Sales has undeniably changed in the last 20 years. There are
question marks over the effectiveness of cold-calling, while everybody is
talking about sales 2.0 and the rise of social media. But is social media the
future of sales? Do salespeople need it to succeed?
Social media is definitely a powerful tool for salespeople. It
provides an endless list of people to contact. It allows salespeople to find
out all sorts of useful information about potential customers. It can even give
access to contact details for these potential customers. In theory, it gives
salespeople all they could need to be successful.
However, without an understanding of how to make the most of these
new opportunities, social media is no more effective than approaching people in
the street and forcing your product under their nose. Salespeople cannot just
create a Twitter account, posts constant messages about their product and
expect to get a response. As with any other tool, it is important to understand
how to engage with people in a way that they will respond positively to. Social
media can be extremely effective as long as salespeople understand how to make
the most of it.
There are also sales skills that are important whether you choose
to sell over the phone, in person or through social media. Whichever channel
you use, you need to be able to develop a relationship with the customer
and convince them of the benefits of
your product.
Have you used social media effectively to increase sales? How have
you achieved this?
