Forgive the bad pun, but when it comes to the world of social selling Koka is the undisputed guru of the realm in my opinion.
Since he left the United States Army, he’s been involved in sales within the tech realm. He’s been focused on business development, sales, and social for over a decade. He spent almost 4 years in the ranks of LinkedIn. Now he leads Social Selling Labs LLC helping companies become adept at social marketing strategies, acts as a mentor at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, has joined Hootsuite as an Industry Principal for Social Selling, and is a sought-after speaker.
If you haven’t immersed yourself in his videos and ideas, you can check out his YouTube channel and slideshare.
What are the top ideas that I’ve come away with from Koka’s presentations that resonate with me, personally?
1. Your LinkedIn profile page… make it look professional, genuine, engaging:
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Use a professional headshot for your display picture. Avoid selfies or photographs taken at informal social activities.
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Make your description succinct and inventive. LinkedIn’s social selling advice guide suggests “Customer-centric B2B Sales Professional” sounds more engaging than just “Sales Executive”. (LinkedIn has many great social selling resources, many are gated and will cost you your contact information though)
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Talk about your achievements from your company’s or customer’s point of view. Highlight your professional successes, but keep it focused on the results achieved.
2. Building your connections takes effort on your part
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Just because you can send a connection request, doesn’t mean you should. Research first… what groups are they part of? Share relevant content on solving their sector’s problems (they might reach out to you). See who your mutual connections are… ask for an introduction. Understand why your buyer would truly benefit from knowing you. Can your referral communicate that in their introduction?
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A new take on “ABC”… always be connecting… the six degrees of separation has never been truer than today.
3. It’s about the numbers
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Social selling is more about the buyer than the seller… 72% of buyers research the product or service they are looking to buy on the internet… 33% are giving credit to social media for identifying their solution. Check out some other stats in Koka’s LinkedIn Pulse article.
4. Align to your buyer, be authentic
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Koka concludes this “Social selling tools and techniques are really only as good as the salesperson making use of them. To convert more connections into leads and leads into sales, a salesperson must be able to, firstly, identify the right targets. He must be able to curate content that resonates with his targets and must be infallible in the art of subtlety. If he is too loud about your product, even great content may end up failing him. And finally, he must be able to convert online relationships into conventional conversations.” I interpret this to mean stop “selling”. Selling is about you. Be authentic, help the client buy what they need and want. Align yourself to them, put their needs to the forefront and benefit mutually.
To me, these ideas are common sense, it is about thinking about the world through your buyer’s eyes, and figuring out what is important to them and will influence them to want your help. Your thoughts? info@mycxo.ca.