling, you should assess
the social presence and social engagement potential
of your target accounts. Here are some ways you can
do that:
STEP 1:
SELECTING AND
RESEARCHING
TARGET
ACCOUNTS
• Scan the social landscape to learn which platforms your target account
frequents: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube,
Vimeo, Periscope, etc.
• Make Twitter lists of key individuals at target accounts (for more on Twitter
lists, see page 46)
• Set up Google Alerts and News.le for target account companies and their
leadership – you’ll get notifications whenever they’re in the news
• Load your accounts into LinkedIn Sales Navigator (if you have a license).
Then, use Sales Navigator to see connection points to the target account
among your Cisco colleagues
• Add what you learn to Salesforce so everyone benefits and you build
institutional knowledge

STEP 1: SELECTING AND RESEARCHING TARGET ACCOUNTS
P17
SALES BEST PRACTICE: SOCIAL SIGNS
In general, socially approachable
companies share these characteristics:
• International
• Based in a big city
• Informal work culture
• Knowledge workers – not industrial
setting
• Wide range of business solutions
• Younger workforce
• Progressive partners
• Newer company
“LinkedIn is the most powerful contact database in the world.
The combination of LinkedIn and Sales Navigator gives
control to the sales person to do their own, deep research
and connect online with new and existing customers. This is
a powerful shift in how we sell at Cisco!
” Carola van der Linden
EMEAR Marketing Social Selling

STEP 2: WARMING THE TARGET ACCOUNT
P18
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
An important element of social selling
is getting to know the members of your
community on both a professional and
personal level. Some strategies social sellers
find useful for getting to know others include:
• Talk about your situation
• Offer a “profile” of yourself
• Share information about your interests
• Look for things you have in common with
other members
• Address people by name
• Use humour to make the conversation
feel more informal
“Be proactive! Clients can’t come to you if they don’t know you. So
put yourself out there. We have all the tools at hand, use them well.
” Nathalie Emanuele

P19
Listening to customers on social channels and learning
what matters to them is the best way to understand
their priorities, challenges, and professional interests.
With this knowledge, you can use these ideas to help
you warm your target accounts:
Twitter
• Follow influencers at the target account company
• Notice a trend or point of pain and use the Cisco
Social Ambassador Hub to share content
LinkedIn
• Share content about industry trends to show that
you are in the know
• Like a target account’s LinkedIn update
or announcement
Other ideas
• If a target account writes a blog post, leave a
comment or a follow-up question
• Scan the Cisco online communities for ideas,
content, and leads
STEP 2:
WARMING
THE TARGET
ACCOUNT

P20
Using social selling techniques, you can begin a
conversation digitally to advance your relationship with
current and prospective customers. Here are some
ways to reach out:
• Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator’s “warm introduction” feature
• Leverage the social engagement exchanges on Twitter to establish a
connection, which you can then use to set up a call, connect on LinkedIn,
or send an email
• In your introduction, refer to commonalities you learned about them from
their LinkedIn profile such as alumni status, a shared cause, or former
employer
Remember: Never “cold call” any target account who has a social presence.
There are multiple ways to warm them prior to the direct contact. By using
the warming techniques described in step 2, make your customer aware
of you and demonstrate your value. This is an effective prelude to a more
robust introduction or outreach.
STEP 3:
REACHING OUT
TO THE TARGET
ACCOUNT

STEP 3: REACHING OUT TO THE TARGET ACCOUNT
P21
SALES BEST PRACTICE: TIMING
With social media, messages travel
quickly but the timing of the response
is left to the user. How quickly you
respond to messages affects the pace
and feel of a conversation:
• An instantaneous response (e.g.
same day) helps to keep the
conversation moving, but may make
the recipient feel pressured to also
respond very quickly.
• A timely response (e.g. within a
few days) helps the sender feel
responded to, and allows some time
for reflection before responding.
• A delayed response (e.g. within
1-2 weeks) or never responding
may make the sender feel ignored,
unappreciated, or neglected.
““I get a positive reaction from people who know that I’ve
researched them and tried to understand their needs
instead of just cold calling them.”
”Nathalie Emanuele

STEP 4: NURTURING THE TARGET ACCOUNT
P22
SALES BEST PRACTICE: USE CAUTION
Be aware competitors can see anything
that you share socially too. So refrain from
sharing information that could “tip them
off.” For example, “great meeting @target
account” lets Cisco’s competitors know
that the prospect is considering a solution
and is potentially a buyer.
“Using social selling techniques, I have completely changed the
way I’m working.
” Loic Ursel

