A Slew of New Technologies Is Making a Science of the Art of Sales

A Slew of New Technologies Is Making a Science of the Art of Sales

We also use templates to keep track of which subject lines are doing the best throughout the company, and to create specific examples of a portable device email versus a desktop message. All of these features help us engage the right targets with the right message, enhancing our relationships with prospects.

Social sales

These days, social media impacts every industry and individual. Sales is no exception. The upside to everyone over-sharing online is that prospects participate, too.

“Social selling” creates 45 percent more opportunities, with 51 percent of representatives more likely to hit their quotas, according to LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index. With that context, understanding human behaviors, degrees oconnection and how prospects share content to communicate are some of a salesperson’s best tools.

Three of the top social platforms in the world -- LinkedIn, Twitter and Salesforce's Chatter -- are my trifecta for building and strengthening connections, providing unique background on prospects and clients, and establishing a forum for internal communication.

On the surface, LinkedIn gives salespeople a look into a prospect’s background, such as where they went to college, the cities where they have lived, work background, shared contacts and if they are even the right person at their organization to reach out to.

The true advantage, however, is in obtaining a genuine interpretation of the person’s style, what they value, organizations and activities in common, etc. This is also the single best way for a salesperson to understand whom he or she knows in common with a prospect, so as to build a direct path for engagement.

Twitter is second to none when it comes to understanding the actual behavior of a prospect. From vacation plans to beloved pets to milestones, thousands of random factoids are shared over Twitter. In fact, many individuals will post life’s little annoyances, such as a salesperson in the past who approached them in a way they found less than appealing. When the goal is establishing connection, understanding what not to do is often more important than anything else!

Salesforce has many helpful attributes but Chatter is a feature often overlooked and underutilized. Chatter may appear to be “just another instant messaging platform” but it offers far more by allowing an entire business to share stories and develop communities of learning.

How often in sales is it said that teamwork is not just encouraged, but required? As often as not, a powerful learning moment is lost in a sea of emails. New employees never even get a chance to be exposed to the wisdom of many past experiences. Chatter preserves these lessons for everyone within a company to find. When incorporating social selling into the mix, just “@mentioning” someone on a thread creates an unstoppable force. Conversations grow organically.

My belief is that the most critical aspect of a salesperson’s day-to-day is simply making the connection. Or, as Eminem reminds us on “One Shot,” “If you had one shot, one opportunity / To seize everything you ever wanted, one moment / Would you capture it or just let it slip?”