The Value of Viewing Your Customer’s Social Stream

Salespeople value the ability to say the right things to customers and work diligently to perfect this skill. Saying the right thing at the wrong time, however, leads to unsuccessful results. Even people outside the selling profession have experienced instances of giving people good advice that wasn’t acted upon because the person simply wasn’t receptive.

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One of my personal examples of this was teaching tennis to my Mom. Too many years ago to admit, I was a tennis instructor at a club. Mom happened to be a member of this same club and played social tennis there. I tried convincing her to let me give her lessons, but on the few occasions she acquiesced, my lessons didn’t improve her game. She didn’t practice my advice. Her tennis friends, however, did take lessons from me. They improved, and didn’t want to play with Mom because she was no longer as good. Mom considered it unacceptable to lose tennis friends because of her son. With a new sense of determination, she hunted me down for lessons. Within an hour she completely incorporated my instructions and transformed her game. To this day I tell people how my mother was my fastest tennis learning student.

Her receptivity was what made the difference. I gave her the same instructions as before. This time, however, the motivation came from her. She was more receptive because my instructions were in response to something important to her. They were in response to social needs. Until then, I mistakenly assumed improved performance was her motivator. In reality, improved tennis performance wasn’t important unless it earned her friends. When I responded to an important need, the difference was astounding. In both scenarios my instructions had been the same!

As Salespeople, we find ourselves in a similar situation. We approach our customers armed with an arsenal of selling points. Our selling points are perfectly sensible. They won’t succeed in getting us the sale, however, unless customers are receptive to hearing them. Just as in the tennis lesson example, salesperson “responsiveness” will make all the difference. Selling points delivered in response to needs that are important to a customer will be received better.

Social Media has streamlined the ability for salespeople to take advantage of this fact. Facebook posts, Tweets, LinkedIn announcements, etc., reveal the needs, interests, concerns and priorities of our customers. Never before have we been able to learn so much about someone so quickly and easily. Smart salespeople should always review a customer’s social media conversation prior to making contact. It empowers salespeople to present their selling points in response to priorities most important to customers.

Nimble CRM is my tool of choice for accomplishing this. It allows me to view a customer’s entire social stream at one glance. Nimble CRM provides a usable avenue of entry which has expanded my ability to engage effectively. I can quickly see what topics are important to them and present selling points in response. This gives my selling points greater impact leading to greater results.