How salespeople can use social media to build relationships and nurture leads through the sales process.

1. By Douglas E Rice
For YSU’s “Professional Selling Course”
Fall 2012
Instructor: Ron Emery

2. Perceptions on Sales
 What do you think of when you think of sales as a
profession?
 Sales vs. Marketing
 B2B sales vs. B2C sales
 Sales as relationship-building

3. Perceptions on Social Media
 What do you think of when you think of social
media/networking?
 Personal vs. business use of social media
 B2B vs. B2C social media
 Social Media Marketing vs. Engagement

4. The Social Sales Process
1. Find target customers
2. Connect with target customers
3. Nurture relationships
4. Meet with target customers
5. Acquire the accounts
Catchy
Acronym

5. Find Target Customers
 Finding is about research—building a list of customers
that your company can help.
Search for Prospects
on LinkedIn
Divide Prospects
into Lists on Twitter

6. Connect with Target Customers
 Connecting is about initiating conversation—reaching
out to prospects on the list you’ve built.
1. Twitter: Reply to tweets from the accounts on your
list.
2. Blogosphere: Follow and comment on blogs by
accounts on your list

7. Connect with Target Customers
(Cont.)
Leaving an @reply on Leaving a comment
Twitter… on a blog

8. Nurturing
 Nurturing is about staying on a prospect’s radar and
consistently demonstrating value.
#1) ***START A BLOG!***
The Marcus Sheridan Story

9. Nurturing (Cont.)
#2)Tweet Chats
#3) Groups #4) Answers

10. Nurturing (Cont.)
#5) Facebook Page
#6) YouTube
Video Tutorials

11. Meet with Target Customers
 Meeting with target customers is about getting
together to discuss working together.
Webinars
 Meeting IRL—an absolute necessity.

12. Acquire the Accounts
 Acquiring the account is about moving a prospect into
your current customer base.
 “The relationship is the customer.” – Charles Green
Staying in Touch…
Email Marketing Surveys/Feedback Data Analytics

13. Concluding Remarks
 The future of sales?
Sales has always been and will always be about relationships.

14. Resources
…on sales …on social media
 The Sales  Social Media
Blog, http://www.thesalesblog.com Examiner, http://www.socialmediaexaminer.c
 Dan om
Waldschmidt, http://www.danwaldschmidt.  Jeff Bullas
com Blog, http://www.jeffbullas.com
 The Sales  Hubspot Inbound
Hunter, http://www.thesaleshunter.com Marketing, http://www.blog.hubspot.com
 Fearless  Content Marketing
Selling, http://www.fearless- Institute, http://www.contentmarketinginstit
selling.ca/blog ute.com
 Score More  The Sales
Sales, http://www.scoremoresales.com Lion, http://www.thesaleslion.com
 Sales  Spin
Playbook, http://www.paulcastain.com Sucks, http://www.spinsucks.com
 Partners in  Chris
Excellence, http://www.partnersinexcellence Brogan, http://www.chrisbrogan.com

15. Information for Douglas E Rice
 Douglas E Rice, Small Business Storyteller LLC
 http://www.douglaserice.com
 http://www.facebook.com/smbizstoryteller
 http://www.twitter.com/douglaserice
 http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglaserice
 http://www.youtube.com/smbizstoryteller