As more and more people are trying to figure out how to leverage Social Media to help grow their sales, it serves us well to remember some of the basics of effective selling. The best salespeople seek to help. That may sound obvious, but it’s not. So many salespeople are trying to sell what they have to everyone instead of being targeted in their selling efforts.
It makes more sense to find people who are interested in your product and service and help them. Social Media allows you to do this. You can observe discussion threads in LinkedIn Groups, you can follow conversations regarding Twitter hashtags, and you can see interactions on Facebook Fan Pages. These are all valuable sources of sales leads. Learn to skim information and identify places where you can help. And help doesn’t mean, “Buy my product, buy my product.”
Just remember not to kiss on the first date. Rushing into a park of starving birds and throwing food at them like a madman will just scare them away. Walking into the park slowly and letting them acknowledge that you’re there and then dropping a few crumbs on the ground will have them eating out of your hand in short order.
Listen. And then look for as many opportunities to help as you can. That can mean referring them to someone you know who may be able to help them in some way. Just offering to help sometimes opens up ideas from people that you wouldn’t have thought of. And having people see that you’re willing to help can really pay off for you. This isn’t about trying to look like a Gandhi or Mother Teresa. It’s about humanizing the web and letting people know that you care about them and then backing it up.
And those who serve, deserve. Or your could say that those who serve, reserve. As in re-serve. Meaning they are served in return. As in re-turn. What we give out returns to us. The thing to remember is that it starts with you. Earn the relationship.