The awesome Doyle Slayton recently posted a question on his blog asking:
“Is Sales 2.0 really about sales… or… is it about something else?”
The question created many comments, some that I agreed with and some that I disagreed with (some were pretty off the mark). I thought it would be fun to share some of the comments here and dive into them so we can all learn more about the Sales 2.0 movement.
Comments I disagreed with:
Comment #1: Ah! Sales and Social Media now you’ve done it, mix an anti-social process (Sales) with a wholly social product. Here’s my problem B2B sales is VERY tough using the Social Media concept, why you ask, well here is my take on it – in B2B PRODUCT sales, my customers are not here! I think we should all stick with it since eventually people will be. (Look how flooded LinkedIn became this past year. When people have a need they reach out!)
Response: Sales is anti-social? I’m not sure what planet this is true on, but here on planet Earth, sales is very social. Good luck hitting your quota if you aren’t good with people. The statement that is very wrong, but I hear very often, is that B2B customers are not using social media.
Here is the truth, B2B customers are using social media — if they are on Linkedin that is social media, if they have ever watched a YouTube video that is social media, if they have ever viewed a Powerpoint presentation on Slideshare that is social media, if they have ever read a blog post that is social media too. Is every customer or prospect going to use social media — well, no — but there is tremendous opportunity out there to use social media to be more engaging and provide more value to your customers and prospects.
Comment #2: Using Social Media sites to increase B2B product and services sales other than seminars, books and consulting services has inherent restrictions – 1. businesses (and more specifically the “buyers” in those businesses) may not be part of the SM audience (yet); 2 people join SM sites when they have a need to reach out.
Sales 2.0, to me, is simply another company in a long line of sales training company’s (or in the past a line of sales training books – SPIN Selling, Secrets of Top-Performing Salespeople; Strategic Selling etc.) with the added dimension of attempting to incorporate new web based tools into their solution.
Response: There is some very old school sales dinosaur thinking in this comment. The problem with this comment is perspective — B2B customers routinely use social media in their every day lives — but most people only think of Facebook and Twitter when they hear the term social media.
Here is the subtle, but important difference — Facebook and Twitter are social media platforms where people share information and ideas — when looking at social media correctly, from the right perspective, many new platforms become available for the sales rep to exchange valuable information. This is where Youtube videos, Slideshare presentations, your personal website and blogs become great tools to communicate your value to your customers and prospects.
Sales 2.0 is not about selling sales training — it is about creating more effective and measurable results through using web 2.0 technologies to supplement your sales process and your people. Sales 2.0 is about measurement, analytics, lead nurturing, leadscoring, pipeline management, lead generation and closing more business, more often. It is about not knowing all the answers ( I don’t), but being curious enough to read, learn and find out how to improve your business in a changing marketplace.
Some comments I agreed with:
Comment #1: Sales 2.0 and Social Media have everything to do with sales. It really depends on the stage of the sales funnel to determine what Sales 2.0 tool, process or social networking tool will be the biggest benefit. It also greatly depends on the industry and type of sales you are in. It won’t be long until Sales 2.0 processes, technology and social media are staples of the sales profession. It really is a matter of creativity and drive to figure out the best ways to use these tools to gain a competitive advantage. (That comment was mine)
Comment #2: But where, in fact, your product is better seen and purchased as part of the solution to a problem, it is the prospects and buyers “problems” that you seek out, and try to discuss and share and improve upon. Now, if that’s “how to drill for oil in a mile deep rough sea”, you might not find too many places online where that’s being discussed (don’t know though – I haven’t looked and if the web is full of one thing, it’s surprises!). But as we move back down the spectrum from “monster, one-off” B2B products to more everyday items, I’m pretty sure you’ll find that most buyers and prospects are having some kind of conversation, or seeking similar guidance, searches, whatever, based around those issues.
Comment #3: Social media is still relatively new. Many of the prospects I need to reach are not using social media just yet. However, I would encourage any salesperson to consider adding it to the mix of other things that work to get new business. What I see working today is cold calling, networking, getting referrals, using your website to capture leads, joining associations to sell, smart e-mail marketing, and traditional marketing. You gotta do what works and what your budget allows.
What do you think the biggest question about Sales 2.0 is? Do you disagree with anything I wrote about here? Let’s talk some more in the comments.
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I laughed when I saw the comment about sales being anti-social! You're right, what planet was that person living on. Sales is one of THE most social careers one can have. One cannot be anti-social and be a successful saleperson. Nice post…just tweeted it.
@Ron: The only thing I can think of is that the commenter views sales as intrusive and it is probably rooted in that they are not proud of what they sell. In any case sales is one of the most social professions in the marketplace, no arguing that. Thanks for reading and tweeting!
