Best Practices in Sales: Embracing Social Media Marketing

Best Practices in Sales: Embracing Social Media Marketing

 

I just finished Shama Hyder Kabani’s book The Zen of Social Media Marketing. I highly recommend the book to any sales or marketing professional who is trying to get his head around harnessing the power of social media.

 

Social media is the consumer’s platform. And it has changed the way that we need to sell. Prospects no longer rely solely on a website for information. They’ll use the Internet to find out what others are saying about you and your company – both the good and the bad – and social media has made that easy to do. This can work to our advantage if we use it correctly.

 

So what’s a salesperson to do?

 

·       Use Twitter to monitor what’s being said about your company. Assume that your prospects have read both the good and the bad and be prepared to respond to either.

 

·       LinkedIn is a great place to highlight your company and what you do. Make your profile public. Get recommendations and link to others in your industry. People buy from people. Give prospects a good feeling in advance about buying from you.

 

·       Maintain a personal, yet professional profile on Facebook. People value honesty, transparency and real. So have some fun, but don’t include wild parties on houseboats if that’s what you do on weekends.

 

Stay part of the conversation. When someone posts a negative comment, respond! And if they say something positive, thank them for the comment. We all want to be heard. The act of responding is often more powerful than the words themselves.

 

Sharma’s book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing is a quick read and highly practical. Social media is a powerful tool in any salesperson’s toolkit.