FreshNetworks Blog

I was in a race yesterday – a 10-mile road-running race. During the run, I remember a point (approximately half way round) when my mind turned to considering selling inspirational social media solutions. The run was going well – I was feeling inspired – and I had one of those “I can do anything!” moments that fellow runners will recognise.

My inspirational thought on the run went something like this:

So, we know that social media offers an unlimited range of diverse solutions. These solutions will never adapt to a “one size fits all” approach, and every client will adapt a social media solution that is unique to them. Therefore, while some unfortunate organisations get constrained by such aspects as, for example, their web technology that is available, or perhaps the budget, or maybe the management resources, or countless other restrictions, we know that the best solutions are those that are driven by inspiration without constraints. For example, think MyStarbucksIdeas or Amazon.com or LinkedIn for inspirational and unique engagement ideas for communities that have revolutionised their online conversations.

Getting the inspired social media solution for any organisation is like getting the right ingredients for the Perfect Cake. Not too much sugar or vanilla, otherwise people won’t eat it, and get the correct quantity of self-raising flour so that the Perfect Cake will rise.

In social media, the right solution ingredients might include targeted blogging, mobile interaction, comments, polling, digital file sharing, online debates, ratings, forums, etc. But which of these ingredients would be right?

I truly love selling social media. I visit my clients with a blank piece of paper, and I let the inspiration flow, asking lots of open questions and delving deeply into the business needs. I don’t talk technology at that first meeting, it’s not allowed!  The best specialists, such as FreshNetworks, design and build inspiring solutions with exactly the right ingredients …. to bake the Perfect Cake!

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

So we now get to the final phase in the Sales Cycle when selling a social media solution – the ‘Close’. Certainly this is the most enjoyable piece, when all the hard work finally delivers the outcome. If all the previous phases have been followed, then I find that this phase is also the easiest, because you have a proposition that meets the priority business needs and that has been successfully tested for a positive reaction from the client during the Propose The Solution phase.

From the clients perspective then this point is critical. It commits your funds and resources, it also ensures that, at the decision-making level, there will be no misunderstanding, and that all stakeholders (including the suppliers and vendors) will be ‘on board’ with the social media project that has been considered and will now be given the go-ahead.

When delivering the Closing question, the single most important lesson is that, at this point (and only this point!), it is important that your question is a closed question, not an open question. So, you are asking for agreement to proceed with the project that has been discussed, within the timescales and subject to certain preconditions (such as contract terms or technology dependencies). How you phrase the question is completely up to you, but when you have asked it, keep quiet and wait for the answer.  There is no need to elaborate, or to buy extra time, you are simply awaiting a Yes or No.

It is quite timely that this series of ‘how-to-sell-social-media’ blogs ends the year with the final phase, ‘Closing’. Thank you for all your comments and feedback, and I will be adding further thoughts and ideas next year. Happy Christmas!

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

We’re often asked how to build corporate support for social media projects. There are many social media advocates that find it hard to sell internally.  What’s the best approach if you’re a Marketing Director selling a social media proposition to the Board? Or a Department Head keen to include social media in your 2010 budget?

I have recently coached a client in selling his social media business plan internally. As previously explained (see my selling social media series), a key component in the sales process is to associate the business needs to the social media proposition. I see this often overlooked as people present their long lists of features and functions, many of which are superfluous, in the hope that quantity will overcome quality.  No!

So, to do this exercise properly with my client, we booked a meeting room for half a day, and we spent a couple of hours considering his business strategy and the corporate needs of the company. With the key business priorities apparent, we then started linking these to the components of the social media solution. We found that 7 of the company’s top 8 business needs could directly benefit from some social media features and associated community engagement.

We then created a simple powerpoint slide, with 3 columns, Need, Feature, and Advantage. Each business ‘Need’ with the relevant social media ‘Feature’ (or Features in some cases), that delivered a noted ‘Advantage’ to the business (ideally quantified and objective). And, finally at the presentation, as he talked through the slide, I coached him to ensure that he gauged the ‘Reaction’ (from the audience) to each item as he went down the list. ‘NFAR’ – Need, Feature, Advantage, and Reaction.

This turned out to be a great starting point, but there was still more work to do. Building support for any new proposition often requires a mix of 1to1 meetings as well as larger group sessions. Ahead of the team discussion you should meet with some of the key influencers on an individual basis to get buy-in. Just as you would have with any new initiative.
The final point to make is that an important part of selling is management of expectations. And when it comes to social media this is especially important. Social media is frequently over-hyped. As a social media agency, we’re always very keen to manage our own enthusiasm and focus on promising only the things we know we can deliver. Projects are always harder and take longer than people expect. Don’t damage your personal credibility by over-selling social media.

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

You have spent time building an understanding of the business requirements. You have built a short list of prioritised needs; these could be, for example, to grow online revenue, cut support costs, enhance innovation, build the brand, grow customer service, gain partner insight, etc.

It’s now time to move to the next phase of the sales cycle, namely ‘Propose the Solution’. This is the phase that links these business ‘needs’ to the specifics of the social media solution.

