Prospecting with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media
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“All activities within the sales process are important,” says Eric Wasser in The Miller Heiman Prospecting Guide: Best Practices for Maximizing New Business Development, “but to reduce how low you go into the valleys of your sales cycle, prospecting must be a top priority – right behind closing business.” There’s been a lot of buzz currently about the challenges of prospecting today. There’s not been quite so much talk about the new tools we have to help us overcome those challenges. The growing world of online social media is real, and it’s pulling real money. Computer manufacturer Dell is reported to have moved over one million dollars in merchandise through its use of Twitter. In addition to the new ways to sell to customers are new ways to find them. Sales 2.0 tools can make prospecting more efficient.
“Networking isn’t new,” says Miller Heiman sales Vice President Rich Blakeman. “This isn’t a new idea. The online practice is just a new way to do it. The same people that were effective before are effective now, but these new tools make it easier.” Understanding how these tools work and what they can do for you is key, as is working within the unwritten etiquette of online social media.
The first and most immediate benefit social networking sites offer is improved researching. Tools like LinkedIn make it very easy to see who is where in an organization, as well as keep up with old friends and contacts. There’s no longer any excuse to lose touch with college friends, co-workers, and colleagues. You can also see what they’re doing now, who they’re working for and with, and get some sense of their own networks. You can, in short, more easily see how and where they can be used as resources in your own prospecting. Says Paul Pellman, executive vice president of Hoover’s:
It’s very important for a salesperson to understand all the different influencers and decision makers vs. gatekeepers. How are you going to find that champion to support you? The more you can leverage different relationships, the better able you are to find the right path into the organization.
Finding who to call and how they might help can now be done with the click of a mouse. Blakeman points out, “The people most likely to return calls to provide helpful information are easily identifiable inside a professional networking site.” With a bit of work, you should be able to identify someone most likely to act as a coach and advocate, providing information on optimal buying influences and how to best approach them.
Even without this kind of coach, social networking can tell you what a potential client organization has on its collective mind. Hiring and promotions, new initiatives, and corporate “tweets” can all provide clues as to a company’s challenges and goals. Understanding a prospect’s business issues can help you focus your prospecting efforts and tailor conversations towards helping them with these issues.
If the world of social media is still new to you, feel free to get started by joining Miller Heiman on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Image credits: szlea, Mario Sundar.
Dave Stein
May 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am
This is an important post.
Our recent research on the use of the “new social media” (Twitter and Facebook) and some of the more established online applications (LinkedIn, Hoover’s, etc.) among B2B sales people shows they aren’t winning business with Twitter or Facebook. At least not right now.
With that being said, we have real concerns about Twitter (for example) being used by individual B2B sales reps.
First of all, it can be a real time waster, and a distraction from learning and applying the skills required to win B2B sales opportunities. Twitter isn’t a silver bullet. It doesn’t replace the activities required for effective and efficient B2B selling, and never will.
Secondly, a company’s deployment of Twitter or any other “public” communication mechanism must be an integrated component of an overall corporate strategy. Having salespeople tweeting their perceptions of reality without guidelines is dangerous in so many ways.
Dell is only one company that has this figured out. There are many more. But diving headlong into Twitter–either on an individual or company level–without a plan, is rife with risk.
Cody Dream-Life-Coaching
May 13th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Good article, I find the social media a critical part of finding qualified leads.
Steve Dodd
May 13th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Dave, I totally agree that this is a very important post.. Social Media for Sales (2.0) is all about many tools and technologies. The key message here is “Research” which is where I think most people discussing this subject (obviously excluding the author) miss the point. There is all together too much discussion about communications techniques like Twitter etc. and not enough about the research value for lead generation. The focus is not about closing sales! No single technology of any kind closes deals. They all contribute to the closing effort. But, social media has provided a new vehicle to find and qualify opportunities as well as properly position them. The communications and relationship aspects need further development for sure. But, as many have said before me, email 10 – 12 years ago had the same reputation as the Twitters of the world do today. In some cases (a growing number) the use of these relationship and communications tools is evolving rapidly.
Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when my CRM consolidates all of this 2.0 technology so I can become more effective with its use.
Silver Dollar Coin
May 17th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Nice site! Will come back again – taking your feed as well, Thanks.
Social Media IS A Viable Sales Tool « Evolutionary Leadership & Sales
May 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
[...] blog posted by Miller Heiman which reinforces my view of social media and selling. The blog, titled Prospecting with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media, written by Brian Murphy. Brian talks about the effective use of social media in [...]
KeHoeff
May 28th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
hey this is a very interesting article!
CHRISTINE
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
I always look forward to your new posts, I learn more compared to school. Always looking forward. Thank you.
Twitter Traffic Stats
July 6th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Definitely worth the read
Dirk
July 20th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Your post Prospecting with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media | Miller Heiman Sales Strategy was very interesting when I found it over google on Tuesday by my search for hoovers.com. I have your blog now in my bookmarks and I visit your blog again, soon. Take care.
Expert in My Niche
December 13th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Good post, nice info. One of my favorite topics, very few good writers out there.