An online presence is more important today than ever, but how seriously do you take your LinkedIn profile & social media presence?
When was the last time you had a hard look at leveraging the power of LinkedIn, the world’s largest Social Marketing platform for professionals? To set yourself apart from the competition, what compelling parts of your profile set you far past the competition?
Today LinkedIn has a regional membership of 177+M North America, 198+M Europe, Middle East, and Africa, 165+M Asia Pacific, and 90+M Latin American members. https://news.linkedin.com/about-us#statistics
Today we’re engaging with our prospects & customers more than ever on social media. The sales environment is ever-changing, referrals are always the number one lead source and today you can leverage technology to stay ahead. When was the last time you grew the revenue at your agency due to the quality of your LinkedIn Presence?
Some realities facing B2B sales reps in 2021 are,
1) Millennials are generally skeptical of sales reps (I no longer answer the front door, and the only phone calls I answer are from my Mother!)
2) Customers have access to more information about your business and the capabilities of your agency than ever before.
3) Today’s buying groups are incredibly diverse (27 Facebook Demographics to Inform Your Strategy in 2021 from our friends at Hootsuite)
4) Buying is not linear.
5) Customers seek helpful information either from your website, or your listings & social media pages.
In 2021, buyer expectations have shifted due to the immense amount of information and options available. As a result, today’s buyers struggle to analyze and process this information to make an informed decision and the right decision.
There are now on average, 6.8 stakeholders per B2B deal, and Sales-led organizations are selling the one thing customers don’t want to buy; change!
The 6.8 is According to Brent Adamson, principal executive advisor at CEB and co-author of The Challenger Sale and The Challenger Customer, the average number of customer stakeholders involved in a B2B purchasing decision is 6.8 -- up from 5.4 in late 2014. Today the average stakeholders at a local business could be 7 or more individuals, especially if you’re dealing in the Law or automotive verticals!
While local businesses are your focus, the study showed an interesting variation between the success rate of selling with 1 stakeholder and More. By adding just one more person to the purchase decision, purchase likelihood goes from 80% down to 55%.
Unfortunately, the days of 1 decision-maker are limited as across the board, more complex solution selling requires more input from business stakeholders.
The question for you is, can you uncover the 6.8 or 4 or 3 or so Stakeholders at a local business? Do the stakeholders you’re selling to have a strong enough social media presence to set them apart from the competition? Is your customer doing enough on social media to engage with their loyal customers?
Let me know what you think! I would love to hear about your successes while leveraging the power of Social Media, and please leave a comment below!
Happy (social) Selling!