"As connected as we are with technology, it's also removed us from having to have human connection, made it more convenient to not be intimate."
Sandra Bullock
Social platforms have become the hot spot for distortions, where the real versions of who we are remain backstage. We take selfies, photoshop, curate and upload the best we got.
Then we hold our breath and pray for some attention.
Think like your client or a buyer for a moment... do ever wonder if this runs through their mind?
"Stop trying to impress me. I can make up my own mind about whether I like you; trust you; or even believe you. You don’t have to make up my mind for me."
Many of you are fighting to been seen but how many are truly breaking free to be heard?
On the flip side of this, successful sales professionals build extremely valuable social networks. They develop, nurture, cultivate, listen and invest considerable time in humanizing them.
Let's all stop and think for a moment...
When it comes to the use of "social" are you serving and educating or fulfilling your own ego?
The human connection must be placed front and center within your strategic plan for social sales success. We're all wired to connect. It is part of the prescription for health and happiness. It's how we influence and lead.
In his book, Social, Matthew Lieberman explains the “need to connect is as fundamental as our need for food and water.” But if we are wired to connect, why is this so difficult to do through social channels?
CONVERSATIONS
How many times have you heard this from social media darlings, pundits and gurus?
Content leads to conversations.
If content leads to conversations, then why do so many engage with social emoji waves, or comments such as, "Great post", "Well said", or "Great insights"?
Here's the deal my friends...
Content leads to conversation and without real conversation it is nothing more than social graffiti
Content is the appetizer; conversation is the main course.
Conversations, whether online, face to face or on the phone are the strongest sales tool you have in order to effectively build credible relationships between your clients, buyers, your brand and your company.
Are you having meaningful social conversations or are you social jousting?
When's the last time you had a conversation, even online, and heard this...
“Wow, this was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had!”
Conversations build relationships, and relationships build businesses.
What do your clients care about? What does your network care about?
They don't care about your canned pitches, outlandish pattern interrupt videos, and braggadocious look at me messaging.
Stop pitching and spraying social graffiti and start opening a human connection and conversation.
Put in the time to create truly connect, engage and relate. Remember the humanity in others.
CONNECT
Anything you wish to accomplish in sales requires people. It must include a lot of them, and you must take action. Even if you're an amazing sales professional, without an active network, you will struggle to consistently succeed.
You're one degree of separation from your best sales opportunity. Unfortunately, many will never know as they fail to truly connect the dots within their networks.
I'm here to inform all of you who have big followers on Twitter, Instagram or tons of connections on LinkedIn, you must engage with your followers and connections.
You must interact. You must communicate. You must acknowledge. You must make them feel special and most of all, make them feel that they have been heard.
Think of providing great big social hugs. You must include an in-person, human component and feel. This is how you build social credibility. You never know when you'll need it but when you do it's heavenly!
When you add authenticity and heart to your network, watch what happens and who engages back. Build a love fest with your network. Do it because you care.
When it comes to the power of connection, Richard Branson stated, "A confident person will try to improve the relationship; an arrogant person will try to prove themselves."
"Connections is not an exchange of information. Connection is an exchange of humanity. It's an exchange of emotion."
Sean Stephenson
ENGAGE
In today's socially crazed business world, we have so many technology platforms to help us do our job better and more efficiently that many have forgotten the heart is at the center of sales.
Few in sales are placing their heart at the center of what they do.
What is at the center of your network? Without a heart healthy network, your network will never come to life.
Technology is wonderful and it runs rampant in the twenty-first century, but we must not forget to humanize it. Many in sales are leveraging technology as they dehumanize sales.
A heartfelt professional leverages and engages the use of technology to humanize their network.
There's incredible power behind genuine engagement with other human beings to drive sales success.
There are too many of you conducting rapid fire social drive-by's and chasing vanity metrics that you fail to stop and smell the social roses of conversations.
RELATE
Connecting with your network is vital. You must make them feel like you truly care, and this means stop looking at them through your socially distorted glasses.
We as human beings want to be heard, we want to know that we matter, and we just want to be loved (or even just liked). When we feel accepted we perform better, we become a bit more relaxed, and we don't come across as being insecure.
Relate this to your network, can the same be said? I will let you answer that one.
I believe being relatable in sales will allow you to stand out from the sea of me-too salespeople. I believe your network is waiting for you to show them who you really are and to share your story.
We all have stories. How well can your network relate to your story? Would they even have a clue what your story is all about?
When you’re relatable, it’s easy to spark a conversation.
When you're having social conversations, be present and be there. Sales professionals make their network feel like they're the only thing that matters. They speak from their heart. So many can smell sincerity the minute you open your social mouth but smell the odors of all about me just as fast.
Show your human side and your real story, you'll be surprised at how well you may connect.
What can you do to become more socially relatable?
RISE UP AND STAND UP
How do you make your network feel? How well are you connecting in order to build community?
When you prance around as social painters, painting the social canvas with graffiti as many of you are jockeying for position to win the Oscar for best social picture, remember the person you're in front of may be saying this to themselves:
- Do you see me?
- Do you hear me?
- Does what I say matter to you?
The time is now for all those in sales to take a heartfelt social stance. Let's all shout from the mountain tops...
We are a new class of genuine, authentic sales professionals!
We are not empty suits!
We know our values and live by them!
We make a difference!
We sell from the heart!
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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