As I was riding back from a lunch meeting in Cambridge yesterday, I began to notice a lot of store signs, many of which were suggesting to act now or only 2 days left, etc. What I realized is how almost every offer vendors make now typically ends with the recommendation/suggestion that you “better act now”, or else! Closing a sale by a pre-determined date, is one of the more frequent dictates stressed by many sales organizations to fulfill the need to know when a sale is going to close and/or meet sales goals. Likewise many marketing messages, after gaining your attention with an unbelievable product often will suggest a quick call to action by placing a time limit on the offer. This “deadline sales tactic” is used so often that I’m beginning to fear that marketers know about something that’s going to happen, like the end of the world, unless I act now!
Act now! Why? Because the company announcing the time limitation needs to make a sale by that date in order to make their monthly or quarterly number. This philosophy/strategy, I feel is one of the main reasons that hinders greater adoption and integration of social media within many organizations marketing mix. My belief is that we’re so used wanting things happen this instant, that when something doesn’t happen right away, we’re quick to abandon ship.
Having sold services over a span of two decades, I also had to overcome the internal desire to “go after” and try to sell to every new contact that I have garnered using social media. But as most adopters of social media understand this is counter-intuitive to the idea behind social media.
What I’ve come to learn and more importantly internalize, is the understanding that the internet has resulted in a 180 degree shift in the sales paradigm, where more often the prospect is initiating the sales process. I’ve mentioned this in a prior blog post and am becoming increasingly convinced of this shift. My belief is that social media allows the synching of sales and buying cycles.
My point in this discussion is to help those who are struggling with how to integrate social media.
1) Take a step back and try to better understand your prospects buying cycle.
2) Listen to what they are saying and what interests them
3) Tailor your “nurturing” messages to your prospects interests and needs.
4) Understand that social media is a communication vehicle not a billboard.
None of this advice is really new; rather it is what good sales & marketing people have always done. Using social media is an on-going nurturing of a relationship that rarely, if ever pushes a sales message. It allows the customer to select a vendor on their terms. The chosen vendor will more than likely be the one that demonstrated a real “vested” interest in the long-term well being of the prospect.
An analogy that I shared with a colleague during my lunch meeting was that of the Tomato plant. You can plant the seedling in May and probably begin to see tomatoes forming in June. The plant’s early tomatoes could be harvested then, but they’re probably green and quite bitter. The worst part is once you’ve picked them, you can’t put them back. The plant lets you know that when the tomatoes become red, they are ripe and ready for picking. Similarly, if your care for and nurture your prospects they will let you know when their ready to make a buying decision.
