Nudge Social Selling: The Strength of Weak Ties

Social Selling:
The Strength of Weak
Ties
Paul Teshima
Co-founder and CEO
Nudge
@pteshima
neednudge.com
neednudge.com All Rights Reserved Nudge Software Inc. 2014

3
“THE CURRENCY OF
THE NEW
COLLABORATIVE
ECONOMY IS TRUST”
- RACHEL BOTSMAN

4

How Social is B2B?
Percentage of B2B companies actively using social media
41%
Report
200%
More
The
Best
5
90% 53% 47% 33%
But what about lead generation?
67%
More
Source: InsideView

6
84% of Executives
Use Social Media in
Their Buying
Decisions
“You cannot
delegate trust”
- Kathleen Schuab, IDC

How Many People Have More
Than One Email Address?
How Many People Have More
Than One Linkedin Account?
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SOCIAL NETWORKS
ARE EXPLODING

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“Linkedin, a place
where people I don’t know,
endorse me for skills I do
not have”
- Max Valiquette

Linkedin is the Business Network
10
313 million
600 million

The Strength of Weak Ties
FACT: weak connections
offer the best
opportunities
You can't meet them
all, so you need to
replace coffee with
content
Most social
connections
are weak

Today Business Professionals Must Learn How
to Engage Their Weak Ties, To be Successful

Social Selling and
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Why is Social Selling Important?
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Social Selling is Growing (SSI)
Source: Linkedin

What is the Social Selling Index?
Establish a professional presence on
LinkedIn with a complete profile Create a professional brand
Prospect efficiently with powerful
search and research capabilities Find the right people
Discover and share valuable information to
initiate or maintain a relationship Engage with insights
Expand your network to reach prospects and
those who can introduce you to prospects Build strong relationships
Source: Linkedin

Create a Professional Brand
Complete your profile
Aim for 100% profile completeness
Use the right tone
What would prospects or customers want to know
about you? Be descriptive. Tell your story.
Add rich content
Slideshare deck, presentation video, etc.
Showcase your skills
Add skills and generate endorsements
Source: Linkedin

18
“ABCs –
Always Be
Connecting”
“Give-to-Give”
“A Fool with a
Tool, Is Still a
Fool”

Best Practice
Establish Consistent Personal Branding
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Source: JillRowley.com

Best Practice
Timely, Well Written Content Works
20

Find the Right People
Proactively search
Use advanced search & Lead Builder to pinpoint
people more efficiently
View prospects
View details of potential prospects in your 1st , 2nd ,
and 3rd degree networks
Expand your viewing
Use Lead Recommendations to find more prospects
at your accounts
Check who viewed you
Your activity drives views of your profile. Engage
with relevant people who look at you.
Source: Linkedin

Best Practice
Leverage Your Past Experiences
22

Engage With Insights
Stay in the know
Join groups and follow your prospects, customers,
and their competitors to keep up to date
Share valuable information
Post relevant content that can help you become a
trusted source of insight
Engage with your network
Share, like, and comment on content posted from
your network
Reach out to prospects
Reach your prospects with InMails, connection
requests, and other messages
Source: Linkedin

Best Practice
Do Work and Be Authentic
24

Build Strong Relationships
Connect with contacts
Connect with your network and with prospects after
introductions
Focus on decision makers
Focus on connecting to senior level people at your
prospects and customers
Connect internally
Your colleagues will be able to provide you warm
introductions
Source: Linkedin

Best Practice
Building Business Intimacy is Key In
Building Trust
26
Source: TrustedAdvisor.com

What’s Are the
Challenges?
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Sales Still Has the Same Challenges
60%
of buyer journey
complete before ever
interacting with sales
58%
of pipeline stalls
because value is not
presented
of selling content and
resources never used
Sales Sales benchmark benchmark index index Sales Sales benchmark benchmark index index IDC
More content
More SEO
More demand gen
More sales training
More partners
More automation
90%
More whitepapers
More case studies
More portals
Earlier Relationships Higher Relationships Active Relationships

You Need to Invest in Growing the Right
Relationships
Early relationships
position you as a
trusted advisor
Active relationships
mean people read
what you send
Higher relationships
help you position
business value

Even Top Social Sellers Struggle with
“Engaging with Insights”
30

Most People Are Not Posting
Their Lives in Social OR in the News
31
313 million
600 million
Posting Life in
Social OR in
the News

Using Content to Reach Out is Hard
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Nudge is a simple way of growing
the right relationships from
your network of weak connections

What is a Nudge?
A Nudge is a message to a person that combines
RIGHT PERSON
Who in your network
should you nurture
now?
RIGHT TIME
What has happened to
make “now”
important?
RIGHT MESSAGE
What content aligns
with their interests?

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In Summary
• Social Media is already being used effectively in B2B
• Social Selling is growing as a best practice for business
professionals
• Focus on these four elements
1. Create a professional brand
2. Find the right people
3. Engage with insights
4. Grow strong relationships
• Building relationships is hard, especially from weak ties,
but it can lead to the best opportunities
• Use content instead of coffee to reach out
36

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Best Practice
“The best way to go fast is to go slow”
- Jill Konrath, best selling author and Top Sales Influencer

APPENDIX
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Nudge Social Selling: The Strength of Weak Ties

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