A useful memory device that I use in this phase is the acronym ‘NFAR’. Against each Need, align it to a Feature, then explain the Advantage, and finally gauge the Reaction : ‘NFAR’. I use variants of this process depending upon the dynamics of each individual meeting situation, but the basic principle remains the same.

Here’s an example. I am working with an organisation in the air travel sector that needs to market itself outside of the ‘bargain’ holiday brand, i.e. away from its slightly blemished association with ‘laddish’ type short breaks, particularly to some of the cheaper European city destinations, where young people get too much publicity by getting drunk and misbehaving. The marketing director wants to refocus his customers upon those clients (the ‘silent majority’ as he calls them) that enjoy the quieter and more cultural weekend breaks to these same destinations, perhaps visiting museums and local artifacts.

I have proposed a social media solution that builds a vibrant and engaged online community based around this silent majority. It will add tremendous value to them as they share with others their various trip ideas, stories, pictures, blogs, videos, etc.

Let’s look at one social media feature for this social media solution – i.e. the voting feature. So, for example, this will give the opportunity for the community to vote upon the best city museum to visit. Within my NFAR device, this is a social media “Feature”.

I raise this Feature idea, and explain the “Advantage” to the client: The advantage of the voting feature is that this is a simple-to-use capability, that will entice even the most sceptical casual user to simply press a button that registers their vote and, voila, before they know it they are engaging with the others in the community. Even better, if this Advantage can be quantified (e.g. we will gain 1000 extra members of the community) then I am motoring towards a ‘close’, or sale.

But to check that this is of real value to the marketing director, I need to test his agreement that the Feature will have the Benefit, i.e. does he ‘get it’? So, I check, by asking him his “Reaction”. And he says that he loves it, and can really see the value of polling to engage with the community.

Of course, there are many other social media features that I could mention, that could have a similar impact. The polling feature is a simple example that I use in this blog to demonstrate the principle.

I am not yet moving towards the sales close (that will be soon), but first I am methodically addressing the business needs with the appropriate social media features that are relevant, and getting the tick-in-the-box from the client that the social media solution is the answer to his requirements.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

So, we’ve got the attention of the stakeholder to discuss using social media within the organisation. By seeing a glimpse of some of the incredible achievements in social media for other industries or competitors, this has earned the right for a more detailed conversation with him. It’s now time to dive into more detail with him, and to align some of the various social media benefits against the unique requirements of this particular stakeholder. But what are the unique requirements?

This phase of the sales process is known as ‘determining the needs’.

Let’s use a real-life scenario and a brief recap. Say you have used the ‘elevator pitch’ to a Marketing Director in the travel sector and highlighted that Marriott achieved an additional $5m sales from people that accessed Bill Marriott’s executive blog. This is an impressive statement of fact, and you have his attention; and as a result he puts an hour in the diary for a more detailed chat on the subject.

What do you do now? The biggest mistake is to go to the one-hour meeting and then continue blindly selling the proposition, because you don’t yet know what’s going to be the business driver for this particular stakeholder. When marketing any service (and social media is no different), everybody’s individual business needs and priorities will be different. Grow revenue, cut costs, enhance innovation, improve customer service, and so on; it’s a long list of possibilities.

So, the elevator pitch grabbed his attention, but that won’t be the reason that social media may work for his particular organisation. The specific needs and objectives will be absolutely unique to this organisation, and it is your job to align these unique needs to the social media possibilities.

The rock band Weezer has a great single out at the moment. It’s called “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”. The brackets are in the title. I love this title because it encapsulates the blundering teenage angst that we can still remember from when we were that age. Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Similarly, the biggest mistake at this stage is to launch into the one hour conversation with a pushy “I want you to do this because….”, as if you were that teenager all over again! Instead, in this phase of the sales process it is time for a more consultative approach. You ask the questions, and then listen carefully to the answers. A bit like the doctor diagnosing the patient, you take the role of the consultant, and determine the business priorities that are most relevant for this stakeholder.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Image by H. Lloyd via Flickr

One of the most important mantra’s of successful sales people is to ‘Earn The Right’; get some diary time, or hold a short telephone conversation with a new prospect or stakeholder, you must first ‘Earn The Right’ for their valuable time.

To get the attention of the stakeholder when you are selling social media, one technique is to inform what his peers or competitors may be doing. If his competitors may be gaining advantage from the use of social media then why wouldn’t he want to urgently explore this with you?

You may only have ten seconds in an initial contact with the stakeholder, and therefore your key message regarding their competitor (or other compelling justifications – I’ll cover these in future posts) must be snappy, relevant, and vital. For this reason, it is sometimes called the ‘elevator pitch’, i.e. you are in the lift (elevator in US!) with the stakeholder, and you only have a few seconds until he leaves at the next floor, what will you say to get his attention? Be concise and high level. Carefully rehearse the message beforehand. And then rehearse again, and again!

For example, I was watching breakfast television this morning, and Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer Kodak was interviewed, explaining how social media has re-shaped their business. He said that social media can excite, evangelise, educate, and engage their customers, and makes a real difference to their changing brand. Their brand was previously deemed old and out-dated, and now, with the help of social media, they have re-vitalised the company.

