Can social selling work for me as an SDR?
Timothy "Tim" Hughes 提姆·休斯 L.ISP
Should have Played Quidditch for England
We are in the process of transforming a large US software company to social selling, Adam Gray and I are we were asked about a plan to transform the SDRs to using social media to prospect at scale.
The objectition often we hear is that with cold calling all you have to do is pick up the phone and as I point out, with social selling all you have to do is get your laptop / macbook or mobile phone out.
In this article I'm going to take you through how SDRs can have faster deal flows than cold calling, how they can sell higher, faster with social selling and more importantly how more of those high level meetings will convert. All of which is music to your sales leaders ears.
The issue that all SDRs face
The issue that all SDRs face is that you have been sold this idea that you have to write and communicate in a certain way.
For example you will see SDRs having something like "I am an over achieving, self motivated, high energy individual ...." on their Linkedin profile.
The problem with this is threefold - 1. I don't believe you, 2. you look the same as everybody else and 3. if in the case that most SDRs are trying to sell to an older buyer, the older buyer just reads this and laughs.
You have probably heard a saying "people buy people". It's true and even more so in the world of digital and now you are being compared with the other 774 million people on LinkedIn.
The answer? Be yourself. You are your own USP (unique selling point).
In our social selling and influence course, we teach people of all ages and roles how to create a profile that not just resonates with people, but your buyers will walk towards. Just think, buyers walking towards you, rather than running away.
How to prospect at scale using social media
Another lie that is being told in the sales environment at the moment is that it's all about tools. Utter rubbish. Another lie is that you need to sell.
There is nothing attractive about pitching, sales today is about a human conversation.
Having a tool that gets you more pitches, makes you more unattractive, not more attractive.
Think of social media not as a place to come and spam, but as a place to have conversations.
Think of it as a networking event. You go up to somebody and have a conversation.
When you have a conversation with somebody, not everybody can buy you have to break this down to
- Are they the right person to talk to?
- If not who is, can this person get you to that person?
- Will they be your champion. Don't forget a champion does not need to be part of the buying process?
- Will the person refer you?
- Will the person amplify your content (and your influence) through their network?
I'm hoping that you see that the world of sales today is about psychology and not technology.
In our social selling and influence course we teach SDRs to have conversations on social, which I can assure you will give you massive competitive advantage against your annoying, pitching competition.
Make yourself stand out and be original
There is one thing that will the "younger" SDR stand out against the older buyer, is by you showing you have the maturity to understand the older buyer.
The older buyer is looking for insight, they are looking to be educated and they are looking to be entertained.
So stop posting the brochures and white papers regardless of what marketing tell you.
It's time to create your own content. Just like this.
The older buyer wants to see you care, wants to see you have business acumen, they want to see your insight. The older buyer see all this brochure posting as BS.
In our social selling and influence course we will coach SDRs to create written content, we also have an option course to teach you how to get the most from video.
What will happen if you do this
The more you lean into to who you are, grow your network and don't pitch but have conversations and the more you share insight and advice a number of things will happen.
Don't forget this is about making yourself more interesting than the other options.
The number of calls you have will increase.
The number of the calls you have will get higher in organizations.
The more of these calls will convert.
So who's social selling?
In case you missed it, the Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch have banned cold calling and have moved all their people to social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.
But surely cold calling has a better ROI than social selling? Not according to Merrill Lynch.
"They will also be encouraged to contact prospects over LinkedIn, which has a higher hit rate than cold calling"
The CRO (chief revenue officer), Richard Eltham of Namos Solutions, of one of clients posted a comment on LinkedIn about social selling. See here.
“Social selling is not an option now it is the way of the world and you either learn and execute it or fear getting left behind”
Kevin Murray who is the Head of Sales at MacArtney Underwater Technology recently posted about his success with social selling here and wrote an article about the transformation that has happened in sales here.
Here at DLA Ignite we don't do "hints and tips sessions" we don't want you to waste your money. Our social selling and influence methodology will provide your sales team with the stable platform for growth. It is also the only social selling program based on 70:20:10 change management principles which gives your business the mindset change and habit change they need in this digital world.
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Creating safe spaces to enable individuals and teams to learn, grow and develop. When not doing that cycling, reading and drinking wine...
3yThanks Timothy, really insightful, love the diagram of the ‘Sales journey to ROI’.
Helping enterprise companies accelerate their sales performance management journey!
3ythanks for sharing Timothy and Brandon! Corey Blackwell part of what I was speaking to you about this week.
I help c-suite build revenue growth, network & personal reputation.👊🏽 GTM Advisor & Fractional | Founder x6 with multiple exits. Live Show & Podcast Host | Founder: Fist Bump Podcast & Live Show Host | Founder x 5.
3yExcellent! And, I agree with Thomas comment below too. Sales Enablement are expensive and serve the marketing team with "data" that really doesn't serve sales. The broken funnel of the company website just doesn't work but marketing leaders are so challenged with getting out of their own way. When an SDR is properly equipped with training and the tools to grow their networks, share insights and valuable content buyers want to consume and consistently engage with their prospective customers in social platforms then pipelines grow, meetings increase and closes increase. Great, great article Timothy (as usual!! 😀 )
Life is better with a Guide. Special Needs Parent and Fanatic Fly Fisherman. Helping business owners love their business and their life through value acceleration
3ySomeone has to use the wrench correctly Timothy (Tim) Hughes 提姆·休斯. The process is far more impactful than the implement.