Recently I spoke with Brynne Tillman, a social selling expert from the www.Nimble.com community. Brynne is “A Lifelong sales person and sales trainer gone social” as she describes herself. This is part two of our “8 Unedited Minutes” video conversation.
Many people make one common, crucial mistake when it comes to social sales and marketing. The good news is that you don’t have to.
We ended the first part of our interview with Brynne saying “As business owners and sales professionals one of our biggest issues is not following up with the RIGHT people at the RIGHT time. We keep gathering, we latch onto a few and hope they stick…”
I wanted to know what we can do to avoid that mistake. What can you do AFTER you make a new connection on LinkedIn or other social platforms to create a meaningful relationship? Add value! Many people drop the ball by not following up with something that is useful for the OTHER person.
Adding value starts when you…
DITCH THE PITCH
Here’s more golden advice from Brynne: “As a sales person FIRST I want to understand if the person I’m connecting with has any interest in what I have to offer”. She doesn’t try to force an immediate sale on someone.
If you know WHO your market is and you know what matters to them you can provide them with incredible insights. Smother them with great content that adds value to their world. The key here is when you reach out to people like this even if they never talk to you again you had a positive impact on their world.
When you do start a conversation with the other person you’re creating opportunities to collaborate. You get closer to what you want: IF you’ve added value to their world and you can solve a problem for them they’ll WANT to talk to YOU. This starts with helping them get to know you as a person that will help them.
HOW TO CREATE VALUE FOR OTHER PEOPLE BEFORE YOU TALK TO THEM
Most people’s LinkedIn profiles are very, very underutilized. At best, many are just glorified resumes. On that topic Brynne says:
[Tweet ““You’re LinkedIn profile shouldn’t be a resume; it should be a resource”~ @BrynneTillman”]
When someone visits your profile, they should learn something new and get curious about what you do. This gets THEM interested in YOU. When that happens they’re more likely to reach out to you. Make it simple for them to start a conversation.
That way when you reach out to them you’ve earned their attention and you have the right to have that conversation. If you’ve provided value BEFORE you talk they’re probably thinking “Imagine how much value I’ll get when I actually speak with this person!”
THE FOUNDATION FOR SOCIAL SALES & MARKETING SUCCESS – BECOME A TRUSTED ADVISOR!
Start with your LinkedIn profile. Design it to be a resource instead of just another resume. Here’s how your profile can become a resource by asking a few key questions:
Ask yourself:
- What situations are happening in your prospects’ lives that lead to them needing your product or service?
- What are your prospects researching and learning about online?
- What articles are your prospects liking and commenting about on social media?
That gets you started. Then you can go further and learn from our past successes.
Ask your clients: “Before you sought me out and worked with me what challenges you were facing?”
Do some research. Look at what your prospects are liking or commenting on in social media. There’s so much data that will help you form your insights based on what the people want or need. Put articles, videos and other content on your LinkedIn profile that will address those needs. Now you’re becoming a resource and possibly a trusted advisor as you add more value.
It’s not difficult to do; it just takes an investment of time. You need to make this a priority and decide “If I want to ATTRACT, KEEP & ENGAGE my prospects I’m going to invest some time and create the foundation to do that.”
Once you build that foundation you get to reap the rewards of meaningful business relationships, referrals and new clients.
HOW TO CONNECT WITH BRYNNE AND CREATE VALUE FOR BOTH OF YOU!
Connect with Brynne on LinkedIn and check out the resources on her profile (If you reach out be sure to send her a personal message to let her know you read this)
If you are a sales leader with passion and purpose about what you do: Brynne loves helping with guest blogging and webinars; reach out about collaborating.
If you know a passionate sales leader that’s interested in webinars or guest blogging for their team: Reach out to Brynne and introduce them.
