Social Selling: Why Stop At The Sales Team?

There’s never been a better time to activate the voice of your employees on social media. Sales will lead with Social Selling. Marketing will lead with Social Media Marketing. Internal Communications will likely lead with Employee Advocacy. But at some point, these worlds will collide.

Too often, a siloed approach to social media in the business can create a duplication of effort, increased costs and confusion within the workplace.  Moreover, it will limit the potential revenue impact a social approach can have on business.

Limiting Your Social Business Success

Most sales led companies will lead by enabling the Sales team first. They’re often at the front of all customer interactions – a place where training investment is often focused.

But what about everyone else in the company?

What about the potential introductions and referrals you may get via your wider tribe? Your customers. Your partners. Your wider employee community.

In a digital world where buying decisions are often influenced by peers and networks outside of the sales funnel, it’s wrong to assume that your sales organisation will be the only ones to influence every aspect of the decision-making process.

Instead, consider defining an employee’s social role in the business based on their willingness and appetite for driving social transformation.

Driving Authenticity, Credibility & Accessibility

Authenticity will come from your employees endorsing your values. Credibility will come from your subject matter experts sharing their expert knowledge. Accessibility will come from your sales teams that are positioning themselves as the ‘go to’ people for more information.

Recognise that your employees will have different social starting points.

Some of your employees will start from "social zero" and will need basic profile optimisation and safe practice guidance. Others will want to search, share and engage regularly and others will want to create content and establish thought leadership.

Whatever the mix, a program needs to integrate training, tools and content, so be sure to recognise the complexities this brings.

Connect The Dots Between Your Siloed Social Business Programs

No matter where your start point is, always consider the wider impact of the program you’re leading.

Your marketing team should be able to track inbound traffic from your Employee Advocacy tool. If it’s hooked up to your automation and CRM system you’ll be able to track through from initial contact to opportunity and conversion.

Some Employee Advocacy tools allow you to attribute traffic driven by individual users.  Just imagine that!  Turning your entire workforce into an extension of your sales team – recognising individuals that referred customers into the company because of social sharing?

The possibilities are enormous.

Every Employee Can Influence A Sale

I honestly believe that everyone has the potential to influence a customer sale and whilst it’s necessary to tailor enablement specifics to role and maturity level, that shouldn’t limit the overall potential impact your employees can make.

True social impact will only ever be achieved when organisations stop thinking in terms of functions and start thinking in terms of social business.