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Apr 21 2015

Social Selling: What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong?

Ready to bleed out of your eye sockets? I certainly am – and it has nothing to do with the usual corporate PR missteps or business foul-ups that we often study here on the blog.

Three Profile Views

I have heard the term “social selling” way too often this week. Everywhere I seem to turn on social media, there’s another pundit talking about social selling. It’s often done in the context of one tool or another – “Use LinkedIn to grow your network and sell to them,” or “Spend twenty minutes a day on Twitter to maximize your funnel.” Social Selling – an awesome concept in theory, but…What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong?

Lots, people. Lots and lots and lots could possibly go wrong. And I’m here to share a few of the things I’m seeing – “ripped from the headlines,” so to speak.

1. You’re Thinking “Tool (or Technology or Tactic) FIRST”

So you know where I’m coming from…I have worked with some brilliant people in my 20-plus year career. Marketers. Sales Executives. Operations Leaders. Front-line Dynamos. I’ve watched as people created magic out of thin air, or “sold the sizzle” in sales speak.

The common theme is that they either understood the strategy or created a clear strategy that optimized everyone’s chance for success. You knew, for instance, exactly WHY you were doing something (putting all of the Trade Show Calendar into a spreadsheet) and WHAT that something would be used for (discussion with the CEO on which events were most important and what sort of budget and staffing would support the Trade Show Calendar). It’s a lot less painful to do that research when you know exactly why you’re doing that research. Excel and your love of Pivot Tables does not drive your Trade Show Calendar – the chance to drive real business outcomes (in the form of a ginormous stack of leads that can be turned into either qualified prospects or people who might want to receive more information over time) drives your Trade Show Calendar.

Ages ago – in Internet time, maybe epochs ago – Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li wrote a book called “Groundswell” that was, at the time, groundbreaking. The key learning from this book (for me, at least) was the concept of “POST.” People (who you’re wanting to connect with), Objective (what you want to accomplish from connecting with them), Strategy (the series of tactics that will get you to the desired objective), and then and only then…Technology (Twitter, LinkedIn, Your Blog, etc.).

Today’s “Social Selling” Love-Fest seems to stem entirely from love of Technology, Tactic, or Tool. And that is part of what’s driving me insane.

The guy or gal who understands LinkedIn is leveraging his or her ubiquity on that platform into “let’s do a social selling thing!” gigs. They then meander into HQ, signed up by someone in a sales role who says “let’s get the social person here,” and then…BOOM! There’s a training session! There’s a rah-rah speech! The needle is moved!

That last part is highly questionable.

Why doesn’t it work? Scroll back up there to the WHY behind the WHAT. Which brings us to point two:

2. You’re Just a Number, Just Moving Through the Funnel

Yup, that’s the other problem here – You actually ARE just a number.

I don’t mean to diminish the fine work being done by some folks in “Social Selling.” However, those people are rare birds.

What is more likely is a process that looks like this:

  1. Boss says “do social selling.”
  2. Given a playbook, front-line sales person starts blasting out notes, or focusing on scattershot “content marketing,” or decides to build their LinkedIn network purely for the purpose of having a spreadsheet of contacts.
  3. Front-line sales person then tracks everything – because you have to prove the value of social selling, and because Boss has likely paid big bucks for some solution (LinkedIn, Salesforce, etc.).
  4. Numbers are tracked and…
  5. It doesn’t work. Something breaks down somewhere.

I’ve seen this movie over and over. There’s rarely a strategy, rarely an objective. Instead, it’s just someone protecting his or her own turf.

Time to Move On to the Next Hot Thing

I had a consulting project several years ago that was eerily similar to a lot of the above. “Social Selling” was…well let’s just say there was a different social media tactic, and the idea was that it – could have been Twitter, could have been Facebook, could have been Plaxo – was going to change the way this company did business.

But the company didn’t even embrace clarity around what the heck they were doing, instead holding onto a “dog” of a product, and wanting social to dig them out of a hole that social wasn’t going to dig them out of.

It was a short project for me, doomed to fail; we met some of the objectives but it was an impossible task.

