The document discusses how cold calling is no longer an effective prospecting strategy due to changes in how buyers research and evaluate suppliers online before engaging with salespeople. It outlines how buyers now extensively use search engines, social media, industry discussions and anonymous research to learn about companies and find solutions before speaking to sales reps. The document argues salespeople need an online presence where buyers can find them, and that salespeople should listen to buyers online, engage appropriately in online discussions, and establish themselves as credible experts and resources in order to have opportunities to engage with buyers when they are ready to purchase.
This ebook covers the following topics with regard to social selling across an enterprise.
1) Balancing Relationship-Based Culture and Performance
2) Social Selling Satisfies Revenue Demand and Buyers Needs
3) Driving Organizational Change in a Social World
4) Become a Trusted Advisor & Win More Deals
5) How LinkedIn and Other Leading Companies Drive a Relationship-Focused Sales Culture
Social media marketing presentation at #fusionmex by Olivier Blanchard - @the...i-SCOOP
Keynote covering intelligent use, planning and integration of social media marketing in the enteprise, given by Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) at Fusion Marketing Experience (#fusionmex) Brussels on March 23, 2011.
How Personalized Selling Unlocks Competitive AdvantageAlex Hisaka
Today, too many organizations are using social interactions as a way to make a quick impression, rather than an opportunity to foster a mutually beneficial experience. In a world where we constantly have our eye on the immediate goals of delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time, we overlook key elements: relationships and relevance.
This ebook is designed to help sales reps, sales leaders, and marketing executives guide the buyer by listening to their needs, asking the right questions, and educating them about the right solution for their particular goals.
How Uncertainty Can Be An Opportunity For GrowthAlex Hisaka
Today’s leading sales organizations are facing uncertainty head-on by differentiating on content and credibility, instead of products and services alone. Building trusted customer relationships is a strategic imperative and one that calls for a new set of tools and processes that allows for unprecedented agility.
Read on to understand how effective social selling translates into a competitive advantage, the best practices employed by leading companies, and ways that your organization can transform its sales approach now to drive better results in today’s rapidly changing environment.
Showcasing your experts to drive brand value and generate leads. In other words, boost brand awareness, brand authority, and learn about the importants of expert content marketing.
This ebook covers the following topics with regard to social selling across an enterprise.
1) Balancing Relationship-Based Culture and Performance
2) Social Selling Satisfies Revenue Demand and Buyers Needs
3) Driving Organizational Change in a Social World
4) Become a Trusted Advisor & Win More Deals
5) How LinkedIn and Other Leading Companies Drive a Relationship-Focused Sales Culture
Social media marketing presentation at #fusionmex by Olivier Blanchard - @the...i-SCOOP
Keynote covering intelligent use, planning and integration of social media marketing in the enteprise, given by Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) at Fusion Marketing Experience (#fusionmex) Brussels on March 23, 2011.
How Personalized Selling Unlocks Competitive AdvantageAlex Hisaka
Today, too many organizations are using social interactions as a way to make a quick impression, rather than an opportunity to foster a mutually beneficial experience. In a world where we constantly have our eye on the immediate goals of delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time, we overlook key elements: relationships and relevance.
This ebook is designed to help sales reps, sales leaders, and marketing executives guide the buyer by listening to their needs, asking the right questions, and educating them about the right solution for their particular goals.
How Uncertainty Can Be An Opportunity For GrowthAlex Hisaka
Today’s leading sales organizations are facing uncertainty head-on by differentiating on content and credibility, instead of products and services alone. Building trusted customer relationships is a strategic imperative and one that calls for a new set of tools and processes that allows for unprecedented agility.
Read on to understand how effective social selling translates into a competitive advantage, the best practices employed by leading companies, and ways that your organization can transform its sales approach now to drive better results in today’s rapidly changing environment.
Showcasing your experts to drive brand value and generate leads. In other words, boost brand awareness, brand authority, and learn about the importants of expert content marketing.
Empathic Marketing – aka, what’s true in life is true in marketing.David Murphy
Empathic Marketing was inspired by my observations over time and across categories that the ways in which we form personal relationships mirrors how we form brand relationships.
