Now that I’ve established where Online Social Networking should fit in the sales priority list (below real prospecting and real face-to-face networking), let’s get into the “how” of OSN.
The first thing you need to do is set some meaningful time constraints on your OSN program. I know from experience that even the most well-meaning salesperson can quickly segue from “business networking” to “surfing the Web.” Without some discipline (either self enforced or externally enforced), the Web can become a huge barrier to productivity. Don’t let that be you!
Once you’ve established your time constraints, now you need to prioritize OSN sites. Remember the levels of contact that we discussed last week? If you missed that one, here they are:
Level One: Implementers: These are the foot soldiers of the business world. Look in the mirror, Champ – if you’re a salesperson, this is probably you. It’s also office clerks, maintenance technicians, etc. Implementers are the “doers” of the business world.
Level Two: Influencers: Influencers are mainly middle managers, department heads, and other people who may have high Buying Power (departmental budgets) but low Buying Authority (they need to get the approval of others before making a purchase).
Level Three: Decision Makers: Decision Makers are Presidents, CEO’s, VP’s, Owners, and other C-level people. They are the people in the building who have high Buying Power (i.e. money to spend) as well as high Buying Authority (they don’t need to ask anyone before cutting the check).
First, figure out what level your desired contacts are. Then, to evaluate each OSN platform, you should ask yourself these questions:
What is the likelihood that my targeted contacts will be using this site? (and, therefore, receiving your messages)
What is the likelihood that my targeted contacts will be motivated into a buying process by something that I do on this site? Remember, Motivation is the first step of the buying process; if you can’t generate Motivation, you can’t generate sales.
The four main sites/platforms that should frame these questions are: LinkedIn, Facebook (business pages), Twitter, and YouTube. Now, imagine your targeted contacts investing time in those sites. What’s your likelihood of gaining a win? I’m not going to play out every possible scenario on these sites and contact levels, but I’m sure you can do this for yourself. However, whichever site/platform you choose, there is one rule:
Contribute value. By that, I mean post meaningful content. Tell people how to do things, apprise of new developments, give tips, help people do their jobs better. If you don’t, you will lose your viewers. For that matter, make sure that EVERY post contributes some sort of content. Nobody cares whether you have meatloaf for dinner – but the first time you post that you did, serious people will tune out of your feeds. Meaningful content builds your sales credibility.
Of course, there are other forms of OSN that get a lot less press than the above sites, but might be more effective at communicating a business message. They are:
Blogs: We all know what blogs are; do you have one? Blogs allow long-form content that can get in depth on how to do things, and contribute value in all the other ways I noted above. This, to my way of thinking, is the major weakness of Twitter; the 140 character format doesn’t allow anything but lowest-common-denominator communication. Blogs can be what you want them to be, and they can archive your content. I strongly recommend them. But you must follow the rules of good written sales communication.
Message Boards and Forums: Every business discipline has online message boards. These can be excellent if you get the right forum; this is where businesspeople go for advice on solving problems. If you can provide that advice, you become expert in your field. The danger here is “Spamming” the forum; I’ve seen many message boards die because its members exclusively used them to broadcast sales messages. Don’t be that person; be a person of interest and advice.
E-newsletters: As you can probably guess, I’m a fan of E-newsletters. I’ve been doing mine for six years, and it continues to be my best form of social networking. This little HotSheet started with four readers six years ago. Now I’m approaching 20,000 readers worldwide, and it continues to be a great tool for building my business. Can you establish one? Platforms like Constant Contact (this one) are cheap and easy to use. I’ve been offered a lot of different platforms over the years. I stick with Constant Contact because it works for me.
Above all, here is the key to remember. Online Social Networking builds reputations; it is not a direct path to building your customer base. If you use OSN effectively, over time, you will get inquiries and customers from your efforts. These inquiries and customers will likely not be regular and predictable; but they will be a nice supplement to your ongoing prospecting efforts. The bottom line?
Good salespeople do it all. OSN isn’t magic; it is just another tool in the toolbox.
