How To: Improve B2b Sales Productivity With Social Media

The pressure is on! Bosses are after "low cost

, high efficiency". They don't want you to spend too much time signing a deal and they need you to make good use of figures about the winning companies and potential clients. What's more? Prospects are have better brains now. Thanks to Customer 2.0, there is no more secret across industries. People have ways to compare products from different companies. So you better act smart too!

For your information, 80% of adults in America are social Internet users. (The source is Forrester Research) 7% of them (17 million Americans) are active users of Twitter while 41% (99 million Americans) have a Facebook profile. (The data is from Edison Research in April) Moreover, more than 50% of Twitter users (the active ones) follow a brand, company or product.

In the era of our time, maintaining a good relationship with prospects is crucial as it may alter the decision they make. The challenge ahead of us is to minimize a drop in sales productivity while building prospective relationships. Fortunately you can get some helps to facilitate your B2B sales.

Collect News

Say if you have a back-up system to sell, what you should do is to targeting those in need of one. Through Twitter, Foursquare and other social hubs, you can easily find someone whose system has just broken down. Those sites enable you to track your potential customers and be well informed of their updates.

Don't expect prospects finding you. Find them yourselves! Suppose you are promoting a back-up system, you want to look for those who are in need of a new back-up system. Twitter, Foursquare and any other social sites help locate companies of which work systems are not working. What's better timing to market your products? Just be sure that you are constantly checking out the updates, latest development and all the rest of your prospects.

While your focus is on clients most of the time, sometimes you need to shift it to their surroundings. What I mean here is the whole picture of the industry or field. You may want to try Google Alerts, a tool that helps gather information (news, blog entries, whatever) on the Internet. All you have to do is to type in the keyword and that's it. The cut and paste work will be done for you. With enough insider stories, you are less likely to end up chasing after someone who is not interested because he is already taken. (Sounds like dating, doesn't it?)

Be Engaging

Don't take people as chances. They have flesh and blood, thus different preferences. If you want to use the social marketing solution, it better be interesting and engaging. A bad comment is not that bad, as long as they are reacting.

LinkedIn and Facebook Groups are the most popular social networks, so make good use of them. You may have a peek into the exchange of words between your counterparts and clients. The discussions, blog entries or functions shared on their pages are good references of what are in hot demand in the market. It is also a great opportunity to look for potential clients there. Map out your plan and steal them all.

Get stuck? That's just because you are not trying hard enough. There is a wide range of marketing approaches, from as light as a @reply on Twitter or "Like" on Facebook to as official as e-mails or a tidbit on LinkedIn. And it's always a good start to introduce yourself with a portfolio. Let the prospects know whom you are working with. If they are reputable companies, you have higher chance of landing a contract. Good luck, buddy!

by: Queenie Ang

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