Forces such as empathy, experiences, endorsement and energy help shape our real life relationships. These 4Es of real relationships – empathy, experiences, energy and endorsement – form a clear and measurable brand planning model to help marketers create more customer-centered brand platforms.
This white paper examines the emerging field of conversational marketing, as social media becomes part of the relationship marketing conversation.
Beginning with a definition of conversational marketing, this white paper looks at how our traditional marketing approaches should be modified to include the new possibilities that social media creates for marketers. Along the way it goes into depth on the importance of viewing social media not as a channel, but as an integrated part of our marketing campaigns and on-going programs.
Come dig in with us on three key aspects of engaging with customers and learn about specific techniques that will help drive sustainable growth in your business: Getting into the mindset of your prospects and customers, creating content that resonates with your target audience, and initiating a relationship.
Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social MediaJordi Sabater Domènech
Servicio al cliente: El arte de escuchar y el compromiso mediante medios de comunicación social (Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media).
Brian Solís habla del servicio al cliente como el nuevo marketing, donde se hace necesario tener una mayor participación en los Social media con el fin de facilitar la comunicación. Pero, para ello, es necesario establecer estrategias que permitan que los clientes se vuelvan evangelizadores de la marca. El cómo hacerlo es la respuesta que pretende dar este libro.
Free eBook on the importance of creating social capital as part of your personal or business brand-building strategy. Learn what it is, why it is important, and how to create more of it. Based on years as an award-winning technology evangelist and chief marketing officer.
Empathic Marketing – aka, what’s true in life is true in marketing.David Murphy
Empathic Marketing was inspired by my observations over time and across categories that the ways in which we form personal relationships mirrors how we form brand relationships.
Forces such as empathy, experiences, endorsement and energy help shape our real life relationships. These 4Es of real relationships – empathy, experiences, energy and endorsement – form a clear and measurable brand planning model to help marketers create more customer-centered brand platforms.
This white paper examines the emerging field of conversational marketing, as social media becomes part of the relationship marketing conversation.
Beginning with a definition of conversational marketing, this white paper looks at how our traditional marketing approaches should be modified to include the new possibilities that social media creates for marketers. Along the way it goes into depth on the importance of viewing social media not as a channel, but as an integrated part of our marketing campaigns and on-going programs.
Come dig in with us on three key aspects of engaging with customers and learn about specific techniques that will help drive sustainable growth in your business: Getting into the mindset of your prospects and customers, creating content that resonates with your target audience, and initiating a relationship.
Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social MediaJordi Sabater Domènech
Servicio al cliente: El arte de escuchar y el compromiso mediante medios de comunicación social (Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media).
Brian Solís habla del servicio al cliente como el nuevo marketing, donde se hace necesario tener una mayor participación en los Social media con el fin de facilitar la comunicación. Pero, para ello, es necesario establecer estrategias que permitan que los clientes se vuelvan evangelizadores de la marca. El cómo hacerlo es la respuesta que pretende dar este libro.
Free eBook on the importance of creating social capital as part of your personal or business brand-building strategy. Learn what it is, why it is important, and how to create more of it. Based on years as an award-winning technology evangelist and chief marketing officer.
Master the art of Social Selling to increase sales by fostering relationships...VereigenMedia1
The goal of “social selling” is to increase sales by fostering relationships with potential prospects and stimulating conversations with those customers through social media platforms. For
example, on LinkedIn, marketing specialists share advice with a targeted audience of firms in a specific area (e.g., eCommerce, SaaS, finance).
Consistent participation on the platform increases their credibility and eventually, their
clientele. This approach allows you to market your business without making your posts look
like ads.
The goal of both traditional social media marketing and social selling is to make a sale. Social media marketing focuses on branding and aiming to reach a wider audience rather than just deal closures. On the other hand, in social selling, you leverage your own personal brand to connect with potential buyers. To put it simply, social selling is sales-focused, while social media marketing is more concerned with expanding a company’s brand. It’s setting yourself up as a credible thought leader or industry expert to get more sales.