P23
STEP 4:
NURTURING
THE TARGET
ACCOUNT
All relationships – online or offline – require nurturing
to progress. Here are some ideas to help you advance
relationships with your accounts:
• Use LinkedIn or Twitter to share an article and reference the client by
name/handle
• Explore the public Cisco Online Communities for content, endorsements,
ideas and prospective buyer engagement opportunities and respond
to them
• Leverage the Cisco Social Ambassador Hub
• Invite people to attend a webinar or event use a #hashtag relating to the
topic to cover “white space” prospective buyers
• Proactively share relevant content and ideas digitally
• Share, like, and retweet content from your customers and partners

P24
You’re connected, now what? Most people ignore their
connections until they need something! Social sellers
continue to engage with the customer in these ways:
• Celebrate their success – Note their professional accomplishments
including recent wins, new blog posts, and company announcements.
Send a note of support to the customer or share their news with
your network.
• Outreach to contacts occasionally and regularly – Choose a few
a month and check in with them using LinkedIn messages or email.
Continue to share ideas, insights, and quality content via LinkedIn
and Twitter.
• Pay it forward – Think in terms of what you can do for the customer vs.
what they can do for you. Offer to introduce them to other Cisco clients
who are similar in industry, product, or geography.
• Keep your finger on the pulse – Continue “social listening” across all
channels. For example, watch for new SlideShare updates or LinkedIn
profile changes.
With social selling, you are always just one click away from an outreach!
STEP 5:
CONTINUING
TO ENGAGE
SOCIALLY

STEP 5: CONTINUING TO ENGAGE SOCIALLY
P25
KINDLE THE FIRE
Continuing the relationship with the target
account is critical because it is easier to
keep a client than to get a new one. In
fact, it costs 6–7 times more to acquire a
new customer than to retain an existing
one. (source: Bain Company)
“Always check in (even after the sale) every month or month
and a half. People can forget about you if you don’t provide
ongoing value. If you’re not there, the competitor will be!
”
Nathalie Emanuele

PROMOTING SOCIAL SELLING EFFICIENCY
P26
SOCIAL PROFILE CHECKLIST (TEMPLATE)
Buyer #1
Influencer #1
Influencer #2
Company
Key competitor to
target account
Key Cisco client
in same industry
Target
account
Set-up
Google
Alerts
Active
Twitter
account
(yes/no
if yes, list
URL)
Follow on
Twitter
(Y/N)
Put on
Twitter
list (Y/N)
Active
LinkedIn
profile
(yes/no
if yes, list
URL)
Connect
on
LinkedIn
(Y/N)
Load into
Sales
Navigator
(Y/N)
Shared
connec-
tions (list)
Has blog
(Y/N) if
yes, list
URL.
Leave
comment
or social
share.
LISTEN WARM - CONTACT NURTURE

P27
One of the common challenges GVS sales
professionals face is maintaining speed and efficiency
with social listening and engagement.
This template can help you keep track of your contacts and activities in a
single place. Consider creating a spreadsheet using this template, with one
tab per key target account.
Don’t forget that although you may be targeting a specific contact,
customers tend to make large buying decisions as part of a team. Be sure
to track influencers as well.
RIGHT
CUSTOMER,
RIGHT TIME,
RIGHT WAY
““I am on LinkedIn 6-7 times a day, sharing from the Cisco
Ambassadors Group. I use Sales Navigator to organise LinkedIn
contacts by partner, and also check other companies where I have
key contacts to see what they are doing online as well.”
” Loic Ursel

P28
With social media, there are no facial or verbal cues.
But you can still have an identity, a personality, and a
voice. Here’s how:
1. Start with your company’s standards and guidelines – Cisco has
established rules for professional social media use. This will give you the
broad strokes of what you can and can’t do as an agent of the company.
Get to know Cisco’s Social Media Policy.
2. Speak like an individual – Within the confines of your Cisco’s brand
standards, there are ways you can infuse humanity. Social media lends
itself to first person and a conversational tone. You’re not a robot – and
you don’t have to sound like one.
3. Be useful and engaging – Don’t just post or tweet for the sake of
posting or tweeting. Have something interesting to say or share.
Tweet @ specific people to draw them into a dialogue. Respond if
someone replies.
4. Balance the personal and the professional – Your social media persona
should not be a separate being – it should be an extension of you.
People buy from people, even in the digital world. So go ahead and
share your passions and personality. If you’re a competitive runner,
post your race results and photos. If you’re involved with a great cause,
share that newspaper article. Just remember to keep the balance.
A good rule of thumb: don’t post anything online that you wouldn’t say
in a customer meeting.
DETERMINING
YOUR SOCIAL
MEDIA PERSONA

