Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/508347
24 FEDA News & Views Is Social Media a Waste of Sales Time? By Sam Richter sam@sbrworldwide.com Waste of Sales Time? sam@sbrworldwide.com By Sam Richter sam@sbrworldwide.com I just finished a two-week business-to-business social media vs. sales experiment with some interesting results. For Week 1, I tracked the amount of time I spent writing, posting, read- ing, interacting, re-tweeting, commenting, providing insight and ideas on various social media sites. I answered questions on blogs, forums, and in groups, and I shared articles and pro- vided value to others identified as being in my buying target audience. I did much of what the social media "experts" say needs to be done to be a successful 21st Century salesperson. For Week 2, I pretty much stayed away from Facebook and spent just a few minutes posting on LinkedIn and Twitter. Instead, I used the same amount of Week 1 social media time making phone calls and connecting with key prospects. For each call, I practiced "sales intelligence" and researched each prospect—both the person and his or her company. My calls were very personal, and my "pitch" was highly relevant to what I knew the other person cared about. THE RESULTS Week 1 I generated a great deal of interest and strengthened my brand. In fact, one of the articles I wrote received more than 125,000 reads and 150 positive comments. All of this work generated a few semi-qualified leads, but it led to zero sales, and zero dollars in my bank account. It did, however, strength- en my position as an industry "Thought Leader." Week 2 I made close to 30 phone calls, leaving voice mails for most, and speaking directly to eight prospects. Following the initial call round, I spoke with/emailed an additional five pros- pects who had returned my earlier calls. This led to closing three new pieces of business, one of which could end up being the largest contract I've ever signed. All of this work did nothing to enhance my expertise or market position. It did, however, add some nice dollars to my bank account and strengthened my position as an industry "Profit Leader." The Conclusion Was this a scientifically valid test? Of course not. Maybe the closed deals were pure luck, timing, or coincidence. Plus, to accurately judge if leveraging social media will improve sales, is a test that should be done over a period of months, not two weeks. Should you conclude that social media, developing a strong personal brand, and positioning oneself as a topic expert and industry thought leader is a waste of time? That would be silly. A personal brand is exceptionally impor- tant in today's world, where buyers have "Buyers Intelligence." Buyers know how to use Google. They know how to search for information on you, your experience, and what others think of you and it's important to have a strong and credible online presence. The social media work done in Week 1 (done consistently, over time) to genuinely engage prospects, answer questions, and provide value will almost certainly generate future opportunities and new leads. Social media should be part of a long-term overall branding and marketing strategy. Yet, at the same time, you also can't argue with the results of this two-week test: Social media efforts equals 0 and daily sales efforts equals $. We all only have so much working time. To practice social media by yourself, in the way most experts recommend, would mean devoting at least an hour per day, five days per week. In that same amount of time, it's reasonable that you could make six sales calls, one conversation, one "call me back later," and four voice mails. During a year, that would mean an additional 1,400 or so calls. I know with 100 percent certainty that if I made 1,400 sales Week 2 I made close to 30 phone calls, leaving voice mails for most, and speaking directly to eight prospects. Following the initial call round, I spoke with/emailed an additional five pros pects who had returned my earlier calls. This led to closing three new pieces of business, one of which could end up being the largest contract I've ever signed. All of this work did nothing to enhance my expertise or market position. It did, however, add some nice dollars to my bank account and strengthened my position as an industry "Profit Leader." The Conclusion Was this a scientifically valid test? Of course not. Maybe the closed deals were pure luck, timing,