Social Selling - Exceed Sales Selling: The Human Element S o much is written and hyped about social selling these days. Is there real value, or is it all talk? I believe the concepts

Social SellingThe Human Element

ContentsIt’s the Buyer’s Time Frame – Not Yours ........................................................................ 5

Your Buyer’s Timeline and Your Pipeline ........................................................................ 6

First, Do Your Homework – Here’s How ......................................................................... 7

Second, Discover the Prospect’s Favorite Way to Communicate – Then Use It! ............ 9

Third, Give Prospects What They Need to Make a Decision ........................................ 10

After All This, What Will You Get in Return? ................................................................ 11

Referrals and References .............................................................................................. 12

Present Yourself as If You Are the Product .................................................................. 13

Treat Your Reputation as an Asset ................................................................................ 14

Results Matter .............................................................................................................. 15

Sign up for a FREE Personalized Action Plan ................................................................. 16

© 2016 Exceed Sales, Inc. All rights reserved

About the Author

Elisa Ciarametaro is the Principal of Exceed Sales, a sales and inside sales consultancy. Elisa helps sales and marketing executives increase productivity and effectiveness. Her strategic insight and hands on implementation approach has helped companies avoid pitfalls, incorporate best practices and quickly realize sales results.

Elisa has been recognized by the SLMA as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management, was a Board Observer with the MIT Enterprise Forum and resides in NYC with her husband and son. Learn more at www.ExceedSales.com or at Elisa’s blog, www.ExceedSales.com/blog.

For more information contact Elisa at:[email protected] | Phone: 212.799.0777Exceed Sales, Inc.320 West 83rd Street, Suite 1HNew York, NY 10024

Elisa Ciarametaro, President and Founder of Exceed Sales

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Social Selling: The Human Element

So much is written and hyped about social selling these days. Is there real value, or is it all talk?

I believe the concepts of social selling – or selling in a more socia-media-enabled world – are valid, although I do believe there is a give-and-take in any human interaction. There cannot be giving without taking, and there can’t be taking without giving. Limiting our interaction to one extreme or the other is hazardous to our success. However, there is a place for balance – or a dance of social give-and-take in sales, while remaining effective as a sales professional in a “socially adept” world.

I believe the business world has evolved in the last few years as it relates to social media, and that surely has affected and enhanced the way we sell and engage with prospects and clients. The concept of “social selling” has added social tools to an already working engagement process with prospects and customers. These tools broaden and vary our interaction with them. However, adding social tools into a broken engagement process with prospects and clients is a recipe for continued disaster.




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It’s the Buyer’s Time Frame – Not Yours That’s What’s Most ImportantThe buyer (or customer or client) comes first – not the seller. Period.

We are all buyers at some point. What matters to us as buyers is what should matter to sellers. Without empathy and understanding of the buyer’s journey, sales representatives will find it hard to develop long-term, mutually beneficial relations with prospects and will ultimately find it difficult to make their number or engage their buyers.

Here is a typical case in point. It’s the end-of-the-month (or quarter or year). All levels -- from executive management to sales executives to sales representatives -- want to make their number and exceed their quota. So there is a push to “bring in the deal.” In many cases, the buyers are not ready, despite your discount and other incentives, and the deal fails to close when you “needed” it to.

So what went wrong?




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Your Buyer’s Timeline and Your PipelineIt’s likely that someone failed to understand the buyer’s entire journey from the beginning or somewhere else in the sales process. You cannot ignore the buyer’s purchasing process.

What does one learn from this? Did you have enough prospects in your pipeline (about three times the quota) so that you can honor the purchasing process of each buyer and still make your number?

If you have enough prospects in the pipeline, then it’s realistic that they will close on their time frame – not yours. You will still be helping enough of them through their purchasing process that they will fall into closing throughout the year(s), and if you concern yourself with their process instead of yours, you will meet your goals , and your buyers will meet theirs.

The key is to be working with a large enough number of prospects who have business challenges you can solve better than any other solutions available. This ensures that the timing works well for enough of those who are ready to suit everyone involved.