DETERMINING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PERSONA
P29
QUALITY TRUMPS QUANTITY
You may think the measure of social media
success is how many times you post or tweet.
The numbers are not important – but the quality
of your content, and your audience, is critical.
You don’t need a huge volume of tweets to a
huge number of followers who will never buy
your products or services. To succeed at social
selling, you need to be consistently useful and
engaging to your prospects and customers.
HOW TO BE USEFUL AND ENGAGING
There are lots of ways to provide value in the social world.
Mix and match these approaches in your social media
interactions.
• Be the conversationalist: start a dialogue by saying “I
was wondering…” or asking “What do you think about…”
• Be the expert: serve as the voice of reason or authority
by responding “OK, but have you considered” or by
affirming, “You’ve got it right!”
• Be the connection-maker: attract clients by asking,
“Have you read, heard, seen, met…”

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION: ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS
P30
STRIKE THE RIGHT TONE
Although social selling is digital, people
still buy from people. Here are some
tone choices you can use to personalise
the exchange:
• Inquiring
• Warm, inviting
• Humorous
• Thoughtful, analytical, serious, reflective
• Friendly and supportive, nurturing
• Challenging, provocative, stimulating
• Informal, musing

P31
SOCIAL
COMMUNICATION:
ASKING AND
ANSWERING
QUESTIONS
Participating in a dialogue is a fundamental aspect of
driving engagement via social media. There are three
key components:
1. Ask questions that encourage a thoughtful answer
GVS account managers should function as subject matter experts who
inform and engage with their audience. Questions that only require a
“yes” or “no” response do not promote conversation. Asking questions
that draw out another’s ideas or points of view can lead to a rich and
reflective dialogue. Think in terms of “How would you approach…?”,
“What have you found…?” and “In your experience, what is…?” types of
questions.
2. Blend inquiry with advocacy
In the digital world, we need to provide more context to our questions
so that they are not misunderstood. Make your intentions more explicit
when writing messages that contain questions. Instead of asking
someone “When are you going to make a decision?” ask them, “Could
you let me know when you might reach a decision? I’m doing some
resource planning this week.” People need to infer the agenda behind
the question or else they are likely to shut down if they are not ready to
engage with sales.
3. Be real
It is difficult to convey your intentions in writing. There are no inflections,
facial expressions, or body language. Your voice and personality come
across through your choice of words, length of message, spelling, and
emotions. Make sure you sound like you. It’s OK to be slightly informal,
whilst still being professional. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Read your
message out loud. If it sounds like something you would say in person
it’s more likely to evoke a positive response from the recipient.

P32
We live in a world that is awash in content. Sharing
the wrong content at the wrong time will not help our
customers reach their goals.
Walk in your customers’ shoes and consider what type of content they might
need to at each stage of the buyer journey. For example, if they’re unaware
of Cisco, introduce them to our thought leadership content by sharing a
relevant white paper. If they’re evaluating a solution, success stories or case
studies from other customers might be a better fit.
USING CONTENT
EFFECTIVELY
OVERVIEW OF THE BUYER JOURNEY... FUELED BY SOCIAL CONTENT
SALES WARMS
Awareness
Cisco’s thought leadership
and ability to solve the
problem or advance the
business opportunity.
• Blog posts from
thought leaders
• Links to white papers
• Digital marketing
campaigns
• Share info from the
Cisco communities
SALES MAINTAINS
RELATIONSHIP
Loyalty
Not just a point of renewal
but continuous
engagement (e.g., 1x
per 1-2 months) makes
renewal relationships
easier!
KEY
Sales Journey
Buyer Journey
SALES NURTURES
Evaluation
Case studies, competitive
benchmarking, data about
positive outcomes from
Cisco solutions
• Videos
• Data-driven
infographics
• Invitations to webinars
or demos
• Connections/
endorsements
from others in the
same industry
• Share info from the
Cisco communities
SALES CLOSES
Purchase
Supportive and
congratulatory content.
Showcase leader and
company’s successes
socially
• Create visual
announcing client (with
permission)
• Acknowledge sale on
social “look forward to
working with you,” etc.

