Prospecting Methods: Social Media
The world is connected like never before. Every second people are sharing information, pictures, video and documents over different media. Apps have enabled audio and video calls over Wifi enabling us to remain connected to the important people in our lives at all times.
Just like Social Media applications are important for connecting to loved ones, they are also an essential tool for connecting to prospects and converting them to customers. You can share information about your products, upload videos, review them on video hosting sites, have discussion forums and create buzz about your products.
For the sales team though, these tools are important as they allow them to connect to people who are on the cusp. They can make a contact with them and find out their needs, find out which products or services can fulfill those needs and work towards converting them into sales.
The nature of the media is such that it allows prospects to interact in a calm environment. While in a physical store people may be pressed for time and be jostled by other customers, on Social Media, prospects can browse the products they require at leisure without disturbance from other customers. They can review the products or services and if they are interested, they can subscribe to your page or make a direct contact with your company.
The opportunity to convert prospects to sales are boundless and the manner in which you can delight customers are also increased many times over.
However, there are some words of caution:
Present your products or services on Social Media truthfully. If you oversell, then the customer can easily turn into a ‘keyboard commando’ and post negative reviews which you would have trouble defend.
Make sure that only relevant persons from within your organization post responses to customer queries. While it may seem prudent to respond to a comment immediately, there are rules for posting on Social Media which should be outlined in your company’s policy. If you do not follow the policy, there may be exposure to risk.
Make sure there is a system in place which filters leads from the Social Media sites to the Sales Team. Any lead can convert into a possible customer therefore any lead missed is a possible loss in revenue.
While you need to maintain contact with customers, there are chances that your site may be overrun with irrelevant or unwanted comments. Make sure you have a policy in place to ensure who can post on your site. It may be more prudent to have customer’s contact through a “Contact Us” address rather than have their queries open for everyone to see.
With the advent of Social Media, new opportunities await. Make the most of them.