According to the definition in Wikipedia, Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself (e.g. "Everyone is out to get me").
Get ready we are going old school, back to the early 80's ... bring on The Kinks. Who doesn't remember the iconic lyrics, (sing along with me) "Met a girl called Lola and I took her back to my place Feelin' guilty, feelin' scared, hidden cameras everywhere Stop! hold on, stay in control." You may be thinking what the heck does this have to do with anything? Read on...
Self-destroyer, wreck your health 
Destroy friends, destroy yourself
The time device of, self-destruction
Lies, confusion, start eruption
(yea, it goes like this, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(here's to paranoia) paranoia, they destroy ya
(hey hey, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(and it goes like this)
Paranoia, they destroy ya (and it goes like this)
Getting the picture yet?
A sales manager devises strategies and techniques necessary for achieving the sales targets. He is the one who decides the future course of action for his team members.
It is the sales manager’s duty to map potential customers and generate leads for the organization. He should look forward to generating new opportunities for the organization. Prospecting for net new business is jet fuel for any business.
Then I ask one question to all sales managers, “What is the paranoia surrounding your sales reps becoming active on LinkedIn?”
The role of the B2B sales professional has changed. Incorporating the use of “social selling” on the web is not a fad. It is not going away any time soon, but rather has fundamentally changed the role between the buyer and the seller. By not acknowledging and supporting these changes, and continuing to use excuses for not actively participating in “social selling ”, your sales team are at risk of becoming less relevant and less visible to your prospects and customers.
Number 1 excuse “I don’t want my competition to know what my sales people are doing.” Here are a few others:
“Too busy to spend time on this stuff.”
”I value my privacy and don’t want to expose it online.”
”I don’t have anything to offer.”
”I have established customers, so it doesn’t matter.”
”I don’t know how to do it.
“I need proof.”
Lets work together to remove these excuses and foster a culture of encouragement.
According to a recent 2014 study by IDC, Social Buying Meets Social Selling, “84% of C-level/V.P. executives surveyed use social media to make purchasing decisions.”
To the Sales Managers out there, your customers and future prospects are online, and they are active on the social sites. They are asking questions, sharing experiences and making recommendations. They are seeking help and knowledge to help solve their business problems. They are looking for providers for their needs. By not engaging and supporting your sales reps then how can they find you?
Your competition is visible and lets face it you are all “calling” on the same accounts. Lets get real to think your sales reps are the only one calling on these accounts. More importantly take notion to the ones engaged as they are benefiting from your lack of involvement. They are answering questions that your customers are asking on LinkedIn, Twitter or LinkedIn Groups. They are reading blogs that are providing the latest solutions and changes in their industry.
It is about encouraging your sales reps to build their relationship funnel in order to grow healthy sales funnels. If you want to shorten your sales reps sales cycles and improve your sales team’s results, please set aside the excuses and get in the ball-game.
Check out my special report, A Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn
Today’s modern buyers are searching and reviewing your sales reps LinkedIn profile's every day. This is stop number 1 when they want to learn more about your sales reps. I ask you to give thought to this question, “What is the digital first impression of your sales reps?” What are your clients and prospects seeing when they stop by? Are they promoting their business story? Take a few minutes to check out your sales reps LinkedIn profiles. What do you see? Do you see someone with few connections, no recommendations, no interest or activity in their industry, no photo or better yet no real reason to get to know them or even buy from them?
To quote, Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com, Inc. “The best salespeople are people who build relationships.” LinkedIn has become the B2B platform for sales professionals to build these relationships. LinkedIn provides your sales reps a digital canvas; a window into their business soul; their website to promote their business story. Just as your company leverages their website to promote themselves to the business community your sales reps should be doing the same with their LinkedIn profile. Your sales reps are the face of your company to the business community.
Jim Steele, Sales President of Inside View, "Information is the most important weapon for a salesperson, and it is no longer how you look in a suit but how your relationship is. You are helping your customer achieve strategic advantage with your technology and tools."
Building relationships is a driving force is building consistent sales pipelines.
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 their 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 and www.dealermarketing.net
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