USING CONTENT EFFECTIVELY
P33
MAKE A VIDEO
Visual content scores consistently high marks
with customers! Consider uploading a video
to draw more attention to your social profile.
• Here’s an example from the Netherlands
featuring Jonathan Jeuken, Virtual Partner
Account Manager: Watch Videomail
• If you’d like to record a similar video using
the DX80 + OneMob application,
follow this tutorial.
• Don’t forget to update it regularly.
SOCIAL CONTENT SOURCES
• Cisco’s Social Ambassador Hub
• Cisco Twitter Accounts – including your
colleagues and country-specific
Twitter accounts
• Cisco Online Communities
• Cisco Blogs
• Cisco LinkedIn Groups
• Influencers like Mark Zuckerberg, Richard
Branson, Marissa Mayer
• Analyst Firms such as IDC and Gartner
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LINKEDIN: FORGE AND DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS
A BIT ON BLOGS
Blogging is a terrific way to stay top of mind
in the social sphere. LinkedIn Pulse makes it
easier than ever. Put Pulse to work for you in
three key ways:
1. Offer your point of view – write and
publish blog posts to showcase your
industry knowledge and insights
2. Get informed – personalise your Pulse
feed by selecting from hundreds of
trusted sources and influencers –
including your clients and prospects
3. Join the conversation – use Pulse to
easily like, comment, and share
articles with your network
WHAT IS SSI?
LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index (SSI) is a first-of-its-kind
measurement that ranks company utilisation of LinkedIn
and Sales Navigator as social selling tools. The Social
Selling Index (SSI) measures how well your team has
embraced social selling on a scale of zero to 100. You
can use it to gain visibility into your company’s activities,
uncover new opportunities, and benchmark yourself
against peers and competitors.
P34

P35
LinkedIn is a business-focused social network that is
chock full of the people you want to connect
with professionally.
• 400,000,000 users worldwide
• 200 countries and territories
• 80,000 Cisco members on LinkedIn
• 808,000 companies at which Cisco employees have relationships
(source: LinkedIn)
LinkedIn use and utility is growing steadily among
business professionals.
• 41% of people now report 500+ connections
• 48% spend more than two hours a week on LinkedIn
• 98% of sales reps with 5000+ LinkedIn connections achieve quota
(source: Sales Benchmark Index)
LinkedIn has 3 key components:
• LinkedIn – enables you to connect, find, be found, and build your
professional identity
• LinkedIn Pulse – allows you to publish your own blog posts and see what
others are publishing
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator – advanced features and functionality that
support social selling
LINKEDIN:
FORGE AND
DEEPEN
RELATIONSHIPS

BEST FOOT FORWARD
• Upload a professional photo
• Write a compelling headline
• Customise your public profile URL
• Add your contact information
• Add rich media
• Customize links to websites
• Tell your story in your summary
• Update your current and past positions
• Add your education
• Ask for recommendations
• Include a link to your profile in your
email signature
LINKEDIN: BUILD A POWERFUL PROFILE
LinkedIn: Who Would You Rather Buy From?
VS
P36

P37
LINKEDIN: BUILD
A POWERFUL
PROFILE
Maybe you need to create your LinkedIn profile from scratch.
Or maybe you have one, but it needs a facelift. Be sure to
use all features of the profile so when others look you up, you
stand apart.
• Profile summary: Write your summary in first person, as if you were presenting
to a client, introducing yourself on a stage, or speaking with a journalist. Using key
words in your summary increases your “findability.”
• Solicit and give recommendations: In the spirit of business networking, it’s
a good idea to recommend other people and ask people for recommendations.
Recommendations help bolster your credibility and let you sing your own praises
using other people’s words.
• Share an update: This is the perfect place to showcase new content or
endeavours. These updates get inserted in your connections’ social streams and
keep you top of mind.