This is a great story. I know of at least five brands that would compete directly with this brand and I will contact them later today with my elevator pitch! Let’s see if it is effective and earns the right for a further dialog with them.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Some more reading

• Kodak’s Social Media Tips (viralblog.com)
• Why Kodak Thinks You Should Use Social Media (kylelacy.com)
• Twitter at C Level (marketingpilgrim.com)

image courtesy of shutterstock

In the past few days I have been discussing social media with a pharmaceutical company.

The pharma industry is necessarily highly-regulated and risk-averse. It caters very well with the ‘traditional’ use of the internet, i.e. when corporate messages are broadcast from a main website.

These traditional corporate websites issue strictly controlled and watertight messages that have been approved by internal managers and legal experts, such that there is absolutely no possibility of brand damage or, heaven forbid, any litigious patients taking action.

And yet, patients and health care professionals (i.e. the pharmaceutical industry’s customers) are increasingly seeking answers to their health care questions online.

One recent survey by Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of American adults — and 83 percent of internet users — look for their health information online.

Therefore if the traditional corporate pharma website don’t provide the answers, customers can (and do) go elsewhere. e.g. WebMD and NHS Choices

Meanwhile, and rather belatedly, this week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hosts a public hearing to discuss the use of the internet and social media tools — including blogs, podcasts, and social networks — to share information about the FDA-regulated products, including prescription medicines and medical devices.

Pharma is moving in the right direction. But progress is painstakingly slow, and meanwhile the client’s customer has many other (new) outlets for online information. 

The social media  sales lesson here is… know the customer’s customer. 

When I talk with my pharma client (as with all my clients), it is with their customer in mind.  In the long run it is their customer that calls the shots. So I ensure that I can speak to the stakeholder with some authority about their customer – bringing new insight into their customers as often as possible. Given that customers use of social media is rocketing, this inevitably places social media on the company’s agenda.

A reasonably bright school kid will build an excellent business case for a car that is 60% more fuel efficient, or a pc that is 50% faster. It’s easy! He can look at reduced running costs (for the car) or improved efficiency (for the pc), and the business case will quickly form.

But selling social media, whether to a client or internally at an organisation, requires more expertise and selling skills, because the benefits are much broader, and often a little obtuse! In my experience, every business or department that buys into a social media solution has a different business case with greatly different benefits. These could range from increasing customer-based innovation, to enticing greater web traffic, to enhanced SEO, to converting more online sales, to building the brand values, and I could list twenty more possibilities…

Therefore, for example, there is no point discussing the value of increased insight from social media, if what is really needed is to increase online sales. These are polar opposite reasons to use social media.

So the first lesson of successful selling in social media is…listen to and understand your client, because there will be a compelling business case for social media and you can help the client to reveal it.

(A note regarding my terminology:- for ‘client’ read ‘department head’ if you are selling social media internally within an organisation)

So, to get to the essence of the business case, there is no better person to understand your client’s business – than your client!

So ask him about it!

But this is where the skill comes in.

1. Do your research beforehand
2. Make the client (or department head) feel comfortable by building empathy
3. What’s in it for him? Establish the right to take his busy time.
4. At the meeting or on the telephone, ask lots of open questions, and finish with clear next steps and follow-up.

There may be some Objection Handling, but let’s discuss that some other time.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Hello, and welcome to my first post. Over the next few weeks I hope to bring an insight into the world of social media from a unique perspective, how to sell the proposition to an often sceptical and always value-conscious audience.

You may be selling social media as a social media agency to a client (‘outside-in’); or maybe internally within your organisation to a senior manager, stakeholder, or steering committee (‘inside-in’). Whichever your focus, the positioning is the same, and I will summarise a process that really works.

First, a bit about me, my last 20 years has been in IT sales. I started at IBM, achieving a top grade within IBM Sales School, and after 12 years in the company I progressed to sales management. My subsequent roles after leaving IBM (in telco, services, and web cms software) have remained in sales and/or sales management, and they have always been fascinating and rewarding. I have no doubt that the root cause of continued sales success has been the selling basics that I learned from IBM, at IBM Sales School. And it’s a bit like riding a bike, once learned you never forget how to do it.

A salesman is an often maligned role, with connotations of annoying double-glazing people that telephone or call your house at highly inappropriate times, but the truth is far more palatable. In fact, as you develop and hone your skills, you learn that the ‘consultative sale’ is the key to success. The consultative sell requires you to understand the client (note ‘client’ – not ‘customer’ – there is a distinction in relationship), such that your proposition matches his or her needs. Put yourself in their shoes. What (if anything!) do they need, and why? Get to know them and what makes them tick. What are their objections, and are they real or hiding something deeper? And once that is achieved, then you are not a threat to your client, but an ally and possibly even a friend (or, at the least, a ‘trusted advisor’).

I have been selling IT services and solutions for over 20 years, and the fundamentals of success in social media selling are exactly the same as those that have driven me in my previous sales roles.

Over the next few posts, I’ll summarise some key techniques that work, and (more importantly) those to avoid to help you whether you are selling social media to clients or to your internal stakeholders.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.