If sales cycles seem long and/or are not-happening at the moment, it may be the times, or…it may be you (or the lack of you, that is, on social).
Have you embraced the art of social selling yet? It’s time to get on that…
While social selling doesn’t come naturally to everyone, if you are in sales, engaging with buyers certainly does! LinkedIn gives you that opportunity, but with a whole world of potential buyers you may never have been able to connect with before. There you can create authentic connections and rapport that build your network, and make any future cold outreach, not so cold.
Because your profile is there for public consumption, buyers learn who you are, click around to see what you do, and put a face and a personality to the seller they will ultimately work with. You get to do the same with them – start to understand their interests and nurture the relationship.
It’s not as hard or intimidating as it comes across.
Also, check out this trick… Look at a top tier executive that your team is trying to get the attention of. Now, what do you notice with their posts? Probably these two things:
- They get a decent (lot of?) number of likes
- They get almost no comments, and if they do, they’re mostly from their internal team.
This provides you and your sellers with a strategic advantage to stand out and cut through the noise; a chance to edge past the competition.
Our best related tip: Create a list in LinkedIn Sales Solutions’s Navigator, or however else you’re organizing things these days. Document your top 50, 100, 200 hit list buyers, and identify who’s posting often.
Those are your targets for outreach.
When the buyer posts, add your comments, try to be thoughtful, and make a note-to-self to check in frequently and keep the convo in motion.
Better yet, tag a high profile friend or client to name drop in a new age, tech-y kind of way. Or simply tag someone else you know to drive interest further and get the buyer’s attention (and appreciation…everyone loves more comments!).
Once you’ve done that a handful of times, send a connection request to the buyer, providing a reference to their content and what you appreciate about it.
And please hold your pitches!!! You’re not ready yet…but you’re not far off either.
Stay tuned for that part later…or reach out to our team!
