Rob Thomas has been a part of WSI for over 10 years. During that time he has spoken at events across Europe and Northern America. In 2015 he was named in the Top 50 Business Advisers in the UK by Enterprise Nation. Rob joined a panel of Digital Marketing experts at the WSI Digital Summit.

Rob’s talk centred around the concept of Social Selling. Though Sales and Marketing frequently fail to work together it is well known that for a business to thrive they must. Similarly for a business to thrive in the modern market there must be continuity between their In-Bound Marketing and their Content Marketing.

The traditional marketing model is increasingly being seen as outmoded or broken in at least some aspects. Pouring a lot of money into attracting as many people as possible to the top of the funnel via outbound marketing no longer works. The modern world is a place saturated with advertisements and in your face marketing.

It used to be that sales people where the ones with all the information. And thus all the power! But over the last 10 years this paradigm has changed. With the power of the internet decision makers have more information at their finger tips than ever. 50% of the decision making process has already happened before your sales team have even made contact with a potential client. Social media, review sites and search engines all make up a significant part of the pre-sales reach of your product or service.

Social Selling Decision Makers

You may not think MD’s, CEO’s and other decision makers use Social Media to inform their business decisions, but experience tells us they do. Building relationships online is hugely important. Building trust and a strong personal brand increases the chances of someone taking a ‘cold-call’ exponentially.

Better than that though, if you properly nurture your Social Selling strategy you can find people calling you! Potential customers aren’t looking for you. They’re looking for a solution to their problem. By providing them that solution in a manner removed from traditional sales you build rapport and your personal brand. This means they’re far more likely to be receptive to a sales pitch further down the line. Or they may even reach out to you.

The crux of this is not to do what every other salesman or marketing team is doing. Educate and inform, do not sell. The pitch comes later, if it has to come at all. Decision makers are being bombarded by sales and marketing pitches at every turn every day. By not trying to sell them something you stand out far more than attempting the most interesting pitch in an ocean of sales pitches.

Social Selling Marketing

WSI in association with G5 run a 12 week Social Selling course online. Instructor led it offers practical and actionable instruction to improve your Social Selling skills. The course focuses on:

  • Teaching you to build a Social Selling profile based around what your buyers are looking for.
  • Building your network of advocates and evangelists.
  • Weekly assignments help to get you into a routine of using Social Selling principles to prospect on a daily basis.

 


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