The seven biggest mistakes in social selling

Are you also annoyed when you find more and more unsuitable offers from service providers on LinkedIn, Facebook or XING?

Or are you sitting on the other side and wondering why your social selling activities
have hardly any resonance?

Many sales managers are of the opinion that social selling is just a new channel that needs to be “flooded” with activities – then something will happen.

But this only shows their lack of understanding of the topic and the target customers.

Here I list the seven most serious mistakes from my experience at one of the largest online marketing agencies:

Mistake no. 1: No social selling strategy

If no sophisticated strategy is developed in advance, almost all actions come to nothing – at best there are a few “lucky shots”.

Strategy development includes the following questions, for example:

• Through which social media channels do I want to address my target groups?
• Are there forums/groups on my product/topics?
• Are my social media presences and my website up to date and do they already have the visibility on Google?
• Is there a time plan and, if necessary, an editorial plan?
• Do I want to use tools such as the Linked In Sales Navigator or XING Pro Business?
• and much more.

 

This strategy also includes the following pillars of social selling:

Correct profile of the company: It goes without saying that for this purpose the website, all social media presences and especially the company profiles on LinkedIn and XING must be up-to-date and professional.

Define the right target persons

Right message: Communicate with potential customers in the right way so that they respond and agree to a phone call.

Right content: Wrong or poorly prepared content that is shared sinks your authority and credibility. Trust cannot be built.

 

Mistake No. 2: Too much selling, too little social

If I haven’t set up the strategy properly, I can’t correctly assess the needs of my target group.

Very often, the mistake is made that “selling” gains the upper hand over “social”. In this way, the original approach of better contact with the target group is steered too much in the direction of “hard selling” – failure is pre-programmed.

Social selling is first and foremost relationship building with the customer and extended brand building on the internet.

 

Mistake No. 3: Treating social networks as advertising channels

Especially in combination with sales automation tools and the powerful tools LinkedIn Sales Navigator and XING Pro Business, it is tempting to distribute advertising materials on a large scale.

Potential customers find this annoying and switch off – they are ignored, in the worst case considered spam.

The exchange, the real conversation and an added value for the customer should be in the foreground – no flat advertising.

 

Mistake No. 4: Not building trust

What was the claim of a large German bank for years: “Trust is the beginning of everything”.
Customers today are much more cautious and distrustful than in the past.

At the beginning of every social selling campaign is the building of trust. This is best done by listening to them at the beginning.

Get to know them, their problems, their language. Only then should you make contact. This has the advantage that you speak the language of your target group and are perceived more seriously.

 

Mistake No. 5: no research before contact

I experience it almost every day. Someone wants to sell me something that neither suits me nor my company.

I can tell from the message: he/she has not taken the trouble to research the right contact person, his/her function, the company or possible needs.

Conversely, I find an intelligent and personal approach positive. It shows a form of appreciation and that the homework has been done.

 

Mistake No. 6: random sharing of content

Do you also have the impression that a lot of irrelevant and inappropriate content is now shared on LinkedIn?

How is a company supposed to position itself positively as a brand if random content is shared by its employees?

I am looking for a serious consultant, not a puffer. A sophisticated content marketing strategy can help here.

Mistake No. 7: Saving at the wrong end – training and tools

If the sales manager is not trained in social selling and works with Excel lists instead of good social selling tools (CRM systems or LinkedIn Sales Navigator), failure is certain.

 

“Copyright © 2022 Dipl. Betriebswirt (FH) Georg Dörner – All rights reserved.”