LINKEDIN TIPS AND TRICKS
P38
TWITTER IS LIKE
SPEED DATING
LINKEDIN IS LIKE
A COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP
CONNECTING ETIQUETTE - DO’S AND DON’TS
Don’t:
• Use the canned language suggested by the
LinkedIn connection form – nobody likes a
form letter.
• Accept connection requests from others without
a further response. Aka “accept and ignore.”
• Act like you’re throwing a business card at
someone – and then running in the
opposite direction.
DO:
• Write a personalised message in the LinkedIn
connection form. Express your reasons
for wanting to connect: “We used to work
together” or “Your company seems to be up to
some interesting things” or “Your professional
background is interesting to me.”
• Reply to invitations to connect. Once you’ve
accepted an invite, send a reply to say thank you
and to express interest: “Thanks for the invite –
I’d love to learn more about your work with data
security.”
• Use every exchange as a strategic opportunity to
keep your relationships alive – not just at the
point of sale, but also throughout the
customer lifecycle.

P39
LINKEDIN TIPS
AND TRICKS
LinkedIn is a powerful way to connect with current and
prospective customers – and it’s a strategic weapon to
showcase your thought leadership.
1. Get connected - Go through your address book or use your email contacts
to find people and invite them to connect. If you have 80 people you want to
connect with, don’t invite them all at the same time. Chances are, they will accept
and you’ll want to say, “Thank you – I’m glad we’re in touch” or “Good to hear
from you – how have you been?” Social media is a two-way conversation. Taking
the time to engage with your connections enables you to grow a stronger network
over time. Pace yourself.
2. Keep in touch - Once you’re connected, reach out to the people in your network
– and not just when you need something. Choose a handful of contacts every
month and send them a personalised message. Maybe you noticed something
they published? Or you saw that their company won an award? Or you read an
article they might find valuable? By dedicating a little bit of effort to cultivating your
network you’ll reap the rewards of deeper relationships.
3. Join groups - LinkedIn Groups are a great way to discover like-minded
professionals and join discussions. Look for groups to join that are representative
of your interests. Some closed groups require administrative approval before you’ll
be admitted into the group. If you run a Cisco LinkedIn Group, invite others to join
by writing an invitation that describes the value of the group and refers to their
background so the invitation is personalised.
4. Stay active - LinkedIn is not a static profile – it’s a living, breathing network. So
be sure to keep your connections updated on “share an update.” Use Pulse for
blog posts. Continually share content, ideas, and activities. Keep this formula in
mind: Activity + credibility = visibility.
5. Consider Sales Navigator - LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a for-fee service that
offers recommendations on sales leads. It provides real-time updates and alerts
on leads and prospects, and increases your reach with prospective customers.
Check it out.

P40
Twitter is a social tool that uses brief messages (140
characters max) to connect, converse, and drive traffic
to other sources. It’s used for both personal and
professional activities, and it has a mass audience, so
you need to work harder to cultivate a network within
your professional sphere. That said, Twitter does have
its advantages when it comes to social selling and
engagement:
• Brief and succinct – it’s the perfect conversation starter
• Super social – lots of people use it to congratulate and thank and share
news, kind of like a giant cocktail party in the ether
• Skews younger – it’s mainly used by 20-40 years old, although we are
seeing a rise in adoption by older, more senior people
• Great on the go – it’s very mobile friendly so you can use it to interact
whenever, wherever
• Terrific for trendspotting – because of the sheer volume of information,
Twitter is a great listening tool to gauge what’s changing or rising to top
of mind within your (or your customers’) industry
• Cool for connecting – it’s common practice to meet on Twitter, but then
transition the relationship to LinkedIn to continue the dialogue
TWITTER:
SHARE QUICK
THOUGHTS AND
DRIVE TRAFFIC
Be sure to personalise your professional Twitter account but
remember this rule of thumb: Don’t say anything on Twitter
that you wouldn’t say in a conference room!

TWITTER: SHARE QUICK THOUGHTS AND DRIVE TRAFFIC
P41
SPOT THAT TREND
Here’s how you can use
Twitter’s trendspotting
capabilities to turn
information into opportunity.
Let’s say you want to expand
your list of prospects by
adding newly appointed
IT executives:
1. Set up and save a search
on Twitter to look for
trigger phrases –
e.g. “new CIO”
2. When you view the search
results, look for a button
that reads “more options”
• Save the search and/or
• Refine the search if
there is a particular
region, company, or
person you want to
focus on
3. When the new CIO
takes her role or the
announcement is made,
follow the new CIO on
Twitter and send her a
congratulatory note
4. Once she begins her new
job, use Twitter to start
a conversation
5. If she responds, consider
inviting her to connect on
LinkedIn to deepen the
relationship over time
When a sales opportunity
does come up, she is more
likely to take your call or
schedule a meeting if she
recognizes you as
someone who
demonstrates value!
74% OFB2B MARKETING COMPANIES
USE TWITTER TO DISTRIBUTE CONTENT
(Source: Content Marketing Institute)

