As social selling is rising in public awareness, so do studies exploring its effects on sales processes and consequently quota achievement. In order to capture a broader set of such numbers, I put together a slide deck listing 42 impressive social selling statistics.

1. SOCIAL SELLING
STATISTICS
21th February, 2014 V4 / Marc Maurer

2. Types of Selling Statistics
Sales Quota
B2B Buying Process
Social Selling
LinkedIN
Twitter
Blogs
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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3. Sales Quota
How social selling can help salespeople achieving their quota
1
73% of salespeople who used social selling
techniques met or exceeded quota in 2012.
2
Sales teams that use social selling techniques
exceed their quota 31% more than non-users.
3
72.6% of salespeople who used social selling
outperformed their sales peers in 2012.
4
23% of salespeople using social media
exceeded their quota more often.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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4. Sales Quota
How social selling can help salespeople achieving their quota
5
Sales reps using social selling techniques
realize 66% greater quota attainment.
6
78% of salespeople using social media
outsell their peers.
7
57% of top performers have closed a deal that
was originated through social media.
8
54% of salespeople closed business as a
direct result of social media.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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5. B2B Buying Process
How the B2B buying process is influenced by social media
9
84% of B2B decision makers begin their
buying process with a referral.
10
50-70% of the buying decision is made before
the sales representative makes contact.
11
Customers will complete to 69% of their
buying journey before contacting a supplier.
12
22% of the time spent on the Internet is on
social media sites.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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6. B2B Buying Process
How the B2B buying process is influenced by social media
13
89% of consumers begin searching for
products and services using a search engine.
14
56% of people feel a stronger connection with
companies who engage on social media.
15
B2B buyers look at an average of over 10
digital resources before making a purchase.
16
85% of IT Decision Makers use social
networks for business.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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7. B2B Buying Process
How the B2B buying process is influenced by social media
17
75% of B2B decision makers use social media
as part of their buying process.
18
During the awareness phase, 54% of tech
buyers are influenced by social media.
19
59% of IT Decision Makers are influenced by
at least one social network when deciding.
20
75% of B2B buyers claim social media would
likely have influence on a future purchase.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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8. B2B Buying Process
How the B2B buying process is influenced by social media
21
73% of IT Decision Makers have engaged
with a vendor on a social network.
22
89% of B2B IT buyers say vendor-provided
educational content is acceptable on social.
23
64% of B2B IT buyers say promotional
content is acceptable on social networks.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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9. Social Selling
How social selling can help salespeople achieving their quota
24
65% of a salesperson’s time is spent not
selling.
25
Top 3 reasons sales people use social media:
networking, prospecting and research.
26
30% of world class sales organizations have
used social media to identify decision makers.
27
Sales reps using social selling have a 3.6x
greater chance to meet a decision maker.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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10. Social Selling
How social selling can help salespeople achieving their quota
28
Social selling yields on average 7.8 appointm.
per week vs. 4.3 (traditional channels).
29
Social selling has the highest lead to close
rate of all prospecting methodologies.
30
65% of the successful salespeople believe
social media is integral to their success.
31
55% of customers share a bad customerservice experience on social media channels.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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11. LinkedIn
How LinkedIn can speed up the selling process
32
Over 15% of B2B buyers engage via LinkedIn
with IT vendors.
33
74% of B2B Decision Makers use LinkedIn for
business purposes.
34
75% of decision makers are using LinkedIn
where they publicly engage with peers.
35
40% of B2B decision makers say LinkedIn is
important to research and evaluation.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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12. Twitter
Why twitter is important for your sales cycle
36
42% of B2B decision makers are using Twitter
for business purposes.
37
Twitter users search for B2B brands more
often (30%) vs. average Internet users (12%)
38
98% of B2B decision makers are spectators
on Twitter.
39
100% of Best-in-Class sales organizations use
Twitter vs. 78% of All Others.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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13. Blogs
How blogs influence your social selling position
40
61% of customers have made a purchase
based on a recommendation from a blog.
41
81% of online customers trust information and
advice from blogs.
42
82% of decision makers are using blogs and
communities where they comment & engage.
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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14. Thank You
Marc Maurer
Global Account Manager at SAP
marc.maurer@sap.com
© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
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