What Wins? CLARITY

If you’re selling something enterprise-wide, you’re not going to win through a Social Selling campaign alone. You know that, and management should know that. What you should demand is clarity:

  1. Clarity of Objective. What are we trying to accomplish?
  2. Clarity of Message. What message are we looking to convey, when, and to whom?
  3. Clarity of Strategy. Why are you building the trade show calendar again?
  4. Clarity of Tactics. At some point, you will need to figure out which ones to cross off the list. You can’t be everywhere – and you can’t fall in love with LinkedIn or Twitter or Facebook just because it’s cool. Go back again to point 1 and repeat.

I don’t think “Social Selling” is inherently bad. I just wish it accompanied some good old fashioned thinking. And wasn’t a substitute for a real, live strategy.

 

Written by Dave · Categorized: LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Trends · Tagged: linkedin, social selling

Apr 05 2011

Practice Safe Networking

Linked In Logo
Friendly Faceless LinkedIn Logo Guy
A friend uses this saying quite a bit. And he’s not kidding.

When I try to explain the difference between “social media” an “social networking,” I usually go this direction:

Social Media: Connecting information from people, places and things with technology to tell stories online.

Social Networking: Connecting people through technology to form real relationships, online and off.

The differences between the two might seem subtle, but, if you focus on the “Social Networking” definition, you’ll see why we want to focus on the title – “Practice Safe Networking” and get you to think differently about how you approach social networking.

How to Practice Safe Networking

The same friend I referenced above knows my strengths and weaknesses. Knows what I’m up to professionally. And knows how I can help him.

Whether he keeps a file on me or not is a whole other story – but, suffice it to say, if I ask him for a contact, it’s for a very specific reason.

Sometimes, it’s because I know he worked at a certain company. Other times, it’s because I see someone listed on his LinkedIn contacts.

“Hey, I’d like to connect with Mary Jones in HR at XYZ Corp.” That is not likely to get a positive response from him – nor would the same request get a positive response from me if you asked me. (Are we connected on LinkedIn yet? If not, this could make a heck of a lot more sense if we did connect.)

Tip #1: Always Have a Specific Reason for the Connection

“Hey, I’ve got a question about Mary Jones in HR at XYZ Corp. You two are connected on LinkedIn. Do you know her very well? I have a friend who is running a startup and they are looking for someone to head up HR, with a Comp and Benefits focus. From Mary’s bio, it looks like she’s got the right skillset. Do you think you could connect us via email?”

Odds of a connection are 50/50. Since this person knows me pretty well and I know him pretty well, the BS meter is always going off. If either of us detects it, then we’ll say so. “Great potential, but I know her well enough to know that if it’s not a pretty interesting company, then she won’t be interested.” OR “Our paths hardly crossed; I heard great things about her, but an intro from me would be pointless.”

Tip #2: It’s Not About Me. It’s About You.

When I reconnected with a former colleague recently, he asked tons of questions about what I was up to. Then, he started revisiting his own databank of people to connect me with – focusing on those that could help with my current endeavors.

Not-so-subtle hint: This is one of my current endeavors. 12 Minute Marketing. Now, back to regular programming.

This was a nice gesture on his part. And, maybe, down the road, I’ll be able to help him by making a connection that can help him with his current endeavors.

Tip #3: Pick Up The Phone.

Can’t stress this enough. Call. On the Phone.

Normally, the amount of time it takes you to craft the right email is 10 times what it would take you to find the phone number and reconnect.

Tip #4: Karma Bank.

Keep paying it and paying it. BUT to the extent that you’re not mucking up the Mojo you’ll need for our fifth and final tip.

Tip #5: Your Ace Connections are an Extension of You.

This is why I “get” LinkedIn, I don’t “get” Hashable, and I still love doing the Social Networking thing the old fashioned way.

If I send my friend the banker in the direction of another friend who is running a startup, I only do this because my friend the banker is someone I would have a beer with, and whose bank is someone I have done business with. And because the startup executive is someone I trust, and would also have a beer with.

(Beer doesn’t have to be the common thread. Still…)

Even the seemingly random “hey, you should talk to this guy” requests you might get are an extension of the person sending the request. Why should I talk to this guy?

