Social selling research

Robert Koehler
Sales Performance Consultant
LinkedIn
LinkedIn Confidential ©2013 All Rights Reserved
Social Selling Research

“Best-in-Class sales reps (reps that deployed social
selling) companies saw a 16.3% average year-over-
year increase in total company revenue, compared to
a 4.1% increase for the Industry Average and a 8.7%
decrease among Laggards”
“Social Selling: Best-in-Class Targeting of the Right Message, at the Right Time, for the Right Person” Aberdeen
Group, July 2012.
LinkedIn Confidential ©2013 All Rights Reserved 2

“Sales professionals are 79% more likely to attain their
quota than those that don’t use social selling”
Aberdeen Group, May 2012.

ORGANIZATION NAME
Aberdeen Research Brief
I In April and May 2012, Aberdeen Research surveyed 173 end-user sales organizations to
understand how the top performers among them use Social Media. They used performance
metrics to differentiate between Best-In-Class (top 20%), Industry Average (middle 50%) and
Laggard (bottom 30%). What they found:
 Reps achieving quota in last calendar or fiscal year: BIC=79%, Ind
Avg= 43%, Laggards= 15%
 YOY increase in total company revenue. BIC= 16.3% incr., Ind
Avg= 4.1%, Laggards= 8.7% decline
 YOY increase in average deal size or contract value: 0.7%, Ind
Avg= 1.7% increase, Laggards= 6.6% decline
 Average sales cycle: BIC=0.7%, Ind Avg= 0.2%, Laggards= 5.3%
4

ORGANIZATION NAME
Aberdeen Research Brief
In Best of Class companies, 70% of respondents engage
customers through personalized social experiences
“Keeping sales professionals engaged by providing them with not
only the most contemporary social tools, but also with proof that
they are effective, is surely a welcome sales enablement best
practice”
5

ORGANIZATION NAME
 Two out of three CXO level decision makers want to engage
digitally vs. in person with sales
(Sirius Decisions Summit, Scottsdale 2012)
LinkedIn Confidential ©2013 All Rights Reserved LinkedIn Sales Solutions

ORGANIZATION NAME
SBI conducted over 12,500 Buyer Surveys last year across 19 different
industries. We’ve synthesized the output into our Annual Research
Project. (August 20, 2012)
 In almost 75% of sales situations, your Customer would prefer not to
spend time meeting face to face. Our research shows they want to
engage virtually. Why aren’t you making it easy for them?
 By eliminating travel time, your sales force can become up to 150%
more efficient
 You are no longer a slave to geography, and can re-align your team by
vertical, by tier, or by type of product sold
 Inside Sales drives Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) out of your
business model, which increases your profitability and may even allow
you to re-evaluate your Average Sales Price (ASP) so you can gain
entry into the marketplace at a more attractive point. How much does
your outside sales force add to your costs?

ORGANIZATION NAME
 As noted in the recent Harvard Business Review article, “Tweet Me,
Friend Me, Make Me Buy”, “more than 90% of C-level executives
said they ‘never’ respond to cold calls or e-mail blasts,” but sales
people are seeing a high rate of response to social media
(www.ASTD.org, August 13 2012)

ORGANIZATION NAME
Frost & Sullivan 2011 Sales Leadership Priorities Survey Results; 119 sales executives in North & South America
http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/cio/234345213
 Top challenge: Identifying and qualifying high-potential prospects
(36%)

ORGANIZATION NAME
What is social selling?
 That is what social selling really means. ~80% of purchase
decisions are based on recommendations. You need to be part of
that "recommendation Chain". If you and your products are not
recommended, you need to settle for the 20% of the deals that
where based only on price or other random mechanism you have
no control over.
 In other words, here is my definition of social selling: "Social selling
is a sales technique, leveraging social media, to get and maintain a
360 degree picture of the clients and their influencer on an ongoing
basis. It allows sales people to manage and maintain 5 times as
many active customers compared to traditional techniques. Social
selling allows an average sales person to become a top performer
simply by using tools and techniques that allows them to socialize
in a way that was only accessible to the top sales guard in
 Source: Axel Schultze, www.customerthink.com, October 23, 2009 (also Chairman of the Social Media Academy)

ORGANIZATION NAME
Sales tool that provide insight about prospects see
results
Businesses that invest in sales tools to provide more insight about
prospects see results:
 71% year over year improvement in sales cycle time
 51% year over year improvement in lead conversion rates
 54% year over year improvement in the percent of sales reps
achieving quota
Source: Aberdeen Group, Sales Intelligence: The Secret to Sales
Nirvana, January 2009

ORGANIZATION NAME
The New Buying Process
“Buyers aren’t just more informed, they’re busier. A 2012 survey by
International Data Corporation found that B2B technology buyers
receive an average of 6 phone calls and 14 emails per day from
vendors. Since they’re inundated with data and sales pitches, it’s
not surprising that the IDC’s respondents return a paltry 10.5% of
phone calls and 9% of emails from new vendors. Now that informed
buyers can thoroughly research their own options, a call from a new
sales representative can be more of a nuisance than a service”
“The number of people involved in a large technology
purchase increased from five in 2010 to seven in 2012”.
Hootsuite blog, February 28, 2013

ORGANIZATION NAME
The Rise of Social Selling_Sales Benchmark Index
http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com/bid/100894/The-Rise-of-Social-Selling
August 14, 2013
 4.4% - email open rates (source: Google). Batch and blast email
campaigns don’t work. Your buyers (and you) are saturated with emails
every day. If you think you can outshout hundreds of others via email,
good luck.
 1-3% - cold calling appointment rate (source: American Association for
Inside Sales Professionals). When was the last time you answered
your desk phone? An unknown call to your mobile phone? If you’re
spending on tele-prospecting, you’re better off throwing it out the
window.
 84% - # of B2B decision makers who begin their buying process with a
referral (source: Edelman Trust Barometer). Ask yourself what you did
the last time you entered the market with a need. Maybe a new sales
or marketing leader. A potential venture capital or private equity firm.
Did you take a cold call? Respond to a recruiter’s email? Or, did you
pick up the phone and call someone you know for help?

ORGANIZATION NAME
Evolve IP
www.evolveip.net

ORGANIZATION NAME
“80% of sales leads are wasted and 80% of sales time is spent cold-
calling and prospecting”
“30% of sales reps turn over every year”

Social selling research

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