Sales Training Tactics

Informal conversation is probably the oldest mechanism by which opinions on products and brands are developed, expressed, and spread.
-Johan Arndt

Twitter, Blogging, Linkedin…what the heck are you supposed to do with these things and do they have a place in business? Well, only if you want to INCREASE your business. Let’s take our newest president for example. Regardless of which way you lean politically, there is no denying that the Obama team knew how to use social media tools to raise millions of dollars from individuals, influence and energize millions, and create a whole new “customer” base that previously didn’t exist.

While you probably won’t have over 60 thousand followers on Twitter and over 1 million fans of your blog like Barack, you don’t have to. You can start small and quickly spread the word about how good you and your products and services are. So where do you start and what are the direct benefits to you? A good start is with Twitter.

Twitter- Go to twitter.com and sign up for an account. Then do a keyword search on a topic or group that you would like to learn more about. For instance, if you sell medical supplies to doctors in Ohio, just type OH doctors. By the way, I just did it and found a group you would follow called OH Doctors. You can set up Twitter to follow that group and anytime they have an announcement that might affect your “commission check,” you will be alerted. You can also search on prospects or current customers names, and there is a good chance they too will be posting their thoughts. How great would it be to know your biggest decision-maker just had a 25-year wedding anniversary! I bet your competitor won’t be sending that anniversary card…but you will! And once you do, don’t be surprised if that doctor begins following YOU on Twitter. BAM…instant prospect!

Blog- This is another easy way to keep your “fans” informally posted on what you know. There a ton of free blog services you can join. One is blogger.com. For instance, let’s say you take 30-60 minutes each week to keep up on industry trends that might affect your customers. Take what you learned and post it on your blog. Put your blog address on your business card and let clients know what you are learning and how those posts will directly benefit them. Then watch how they become glued to your informal, but high value postings.

The great benefit of these two media is that it allows you to connect with clients who otherwise might be difficult to get to. And rather than just firing a 30 second elevator pitch in an inopportune time to an unsuspecting prospect, these two methods alone help you engage in an ongoing dialogue than can get you more loyal customers and them more valuable information.

So this week, get to work building your electronic network. And while I can’t promise it will land you in the White House, I can assure you that it will put you in a better position to reach more prospects, more quickly. And when you do, feel free to go to twitter.com/preciseselling and let me know how presidential you feel.

To listen to Brian interview David Bullock, author of the book Barack 2.0- Social Medial Lessons for Business, go to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm. As president of PRECISE Selling, Brian Sullivan helps improve sales, customer service, negotiations, leadership, and presentation skills through seminars and internet training programs. To learn more, go to www.preciseselling.com.