Learn new ways that top performing sales professionals are adopting effective ways to use LinkedIn to reach their customers and build their professional brand
A customer is an advocate for you when they refer new leads, endorse you publicly, spread your message, or help you understand the market. Learn more about why advocacy is important and how to activate it within your customer base in this short presentation
Social Selling University is not like social media courses which are typically designed for marketing departments. Social selling is a series of content that is being developed around how social media can be used to identify new opportunities and engage customers/prospects in social networks they spend the most time in. LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and other social networks are filled with people asking for advice on products and looking to engage with friends, peers and experts to make intelligent buying decisions. This is where the opportunities are being created and sales people need to be part of those conversations.
Today small businesses are facing a number of unique challenges when trying to grow business.
From shorter attention spans, higher expectations, and a need for instant gratification amongst customers ― even down to market clutter from the waves rising competition.
Here's a few big tips every small business should know to help you rise to the challenge and grow business.
B2B Sales Has changed - now it is no longer possible (if it ever was in the first place) to generate demand. This is the age of the uber-informed customer. Social Selling is the way to get into their eye-line
How Great Leaders Drive Results via Accountability and Employee EngagementForum Corporation
A look at the results from our Fall 2014 survey looking at the the relationship between accountability and employee engagement in the workplace. You can view the webinar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/137288832
Building a Winning Sales Management Team: The Force Behind the ForceForum Corporation
Would you weather have excellent salepeople with an average sales manager, or average salespeople with an excellent sales manager? Watch a replay of this webinar with Forum and ZS Associates to find out: http://www.forum.com/register.aspx?id=d9ff62c2-eafe-401c-b32b-f70d7c98c025&edocid=939
Using Measurement to Drive the Impact and Effectiveness of Your Leadership De...Forum Corporation
It has been estimated that up to 50% of training is wasted.* You can avoid this by monitoring how leaders are applying and benefitting from what they learn. What the webinar replay here: http://go.forum.com/NAMeasurementWebinarReplay
Presentation deck from a March 22nd, 2012 webinar in which Fifth Third Bank shared their story of how they worked with Forum to implement a customer focused sales strategy.
Originally posted in forum.com/blog, this article identifies 3 counter-intuitive key points for sustaining learning on the job after a classroom session.
1. point of view
Cold Calling Is
Stone Cold Dead
Authored by
Jeffrey Baker
Professional salespeople and sales managers react Today, however, it’s more challenging than ever to find
passionately to this provocative headline, easily joining in those high-quality prospects. Buyers now want to know
the debate. The meteoric rise of Web 2.0, the explosion individual salespeople and their company before buyers
of social media tools, and marketers rapidly adopting will make contact with them. Buyers at all levels of an
these tools to drive lead generation are offered by many organization use search engines and other information
as evidence for the demise of cold calling. On the other tools to find and evaluate possible suppliers well before
hand, many sales veterans and some younger salespeople they talk with them directly.
stubbornly insist that only through the time-tested According to a 2009 Forbes/Google study, the internet
discipline of a cold calling strategy supported by dogged is the C-suite’s top information resource, with six out of
determination and thorough preparation can salespeople ten executives conducting more than six searches a day
generate a sufficient flow of new customer opportunities. (“The Rise of the Digital C-Suite: How Executives Locate
Forum sees this is as a false choice, diverting sales and Filter Business Information”). Moreover, the entire
professionals’ attention from more profitable lines of social media world, alive with an exchange of ideas,
thought. Our client experience tells us that the need for perspectives, and potential solutions for every possible
salespeople to initiate contact with prospective buyers need, is a constant source of education to potential
will not end in the foreseeable future—at least not for buyers, who are increasingly online via many different
salespeople who have responsibility to generate new methods, communicating with others who share their
customer business. These salespeople must still get to business interests.
