Social Networking is a Team Sport
May 24, 2010
Sales from Your Social Networks – The Place for Unlimited Leads
June 10, 2010

By Dean DeLisle

Now that Social Media has had its time at the plate, many companies and marketers have figured out how to leverage the world of content and distribution to gain exposure, launch products and services, increase brand awareness, generate leads, and even increase attendance in events.   However, let’s not forget that the goal for all businesses is to generate sales and increase revenue.

So how are sales being executed and who is succeeding?

First question is how are companies getting sales from Social Networks simply by working them? We always say any good Social Network such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter is like a big tradeshow – giant networking events.  Yet, you would not take your valuable time and take the trouble to go to a tradeshow or networking event and not have a single conversation, right?  In fact, if you’re really good, you will actually find out something about the event before you attend, correct?  Well why should a Social Network be any different?  You can find people of similar Industry, Interest, Cause, Profession, Title or Expertise.  You can even find relevant conversations that either directly ask you for your expertise or at least allow you to participate in less time than a live event.  Now while nothing will replace an actual live event, with the level of information available at a single click, it sure saves a lot of time so that we can have some real and relevant direct connections in much less time!  This is all without the expense or time that an actual show involves.  So why join LinkedIn without engaging in conversation?

Now that we have the part about communication down, what’s the next step to lead one to sales?  How about highly qualified appointments?  Well, if you have a targeted industry-specific tradeshow with relevant conversations looking for an expert just like you, why wouldn’t you actually take some of those people and invite them to a meeting?  Then once you have them in a meeting, why wouldn’t you then determine their need, send them a proposal, and eventually close the sale?  This sounds like what most companies do with leads.  So if I understand this correctly – your Social Network should be a source for unlimited targeted leads – right?

Oh and for the companies who actually are getting them, that’s simple too!  The ones that show up to the show and work it regularly always win!