Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill was released on June 13, 1995. It is one of the most successful albums of the 1990s. It peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was the first album to reach both 12 million (in February 1997) and 13 million (in August 1998) in sales in the US since 1991.

 

We all know from our childhood when we weren’t feeling well, mom was always right by our side singing the Mary Poppins classic, “A spoonful of sugar…” Well no need to continue as you may be reciting the rest in your head.

 

What does Alanis Morissette and Mary Poppins have to do with any of this? Well, 1995 was a technology transition year. Growing up in the copier/office automation industry, Ricoh introduced to the business world the Imagio MF200, a digital photocopier. Ricoh laid the groundwork as this device (regardless if it worked correctly) forever changed how office workers could copy and print documents. 

 

 

Though an analog copier and a digital copier did the same thing, make copies, they did it differently. Sales reps had to learn a new set of skills in order to market this technology to corporations. In order to find these opportunities sales reps had to prospect, yes prospect.

 

In the analog days, sales reps wore out shoe leather while logging miles upon miles walking their respective territories to find sales opportunities. I remember when I started in the copier industry in 1988 it was 50 cold calls per day. Once you gathered 50 business cards you came back to the office to prove to your sales manager you made these visits and then the fun began. You had to swallow the spoonful of sugar and start calling all 50 to set up sales appointments.

 

Analog prospecting consisted of cold calls, phone calls, use of the mail and the fax machine, all to capture the attention of the executive buyer. Oh boy, I cringe just thinking about call scripts, card boxes, yellow pages and tally sheets.

It is 2015 and times have changed. Analog prospecting in a digital world is no longer effective.

 

 

  • 90% of C-suite executive say they never respond to cold calls or email blasts (source: Harvard Business Review)
  • Only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment (source: Leap Job)

Sales Managers out there, let me introduce you to your sales department’s two best friends:

             

 

 

 

Time to swallow the “jagged little digital pill” and learn to prospect in the 21st century.

 

Sales managers and sales reps, Google has forever changed the sales profession. Google has made it easy for anybody to find anything by simply typing in a question which guides them to an answer.

 

To grab the attention of the modern executive buyer, sales reps today must learn how to become social digital detectives.

 

Integrating social selling concepts into the sales process will create sales opportunities unmatched by still using analog prospecting methods.

 

Social selling is not a buzzword nor a sales fad. It has become a crucial way for successful sales teams to communicate with their prospects and clients.

 

To quote one of my LinkedIn friends, Jill Rowley. “Social selling is technology-enabled research, networking, and relationship building.”

 

How we cleverly capture, converse, collaborate and connect with the executive buyer will determine our sales success in the 21st century.

  • 89% of customers begin their buying process with a search engine (source: Fleishman-Hillard)
  • 75% of customers say they use social media as part of the buying process (source:IBM)
  • You are almost 5X more likely to schedule a first meeting if you have a personal LinkedIn connection (source: Sales Benchmark Series)

As a society, we spend more time on search engines and social networks seeking out, researching, and connecting with products we’re going to buy along with the people who we want do to do business with than we do on our phones. As a result, buyers believe they don’t need to speak to a salesperson until they are further along in the their buying process.

 

When the time comes to speak to a sales rep, the person who is most relevant and top of mind is more likely to be the sales rep who gets the business. It’s more likely the sales rep will be found through an association established on the internet and social media than it is through a cold call.

 

Our ability to kick start conversations online, build relationships online, position ourselves as subject matter experts online and how we drive these to offline meetings in order to drive sales revenue will be the keys to sales success.

Here is my challenge to V.P. of Sales and Sales Managers: Your choice

 

We live in a hyper connected society. We all have instant access to anything at any time. Therefore sales professionals must position themselves online and start engaging with the modern executive buyer who is:

  • Digitally driven, socially connected and mobile empowered.
  • Has unlimited access to real-time information about your company, products, competitors & customers

The spoonful of digital prospecting sugar will definitely help your sales team’s sales funnels in the most delightful way.

 

If you enjoyed this post please share your comments. Lets connect and start a conversation. You can send me a personalized invitation through my LinkedIn profile

 

If you enjoyed reading please check out more at the Dealer Marketing blog site as well as the Social Sales Academy

 

Check out some of my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

I enjoy sharing my LinkedIn stories. LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. I transform and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter,www.dealermarketing.net/what-we-do/linkedin,  www.dealermarketing.net, and at Social Sales Academy