THE “SECRET LANGUAGE” OF TWITTER
P42
A TWEET DECONSTRUCTED
SPEAK TWITTERESE
Twitterspeak is changing all the time.
Get the latest and greatest vocab from
The Twitter Glossary.
B2B MARKETERS
WHO USE TWITTER
GENERATE 2X AS MANY LEADS
AS THOSE THAT DO NOT
(Source: Inside View)
Chuck Robbins
(@ChuckRobbins)
wrote and posted
a tweet.
He mentioned Cisco
(@Cisco) and Cisco
Internet of Everything
(@CiscoIoE). The
tweet will appear on
these home pages
because he used
their Twitter handles.
He included a link
to a Forbes article
and added his
own commentary.
Number of times this
was favourited
People who replied
to this tweet
Number of times this
was retweeted
02
04
01
03
05
06

P43
THE “SECRET
LANGUAGE”
OF TWITTER
Because of the character limit, it’s necessary to use
shorthand to communicate on Twitter. Here are the
survival basics:
• @ and username – This is a Twitter handle. You can use someone’s
handle to send him or her a tweet or “tag” them in a tweet. Very
important: tweets are not private, even if you send them to a specific
Twitter handle. If they contain a Twitter handle and are not sent through
Direct Message/DM (see below), they are always visible and searchable.
• RT – stands for Re-Tweet. So if you like content that someone else
shared, you can hit RT and send it to your audience.
• MRT – stands for Modified Re-Tweet. Use this if you want to add your
opinion or perspective before you RT.
• DM – stands for direct message. Using DM sends a private message (like
an email or InMessage) when you don’t want to converse in the public
sphere. DM conversations are non-searchable.
• # – this is a way to label tweets. Hashtags let you categorise tweets so
that other users can see tweets on the same topic. For example, if you
search #Cisco you will find all the tweets that reference Cisco.
• .@username – add the period before the user name when you want
a broader audience to see the social share. Without it, your Tweets
beginning with @username will not show up to your ALL of your followers,
unless they happen to follow both you and the person you are replying to.
• “ ” – put quote marks around your Twitter search terms. This ensures
that you’ll search on the specific phrase you’re looking for vs. all
its variations.
• cc:@ – use this when you want to let @username know that you have
information that might be interesting for him or her. This invites them into
conversations that will be of benefit or where they might have something
to add.

DEVELOPING A TWITTER CONTENT STRATEGY
P44
TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET
Say you read an interesting article. Ask yourself
these four questions to see if it’s worth tweeting to
your network:
1. Does it bring up an issue or trend that people in
your industry should know about?
2. Do you have an additional perspective to add?
3. Do you want to be associated with the author or
organisation that wrote the article?
4. Would you say it on a stage or in a room full of
people you don’t know?
If you answered yes to all four questions –
tweet away!
REMEMBER:
CURATE YOUR
RETWEETS
CAREFULLY
– YOU’RE BUILDING
A BODY OF WORK
THAT’S ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR
PERSONA!

P45
DEVELOPING
A TWITTER
CONTENT
STRATEGY
Look at your content choices in light of your business
goals and your persona – and make sure you’re adding
value. That’s the way to share content that gets shared.
Still got cold feet? Here are some more low-risk ideas to
get you started:
• Find a quote that speaks to you – quotes serve as daily inspirational
pauses during our fast-paced workdays. Find a quote you like and turn
it into an image. And if you quote someone who uses Twitter, be sure to
thank them.
• Pull a statistic – people love figures and factoids. We’re all looking for
qualified data to punctuate our presentations or reports. So pass along
useful stats – and don’t forget to source the reference.
• Incorporate a photo – Tweets with photos are six times more likely to be
shared. If you don’t have an original photo, find a free stock image that
underscores the message you’re sharing.
A Word on Integration
For time and efficiency’s sake, it’s important to integrate your social media
platforms so that you can publish once and share across many. For example,
if you publish a presentation on SlideShare, you can link it to your LinkedIn
profile, and then tweet it out via your Twitter account to drive traffic across
your social channels. These tools are all integrated – so use these features
to reduce your effort while increasing your reach.