Chad,
Sales and social media can be strongly linked, benefiting the B2B sales rep if managed properly.
Inbound marketing has the capacity to benefit or damage one's reputation, depending upon the content and usage of these tools. Inbound marketing tools serve as what I call a 'reputation billboard.' Imagine a billboard that contained your bio, skills, capabilities, ideas, references, and overall personal value proposition. Imagine that this billboard was updated regularly and it was available for everyone to see – including a rep's customers and prospects. That billboard exists in the blogosphere and social mediasphere and it can build or kill a reputation.
When a B2B sales organization actively uses inbound marketing tools like blogs, social media, and search engine marketing, it is effectively using a megaphone to shout "take a look at me/us and see what I/we believe, offer, and do." If what this organization believes, offers, and does is interesting and beneficial to the market, then customers will be drawn in and its sales reps will benefit. If the organization is neither actively nor effectively employing inbound marketing resources, there is still an opportunity for an individual sales rep to develop his/her own online reputation among followers, fans, and friends.
The risk, though, is that the B2B sales rep may rely too heavily on the promise of inbound marketing and may not maintain his/her primary prospecting and networking activities. For most industries and selling environments today, I still don't think that inbound marketing can be relied upon for all lead generation. Reps can't tweet or blog enough to obviate the need for traditional prospecting/networking. Maybe this will change someday, but I doubt it. Professional selling skills will always separate the top reps from the pack.
Chad,
Inbound Marketing: Those who understand the process of Inbound Marketing will find an easier path. Inbound Marketing is not a "new" concept since while in the restaurant business for years the "inbound" methods proved to worthwhile over and over.
Social Media:
It depends. It depends on the characteristic of the businesses which are being connected with. At this point there are more who do not use social media in their business than there are those who do. Small business / owner / entrepreneurs are working their business hard. If a sales rep in B2B adds social media as a tool to LISTEN better, they will win. If a sales rep in B2B adds social media as a tool for clients / customers to speed up the Q&A, service & support they will win.
Hubspot's service, software and education is specifically focused on getting leads via Inbound Marketing. They are so excited about it that they even sing about it.
If you refer to testimonials from companies who started using their services a year ago, you will find rave reviews.
The down side:
Sales reps in B2B will need to get the eraser out and look again at their old calendars for Inbound Marketing / Social Media. Time to build a foundation may leave some wanting as there is no instant success as relationships are built.
Have fun with the video (you can hum along if you want)
Mike
Links:
http://inboundmarketing.com
http://hubspot.com
http://www.hubspot.com/blog/bid/5358/HubSpot-TV-P...
From Brian Halligan, CEO at Hubspot who asked me to post his comment here for him.
I think it has a major impact.
What I have noticed about companies moving from "outbound marketing" to "inbound marketing" is that there lead flow dramatically increases. So, you move from a situation where your B2B reps are always complaining about not having enough leads to a situation where your B2B reps have to filter their leads by quality. Step one is to get good at inbound marketing and open up the top of your funnel and step two is getting good at routing and qualifying the leads.
In addition, I think B2B sales has changed A LOT in just the last couple of years. It used to be that a B2B sales rep controlled the entire sales process from the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel. When the customer wanted something like discounting information, more technical specs, or reference information, the sales rep controlled all of that and handed it out in exchange for something like access to management. Today, the sales rep no longer controls all the access to information like discounting, technical specs and references…an interesting prospect just needs to post a question about those topics on LInkedIn (like this one) or ask folks on Twitter, or look them up on Google.
The world of B2B sales and marketing is changing more in these few years than they have since the beginning of the era of the television.
Links:
http://blog.hubspot.com
They either learn it and use it or they will be out of the game
The power of products and their brands moved from the power of the companies where they lost control to the consumers, so the sales people are not the 1ry source of information or selling anymore of the products. The push method that sales people used to use is absolete now
They need to know how to listen to their audience, actively listen, engage with them properly answering their concerns and adressing their issues offering help and solution
It is about building and nurturing relationships it is about building trust and credibility, then comes the promotion using Pull methods rather than push method
Sahar Andrade
http://www.saharconsulting.wordpress.com
http://www.saharconsulting.com
The primary effect will hopefully be more, better qualified leads funneled into the sales cycle. As mentioned in some of the other answers, social media can make or break your reputation depending on how you engage.
But, I think if you go in with good intentions, and your goal is really about customer success and that shows through your content and engagement in social media, then I think that B2B sales reps will not only see an increase in valuable leads, but in many cases they may actually have to do less educating (or even selling) of the product benefits, etc. and rather focus on the high level benefits–like having that company as a strategic partner rather than a product / service provider.
Sales reps that are starting communications in social media or through content, will benefit from the ability to move those conversations seamlessly into the sales funnel, and track all the way to revenue.