Inside Sales Lead Management Featured Article

Every sales organization in the world is grappling with the effects of social media on their business today. Whether they’re actively embracing it or trying hard to fend it off, it’s causing them work. Depending on a company’s target demographic, social may be even more critical. While organizations interested in amassing millennial customers may need to be far more active in social, it’s safe to say the makers of the “Hoveround,” (an updated wheelchair) for example, can still rely on the telephone to reach their silver-haired customers.

But there are no organizations that can ignore the social channel completely. Sales experts disagree with how profound an effect the channel will have on the sales profession going forward, but few recommend discounting it altogether.  While it can’t be the basis for your entire selling effort, it needs to be an important component, not only for prospecting and gathering leads, but for follow-up with existing customers. What’s critical to keep in mind, however, is that the social channel is never static and is forever changing. In a recent blog post, VanillaSoft CEO Kevin Thornton exhorts readers to remember the initial popularity of MySpace (News - Alert). (Remember MySpace?) Even for existing popular channels, changes happen regularly.

“Last September Facebook implemented an algorithm change to the newsfeed that left brands hurting when it came to organic reach through Facebook (News - Alert),” wrote Thornton. “Twitter is playing with new ideas that will potentially affect your ability as a brand or business to reach customers. Does that mean the end of reach through social media? No, of course not, but it does mean that social media changes all the time.”

It’s also important to remember that social media is simply a tool, and not a cure-all, and not everything can be accomplished through those channels. Successful sales organizations can use it to build their own brand and “own” it, according to Thornton.

“While you are learning and adapting to new platforms, wouldn’t it be nice to own your own medium to distribute your message? Social media is merely a tool – a tool that someone else owns and he or she lets you play there. Your website, your phone, your email: these are all things you ‘own’ as a business or a sales professional.”

Successful organizations will continue to use the telephone heavily, and build complementary social media campaigns that distribute resources through the social channels that the company has found to work. (Don’t waste time in underperforming channels.)  Facebook may be the most visible, but it may not be the most effective for you. LinkedIn may be your best bet in a business-to-business environment. Twitter (News - Alert) is important, but be sure to examine best-practices for your industry when it comes to this channel. Visual channels like Snapchat and Instagram are also important, according to Thornton.

“Find a way to make it visual – factoids on images, quick clips with an insurance tip of the day, etc.,” he said.

Intelligent experimentation will likely yield insight into what works for your business and what doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to try new things, but recognize when something’s not working and be nimble enough to make changes.