P46
As your Twitter use increases, you will naturally
begin to follow a wide variety of tweeters from
multiple personal and professional spheres. Twitter
lists help you keep this information organized. To
promote social selling efficiency with your target
accounts, use Twitter lists in three key areas:
1. Targeted engagement: by defining your main audience for any given
list you’re able to reach and engage with specific target account
2. Targeted social listening: listen to what target account executives and
influencers are talking about
3. Building your follower community: gain new followers who fit perfectly
into pre-specified target groups
Here’s how to get started with Twitter lists:
• From your Twitter page click on lists, then choose create new list.
• Name your Twitter list, add a description, set the privacy and save
it. Name and description are important, as other people may want to
follow your list.
• A list is great because you don’t have to follow anyone in order to add
him or her to the list. Simply go to their profile, click on the list icon,
and choose which list you want to add them to.
• When someone adds you to a list, you are notified. Review the list
and consider following it – provided it is representative of content and
people you value.
• Finally, thank the person who added you to the list.
USING
TWITTER LISTS
To search for lists use a Google x-ray search:
site:twitter.com inurl:lists insert search term

USING TWITTER LISTS
P47
SALES BEST PRACTICE: LET’S GET VISUAL
The use of images in your tweets results in:
• 18% more click throughs
• 89% more favourites
• 150% more retweets
(Source: Digital Information World)

GVS SOCIAL SELLING BEST PRACTISES
P48
“I use LinkedIn and Sales Navigator as my ‘idea baskets.’
Then I follow up via phone or email.
”
Federica Ingrao

P49
By now, you’ll see that social selling is not mysterious,
complex, or daunting. Social selling provides an
incredible opportunity to raise awareness for your
products and services, engage earlier in the buyer
cycle, and establish thought leadership. To sharpen
and hone your social selling skills, follow “The 4 Ps:”
The 4 Ps
• Pay attention – When social media started, people used it like a giant
digital megaphone. But the real value lies in listening and paying attention
to trends. By monitoring the conversations surrounding your topics of
interest, you’ll know what your audience is buzzing about. Armed with
this insight, you can support decision-making, keep your finger on the
pulse of customer needs, or capitalise on market shifts.
• Presence – To grow your social selling relationships, you can’t treat them
like one-night stands. It’s important to be visible and signal an openness
to communicate.
• Persistence – Participate regularly, don’t just connect and disappear. It
may take time, but ongoing engagement will lead to deeper connections.
• Point of view – The social world tends to be flat. Everyone, regardless
of rank or seniority, has the ability to share ideas and start conversations.
So have a point of view and be a thought leader.
GVS SOCIAL
SELLING BEST
PRACTISES

WHERE TO
FROM HERE?
P50
You know your market. You’ve got great ideas. Now it’s time
to put these social selling tips and tricks in motion. Here are
two paths you can follow:
1. If you are just getting started with social selling:
o Read, review and sign the Cisco Social Media Policy
o Take the Social Selling Mini Certification
o Open a Twitter account if you don’t have one and follow influencers, Cisco, and
people who you know.
o Review your LinkedIn profile to ensure it is “customer facing”
o Leave endorsements for others and ask for them from peers and clients on
LinkedIn
o Bookmark the Cisco Social Ambassador Hub
2. If you want to take social selling to the next level:
o Share your thought leadership on Pulse and the Cisco blog platform (if possible)
o Look for questions in the LinkedIn groups and profile updates and answer them
thoughtfully
o Follow up with people and see if your answer was helpful
o Guest blog on relevant blogs
o When you speak at conferences or on webinars, be sure to include your social
handles on the slides
o Mentor a GVS peer on social selling best practises
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
The highlights of this social selling guide are also available
as a PowerPoint presentation.

P51
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Editorial and design acknowledgements
Christine Bailey, Director, Marketing, EMEAR
Carola van der Linden, EMEAR Marketing Social Selling
Kristen Strauss, Digital Marketing, US Partners Commercial Sales / Channels
Leader Networks
“ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL
PEOPLE WILL DO BUSINESS WITH,
AND REFER BUSINESS TO, THOSE PEOPLE
THEY KNOW, LIKE, AND TRUST.”
— Bob Burg
Author of “The Go-Giver”
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