That’s probably one of the most common questions I get when speaking to small business owners – how the heck does social media fit into my sales process?

This is a very difficult question to answer because the answer depends quite a bit on the company and the industry we’re talking about – not to mention the individual objectives and expectations.  There are a gazillion variables.

On a side note — if someone is giving you a price for a website, social media campaign, blog — and you have yet to meet with them — RUN.  Run as fast as you can.  Scram.  You don’t want to do business with someone who prescribes the remedy before they understand what the ailment is.  Run fast.  We have to make a diagnosis before we can offer up a solution.

That being said – I’ll try to generalize and discuss for a moment how social media might fit into your sales process.

Most likely you have a sales funnel – or something similar.  Often the first stage of the sales process is identifying a qualified prospect – social media is very good at doing this – but slow.  You have to invest a little time.  I prefer to refer to this as quality over quantity.  I want a good prospect.  This gives the whole sales process a good foundation.

I find that using the various search tools with Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, and LinkIn can put together a fairly good list of potential prospects for you to sort thru.  MySpace in particular has a fantastic search feature – use it.  Get to know it.  You can always find these people on FaceBook after you have searched with MySpace.

Once you have identified potential customers (prospects) – you need a gameplan on how to contact these people.  I’m not going to elaborate on that here – but suffice to say – the better plan you have the more success you will have.  You know your sales process better than me – use it – integrate it with social media.

Social media is invaluable in maintaining a line of communication throughout the entire sales process.  During that time it’s very probable that you and your prospect actually begin to form a friendship – you get to know each other.  I once become a neighbor of a prospect in FarmTown!  Don’t underestimate the power of relationships – even if they are initially an online relationship.

Finally – when they do become a customer – you have a two-way channel of communication that is like never before.  It opens up so many possibilities – the relationship becomes more of a bond and it’s more difficult for your competitors to pry these people away – especially if they themselves are not using social media with their sales processes.

Social media and sales — a very nice marriage.

Dennis Lynn
www.socialmediadudes.com
www.twitter.com/dennisllynn

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