their prospective buyer at the opportune moment to offer a
Prior to purchase buyers took the following actions:
compelling value proposition against a probable need. The
requirement to make contact effectively is nothing new. „ 48 percent followed industry conversations on their topic
The question is: How? „ 44 percent conducted anonymous research on a select
group of suppliers
Traditional cold calling has always been terribly inefficient,
often requiring a salesperson to initiate hundreds of „ 37 percent posted questions on a social networking site
contacts to find a dozen leads that might be worth looking for suggestions/feedback
developing into strong prospects. Books on selling cite a „ >20 percent connected directly with potential solution
formula that borders on religious conviction: that is, any providers via social networking channels
salesperson in any given industry must make a set number After a purchase, 59 percent of buyers shared their
of cold calls to yield a set percentage of qualified leads research and buying process with others via:
to advance to a percentage of proposals that result in a „ One-on-one discussions
percentage of successful closes. Increase the number of
cold calls, and the formula will invariably yield higher win „ Blog postings
rates, or so the belief goes. But many sales professionals „ Participation in discussion forums
and researchers, including the highly regarded Neil „ Tweeting about their experience
Rackham (see interview in Entrepreneur.com), argue
“Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer,” a 2010 study by The
that the prospecting “numbers game” is a myth and DemandGen Report (www.demandgenreport.com)
recommend that smart salespeople shift their focus from
sheer volume to focused high quality.
2. point of view
On the plus side, as more buyers use social media, 1. Every salesperson crafts and keeps current a
salespeople have the opportunity to find and listen to them professional profile online. Any number of social
as they exchange information in cyber space, revealing media sites can serve this purpose, including LinkedIn,
their business and organizational challenges, interests, Facebook, Baidu Space, and Orkut. Your profile
and needs. Listening online to well-qualified prospects enables customers to check you out before they talk
enables sellers to see “trigger events” as they unfold— with you. It can also be the platform from which you
any significant change to the status quo; for example, it expand your presence in the market through blogging,
could be something big, such as an acquisition of another links to useful sites and discussion groups, links to
company or consolidation of divisions; or something useful papers published by your company and others,
smaller, such as the individual buyer taking on new and so forth.
responsibilities or the emergence of a new competitor 2. Salespeople follow target customers or target markets
to the buying organization. Any event or change in online. Listen and learn what is top of mind and
circumstances that compels a buyer to respond is a trigger trending for prospective customers. Follow any
for the seller to call on that buyer to explore needs and postings that target customers make, such as a blog
potentially offer services. Sometimes, smart salespeople or tweet. Follow industry or trade group sites and
can see how an event might impact the buyer before the discussion groups that are relevant to your prospects.
buyer understands what is happening. This is a wonderful
opportunity to bring insight to a buyer to help him or her 3. Participate appropriately in sites prospective
shape an effective response to changing circumstances. customers frequent. Build personal presence and
professional credibility by interacting with others on
As social media causes the hunters to become the hunted the sites. Pitching products in discussion groups
companies must have an online presence, so buyers and community of interest sites is a major no-no.
can find them and they can find buyers. Marketing Many find it repulsive, and it destroys the credibility
departments are generally of whoever is pitching. Contribute value by offering
“... the hunters tasked with handling this. useful information. Answer a question, offer a link to a
Less obvious is the new
become the competitive requirement for
credible resource, and offer referrals to others. Asking
a thought-provoking question in a discussion group to
individual salespeople to
hunted ...” create a personal presence
stimulate new thinking is another way to add value.
online as a way to increase 4. Keep learning and growing. Experiment with different
the likelihood that potential buyers will find them, and approaches, share best practices with colleagues. The
as a way to establish credibility and to differentiate from technology continues to advance. Savvy users have
competitors. to continue to evolve, too.
Professional presence on the web is anything but static.
It is not a digital yellow pages ad with your name and
In online dating, it is
company capabilities on it. It is a regular, dynamic
interaction with others, giving and receiving points of
advised that to find the
view and relevant information. Your presence, generated perfect mate, be the perfect
through frequent, purposeful interaction, enables you to
nurture and cultivate relationships with the contacts you mate so that your beloved
have targeted. In doing so, you increase the likelihood that
when a contact has a need you can address they will either may find you. Similarly, in
reach out to you or will be open to receiving your call to
them (when you notice the trigger event). selling today, to find your
High-performing business developers must now devote
some amount of regular time to using social media just as
ideal customer, establish
they have always done with the telephone. At a minimum,
salespeople and sales executives should ensure:
yourself online as an ideal
supplier so your customer
may find you.
2