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The seller knows the buyer. To start at the very beginning, it’s important to know your contact and the company, whether they come to you as an inbound inquiry or are an outbound outreach. How do you find out about your contact and their company? Take the time to research your contact and their company. But how can you do this?

Start with the basics. There are many tools to use to research your ideal buyers. LinkedIn has both an individual and company page option where you can find out more about your contact and their company. In addition to LinkedIn, your potential buyer may use Facebook, Twitter, or both. Review those profiles. Google the company or contact’s name and find out additional information about the potential buyer.

These searches may reveal press releases, changes in management, expansion and growth, or downsizing. Any of these trigger events may provoke a company to act upon a business issue you may be able to solve. There are also numerous tools that can provide you with the sales intelligence you need as a seller to easily access information and learn about a potential buyer or their company, such as a central point that gathers public information and presents it all at one location in an easy-to-read way.

First, Do Your Homework – Here’s How

Time spent on customer research is time well spent.




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Use the information you gather to appropriately engage with your potential buyer. Here is a standard application. You are a Sales Development Representative (SDR), and you either received an inbound inquiry or are making an outbound outreach. Don’t reach out yet – first research as mentioned above:

• What have you learned about the individual?

• What does your potential buyer like to do?

• What is important to them?

• Where did they work?

• What did they do?

• Who do they know?

• What is their role?

• What business issues are they faced with?

Now, from a company perspective, what have you learned?

• Is the company expanding or downsizing?

• What do they do, what is their mission statement (or value or value proposition)?

• How do they help their customers?

• What challenges is the company faced with nationally or internationally?

Use what you find. The conversations, messages, and interactions you have with the potential buyer should take what you’ve learned into account. Your calls and emails should relate to what you found out to be the business problem the potential buyer is experiencing.

The same is true for the sales representative who manages the account and closes the sale. A typical enterprise sales representative can include multiple participants with different goals. It’s up to the sales representatives to know their buyer’s challenges and how to help each and everyone involved in an opportunity.

A Step-By-Step Example




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Communicate with the buyer the way they want to be communicated with. This should be a no-brainer, but I still see websites with no phone number or others with no social media buttons. In the worst case, you could say the company is remiss in having all forms of communication available, and in the best case, you could say the company really knows their buyer by including only the forms of communication they believe their potential buyers might use.

Here is a case in point.

I recently visited a website that had every social media button available to mankind: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram. Get the picture. You name it, they had it. I was interested in buying their product, but I had questions. I went to the website and was hard-pressed to find a phone number. I continued to search… no phone number. I Googled the company’s main telephone number. No results.

It was a very frustrating customer experience. I knew what I wanted, but I still had a few questions and wanted to talk to a live person. (I would have even settled for chat.)

I became frustrated with their process and decided to go elsewhere. The moral of the story is that you really, really, really need to know your buyers’ patterns. If you don’t know for sure, I suggest you offer all channels of communication.

Second, Discover the Prospect’s Favorite Way to Communicate – Then Use It!




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At the beginning of their search, the buyer may be looking for material to help learn about your company, its mission, value proposition, and differentiator history. A buyer would be interested in learning about a company’s product or services. The buyer may also be interested in hearing from third parties about the company’s offering: customer successes, industry analysts, awards or recognitions, and blogs. The buyer may also want to know how a company views itself against its competitors, what the company is saying about itself in the news, expansion, increased market share, new products, and executive management.

As the buyer progress through this process, they may want to get pricing information, a proposal, demonstrations, implementation plan, customer references, and so forth. The buyer may also want to learn if your company is a thought leader by looking at its publications and public appearances: e-books, best practice guides, infographics, white papers, trade shows, conferences, and user groups.

The point is… give the potential buyer what they need in order to choose you. With so much information available online, it’s a fact that the buyer can know you thoroughly before you know them.

Third, Give Prospects What They Need to Make a Decision




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As I mentioned in the beginning of this guide, in these interactions, I do believe in human interaction as well as give-and-take. You can’t just give, give, give without getting something in return at some point, and you can’t take, take, take without giving. Especially as salespeople, we need to have a working engagement process with our clients. We do need to give, give, and give in order to satisfy their needs and wants.

