Social Media B2B 2013
Social Media B2B the rise of the “social” seller
It’s been coming for many years Social Media B2B Social Business will reap the rewards of social media marketing. The “social” seller will attract more customers, sell more merchandise to his competitors and literally leave their competition behind
Customers need expertise from salespeople; they need something of value compared to the old days. Adding value to the sales relationship has been over looked otherwise the product or service that you’re selling will be commoditized and bought on the internet or via procurement software packages.
2013 will see the social salesperson gain credibility and effectiveness as sales teams realize they need expertise as well as the ability to communicate, run a sales process and help the customer solve their problems, pains and challenges.
Salespeople will become experts who sell.
Cloud based CRM Social Media B2B
Cloud based CRM is not a new idea. CRM or Customer Relationship Management software has gradually migrated from desktops to the cloud. Once there, it changes everything.
Successful sales people and their managers run their business lives through their CRM software. Using tablets, mobile devices, mobile phones salespeople can log their calls and visits, update the customer profiles, forecast their pipeline, communicate chat to each other and keep focused on their sales goals and activity. Sales managers and support teams can work alongside the salesperson to help the customer online or in person.This is what Social media B2B is all about. Salespeople will be seen as a benefit of doing business with the company.
Social selling involves everyone in the organisation to be involved in the sales process and each person knowing what the other person is doing. The CRM helps here. More companies will train their staff in all aspects of the sales process and it’s they that will develop the competitive advantage.
Sales people might be considering their sales messages to customers and how sticky these are? Particularly their online messages and communications, can they add an element of WIPE to the way it’s delivered. If they don’t others will and gain a competitive advantage.
Online video Marketing for Social Media B2B
The vast majority of Social Media B2B websites are stationary, still, lifeless. Online video will see a considerable growth in 2013 in the field of sales and sales coaching. Online video is being increasingly consumed using mobile devices such as your phone or tablet, which makes it easier to view. Video can be put out on YouTube, websites, Facebook, Tweets and companies will want to seriously consider putting out more video in 2013. Not the stale corporate stuff but videos of the people, the humans behind the product and service.
More of us will be creating short snippets of video and letting their customer watch the video rather than read an email or written note. Proposals can be accompanied with a video of you talking through the key points or if a customer has asked for more information, send them a video showing how the product works or can help them. Not from the shelf but created fresh.SoLoMo – Social Local MobileA new buzz word for 2013. Social, Local, Mobile. It means that customers want to sell to them in a social manner, using social media, locally, so they can use their mobile device to communicate with you and their friends at the same time.
This is a seriously scary trend brought about by mobile device popularity and their ability to locate wherever you are to a foot. Consumers want advertising to be local to them, delivered via their phone and done socially. Bulk advertising, expensive TV commercials, mass mailings are all thing of the past!
Google Live Hangouts
Salespeople and sales managers in 2013 will see the move towards proper video conferences where people can look each other in the eye as they talk to one another; watch some body language and plenty of facial language to help communicate with each other. Google Live Hangouts is a great tool for social media B2B company’s, no more send out Sales reps to long distant locations. Now with social media B2B tools like video chat and hangouts a client face to face is only a click away.
Google hangouts works with their social media B2B sites – Google Plus – not as popular as Facebook but the same concept. You can start a hangout with anyone in your circles, up to 10 people and have a meeting, a conversation, a hangout with each other on screen. The videos of each person will be shown to everyone on the hangout. Everyone can talk, listen and enjoy.
You can also opt to have the whole thing live screened to YouTube. Suddenly the game changes. You can have as many people as you want view the hangout on your YouTube Channel and once it’s over, a recording will be automatically posted to your channel.
For sales managers I can see this technology being used to run sales meetings, run client meetings just like Webex is being used today. The main difference is video and the use of mobile devices, after all, Google + and YouTube needs no additional software. As salespeople merge into experts who sell, the live video can be used to demonstrate expertise, teach, educate and promote on a local level.
The decline of email
Email use is declining and 2013 will see this trend accelerating. Viruses, Spam folders haven’t helped but the greatest impact is on the younger generation’s use of email. They just don’t dig email.
It’s not going to disappear overnight and will remain hugely important but the message for 2013 is… discover another way to communicate online with your customers. This may be via social media chat, texting , Skype, YouTube, and there’s all the phone.
If you liked this article and would like to learn more, make sure to check out the The SoLoMo BLOG we the social are changing media as we know it.
Visit The SoLoMo Guide for the social media B2B salesmen who want to socialize their market.
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