Beyond that, requests to talk to one of your guys can come back to bite you. Wasting the time of one of your ace contacts is a surefire way to see that ace contact start recommending you less and less.

We’re done. For now. Be careful out there.

Written by Dave · Categorized: LinkedIn, Uncategorized · Tagged: safe networking

Jan 05 2011

Learn from the Big Boys – Connections R Us

Fiber Optics
Thanks, watradehub.com
Want to be a real, live, in-the-flesh Social Media Marketer Extraordinaire? Start with these steps. Seriously.

The Daily Dose of Advice comes from Scott Stratten, UnMarketing himself.

“Reminder to take 5 minutes to reply to others today. Engage. Interact. Build.”

But how, really, truly, do you DO that? And can you invest only 5 minutes and make connections?

Well, yes. And no. We went with 10 minutes, you may want 15 or 20 or 30. But 2011 is all about small steps toward big things. So here goes.

1. Set the e.ggtimer. We said that you can learn from the big boys here, and there’s no bigger boy in the world of lifestyle redesign than Tim Ferriss. He’s the guy who first tipped us onto the timer. It is awesome for two reasons: (1) simplicity and (2) keeping you on task. We recommend you set it for 10 Minutes.

2. Begin surfing. We recommend you do this BEFORE looking at emails but AFTER getting your daily fix of Facebook and Twitter. Why? You want to get some mental cues from what you’ve seen on those sites – but you don’t want to make this reliant on what work is clogging your inbox.

Huh? Well, there are folks we are friends with on Facebook and connected with on Twitter who aren’t world famous. That’s part of the mission here. Learn from the Big Boys, but connect with the others, too.

3. Comment if you have something to add. We hit up a couple sites upon the recommendations of friends and contacts. On Quora, which is getting a tremendous amount of buzz, we had, well, nothing to add. Yet. But the standout site from Danny Brown got us thinking. And commenting.

4. Keep track. Chris Brogan recommends a spreadsheet or a Google Doc or a CRM program. Awesome.

Is that it?

Well, this should be part of a daily ritual. ESPECIALLY if you want to make real connections with real people.

Written by Dave · Categorized: blogging, brand communications, Influencers, LinkedIn, PR, smm, Social Trends · Tagged: connections

Dec 30 2010

40

40
Thanks, life123.com
It has arrived. That wisdom that comes with a birthday that is divisible by 10.

What’s crazy is that I find myself ruminating on the past 10 years – thinking back to how turning 30 made me “legitimate,” and started a decade of, well, lots of stuff.

Is ruminating the right word?

Well, the very last thing I want anyone to do is be subjected to a load of crap on this site. So, instead, here are a few things I’ve picked up in the past decade:

  1. Your significant other is likely definitely smarter than you.
  2. Trust your gut.
  3. If you have to choose between two or more opportunities: take the job (or gig or client engagement) that pays more money.
  4. Some people will never get what they deserve. Get over it.
  5. Often, the job that no one else wants is the job that provides the best opportunity for you.
  6. Don’t be afraid of failure. (I ran a startup called U Sphere; it went under. People still ask me about it, want to know what I learned.)
  7. Ideas are like water: the only way you’ll know if your idea is worth anything is to try to do something with it.
  8. Remove toxic people from your life.
  9. Working by yourself has its pluses and minuses. Consider both.
  10. Don’t get hung up on what you name the product or service or business. Give it thought, sure, but there are more important things to worry about.
  11. Avoid companies that are traded on the pink sheets.
  12. Pick up the phone.
  13. Don’t leave a voice mail message unless you absolutely have to.
  14. Don’t read your own press clippings, if you have any.
  15. When launching a business, think about sales cycle. If you call a prospect and they ask you to call back “next year at this time,” you are in the wrong business.
  16. Put the Blackberry down when you’re eating dinner. (Kid #1 told me this in 2005. Stuck with me.)
  17. The direct route is the best.
  18. Being a Cubs fan is torture. Think long and hard before subscribing.
  19. Being a Bengals fan means you don’t have to worry about watching the NFL playoffs.
  20. A plus for someone in your circle does not necessarily mean a minus for someone else. Happiness is not a zero sum game.
  21. If your business card is not a conversation piece, then you probably don’t need to hand it out.
  22. Guys: on a two-button sportcoat, button the top button. On a three-button sportcoat, button the middle button.
  23. If the boss asks you to lie, don’t do it. You may well lose your job, but you’ll be able to live with yourself.
  24. If the other side in a negotiation won’t tell you who they are, who they are working for, or what they want with you, move on. It’s not a negotiation, anyway.
  25. Adoption is just another way to build a family. Doesn’t make adoptive parents or kids any more or less special than anyone else. Just different.
  26. Corporate America loves to say they’re “entrepreneurial.” However, at the end of the day, Corporate America hates hiring “entrepreneurs.”
  27. Empathy is a nice trait.
  28. So is politeness.
  29. Belt and shoes should match.
  30. You can wear an inexpensive suit – but if you add a pocket square, you’ll make it look much more expensive than it is.
  31. Socks are an extension of the pant. Same color is best.
  32. Your children may think someone else has a cooler job than you. That’s okay.
  33. The best emails are sometimes the ones never sent. Ditto for tweets and Facebook posts.
  34. Some people don’t want to have kids. Asking them why they don’t have kids is not cool.
  35. Ditto people who are single.
  36. The best way to build a business is to actually build a business.
  37. Never turn down a chance to sit with a VC person, even if only for 10 minutes. And don’t waste their time: be succinct.
  38. Life’s about way more than business. Maybe your passion is business, maybe it’s something else altogether.
  39. Faith, Hope and Love are very important things.
  40. The greatest of these, without a doubt, is love. (Yes, that’s Biblical.)

I’ve made connections, made friends, learned a ton, and am so very grateful for your time, your thoughts, your comments, and you just being you. All of you. You know who you are.

Thanks.

Written by Dave · Categorized: Buzzwords, CEOs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Uncategorized · Tagged: 40

Dec 02 2010

A Tweak for Knob Creek

A survey, of whiskey drinkers, on LinkedIn.

Poll from Knob Creek on LinkedInWe are not sure this is the best use of brand dollars by Knob Creek.

With all due respect…this is just not focused. It’s the opposite of Nichification. Don’t despair, whiskey drinker…We’ll give some advice below.

First, the background:

Visiting LinkedIn, and someone in our network, who is in the SEO space and appears to be a rather smart cookie, had the ad you see over there right below all of the “Send a Message,” “See Profile” options.

And this jumped out at us.

What’s wrong with it?

Well, first of all, truth be told, we’re not against the marketing of alcoholic beverages. And we’ll assume that LinkedIn has a filter of some sort that only shows this particular ad to people who are above 21 years of age.

Once you get past that…Is LinkedIn really the place to ask questions about whiskey?

You’re on LinkedIn for professional connections. Professional networking. So, when I’m seeing what one of the smarter SEO people in the planet is up to lately – am I even in the mood to talk whiskey?

Beyond that…this is a poorly worded Poll.

They’re asking two questions. The first one asks if I’m a fan. What if I’m not? What if I’ve never tried the stuff? What if I don’t know the difference between Knob Creek and Boon’s Farm?

What if I don’t know the difference between “complex flavor” and “full-flavored?”

Since Area 224 is looking out for you, brand marketers, we’re not just going to raise a problem – we’re going to propose a SOLUTION.

In three steps.

Step 1 – Scrap the poll.

I’m not inclined to vote for or against alcohol when I’m on LinkedIn. I’m treating LinkedIn like a combination of Twitter and Google – I want to see what my network is up to professionally, but I’m also searching for something or someone.

Step 2 – Buy a bunch of laser-focused keyword ads.

You can spend just as much if you know what you are doing. If you don’t know what you are doing, find someone who does and get them to buy the ads for you.

Step 3 – Reach out to a bunch of bloggers and see if they want to try your stuff.

Turn them loose – let them comment on the full-flavor, or the fine craftsmanship, or the fact that they can really taste the aging. Or not.

You can invest probably a couple grand, watch what gets said, and get so many more insights than you’d get from the LinkedIn poll.

You’re welcome.

 

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Written by Dave · Categorized: brand communications, Influencers, LinkedIn, Martini Glass, Nichification · Tagged: Nichification

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