But as salespeople, it is realistic to accept that we have an annual quota to meet, and failure to do so usually results in poor consequences. So the give and take must occur in order for all parties to succeed with the old win-win. (By the way, I think that phrase is still alive and kicking – as it should be!)

Mutually Beneficial, Strong Buyer-Seller Relationships

Let’s look at these words carefully:

• Mutual—Each person receives something.

• Beneficial—Each party receives something of value that benefits each party.

• Strong—It’s hard to break and long-lasting.

• Buyer—Your counterpart.

• Relationship—A positive connection between two or more people.

In short, sales is all about mutually beneficial, strong buyer-seller relationships. Yes, you need to challenge your clients and share with them successes and solutions that will help them reach their goals. But, in my opinion, your interest in building, strengthening, and maintaining a relationship must be part of the formula, as that shows a genuine interest by introducing ground-breaking solutions that will help your clients. Help your clients and build and enhance your relationship with them.

After All This, What Will You Get in Return?




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Everyone in sales loves referrals and needs references. A referral means someone values you and your work enough to pass your information on to someone who may be looking for a solution you can help with. A reference means someone has received enough value from your relationship and solutions, and they are willing to stand up for you and speak out about their successes with you or your firm.

I don’t know about you, but it takes a tremendous amount of trust in the contact and company I am recommending before I would be in a position to deliver that recommendation, referral, or reference. However, that’s not to say that everyone feels the same way, but for me that trust builds over time and is the result of numerous positive interaction and engagements with the contact and company.

Referrals and References




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While it’s great to serve, it’s also important to sell. We sell our ideas and present ourselves every day to family, friends, and colleagues in the role of spouses, parents, and employers. Why would it be different with our customers and prospects? We show our best side, and we want people to like us and buy from us. People buy from people they like, so why not sell your ideas and present yourself in the best manner possible?

You must be genuine and authentic in serving your customers – that is understood. You must be compassionate and empathetic. You must help them overcome their challenges and reach their goals. If you are true to serving many prospects and customers, then you are in a great position to close new business. The references and referrals will help you get there, but for those truly new prospects, your ability to serve and satisfy will be your best arsenal to win new business.

How about add-on business from existing customers? That makes sense because it’s easier to retain an existing customer than to get a new customer. So you must continue to serve well beyond the sales:

• A call to see how implementation is progressing

• An email to see if their customer issue was satisfied

• An email to see how their new product introduction is excelling

Whatever it is, stay in communication and serve. It’s your best asset to create satisfied customers and new business.

Present Yourself as If You Are the Product




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Reputation: A widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic.

Most of us value our reputation in business and personally, I believe it is one of the most important – if not the most important – assets that we have in this world. It should be developed, cultivated, nurtured, and recognized as an asset. How you make people feel, how you perform, and how you serve shapes your reputation in the marketplace.

To a greater extent, it also shapes your reputation as a person. Take it seriously to ensure yourself a reputation that is bar none. Prospects and customers only recommend, refer, reference, and do business with sellers that have good reputations.

Treat Your Reputation as an Asset




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Results matter. You can have all the activity in the world, but if you are not delivering results and meeting your goals, then you need to revisit your activity. This rings true for both the buyer and seller. As the buyer, you should be getting results from the product or service you bought. As the seller, you should be ensuring that your buyer is getting the business results and service they purchased from you.

But since this e-book is focused on the seller (very rare, I know), it is up to the seller to make sure his pipeline is filled three times of the quota with potential buyers. Remember, these are potential buyers who have a business challenge that you can solve to ensure you get the sales results you need – exceeding your quota.

In summary, this e-book was intended to describe the nature of the give-and-take between the seller and the buyer that gives you the best chance for a mutually positive interaction. We hope this message makes an impact on your own buyer-seller relationships!

Results Matter




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Social Selling - Exceed Sales Selling: The Human Element S o much is written and hyped about social selling these days. Is there real value, or is it all talk? I believe the concepts

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