There was a lot to talk about the last time we hit the stage of sales literature. Digital transformation, and the cycle of change brought about it. For the sake of a recap, let’s simply walk through some of the finer details. At first, salespeople controlled the flow of information, but now, the customers stand armed with information via the internet and access to digital media. As a result, sales at its core required change.
One of the things discussed and put on the spotlight was the effectiveness of social selling; this included its status as one of the most powerful branches of digital sales. What did it imply? To build and maintain trust with customers, edging them toward your organizations’ products or services. It could be via using social media to interact with your target audience or through a content strategy that involves eBooks, blogs, and more. In a way, it influences a buying decision.
Social Selling: Why is it Important?
As discussed in the first part of the series, customers today are technology-savvy and less susceptible to traditional sales techniques. For example, cold calls are more likely to push your customers away than draw them into the sales net. It’s not good enough anymore, a one size fits all strategy. We live in a world of tailor-made solutions and customizable tactics.
A big part about social selling hovers around how effectively an organization can think things through from a customer’s perspective. It’s about making them feel valued and relevant by being warm and forthcoming as opposed to the cold, impersonal pitches that are otherwise thrown their way. Earlier, this might have been difficult due to a variety of reasons – geographical and time restrictions, or even cost. But the internet is a channel that excels at enabling the growth of relationships. But more than that, it also allows salespeople opportunity to establish trust with potential and existing customers. This works to improve and drive sales.
Even as far back as 2013, a Forbes study revealed something interesting. It stated that 78% of salespeople using social selling methodologies outsell their peers. Additionally, the same study identified 23% to exceed in their sales quotas as well.
An Interesting Case Study
With a little exploration, it’s easy to find success stories in terms of sales metrics via use of social selling as an integral part of the overall sales strategy. An easy and well-known example is Convirza, formerly known as LogMyCalls – a call tracking company. They’re known for their fresh content marketing strategies, including the use of webinars, eBooks, case studies, and other digital techniques.
Convirza saw their social selling strategy take flight with the launch of their 150 Blogs in 50 Days campaign. The company witnessed an astronomical surge in leads within just 90 days. Surprisingly, the smaller social-friendly blogs yielded Convirza a 400% increase in sales.
Doesn’t that urge you to take this on as a strategy? It worked for us, but let’s take pause here. There’s just one blog left in this series, and you better bet that we’re going to take it a step further in terms of strategy and interest. Social selling is merely the first step, but there’s a lot more to look forward to in the future; after all, we do live in a digital ecosystem, ripe with rapid innovation.
Author Note
In the meanwhile, let me take the time to introduce GlobalEdge; we provide state-of-the-art technology solutions by leveraging a variety of platforms from platform engineering to wireless and the cloud. However, recent months have also seen us venture into technologies related to artificial intelligence and machine learning. For any solution or product related query, do reach out to us at sales@globaledgesoft.com.
About the Author
Ravi Kiran Vernekar is the President – Global Sales & Marketing / U S Operations at GlobalEdge, he is one of the few who recognized the need for fast and flexible engineering solutions for global technology companies at an early stage and leads a group of young and experienced minds to deliver the right solutions to our customers.
