“I love making cold calls!” said no one ever. The good thing is that cold calls can almost be entirely eliminated from sales strategies due to social selling. It is was fuels the success of businesses today.

What is social selling?

Before thinking that social selling is sales on social media, think again. While social media can be a platform used to initiate social selling, it is not the only way. It is beyond relationship on Facebook or Twitter. Sales happen successfully when a conversation is made after the post has lost the interest of your audience.

There are things to consider when going with social selling as a business tactic. Be aware that there are no short cuts. Many businesses set up automated responses. By doing this, they believe they are contributing to better work efficiency. In actuality you are damaging the integrity of your business. When creating social media profiles, it’s important to consider the customer. Answer questions your customer will want answers to. No one wants automated responses. Be available in real time to respond. Personalize your interactions so your customers knows a human is speaking back to them.

Human interaction builds social sales.

Social media is filled with customer opinions. It functions as a manual to how to gain clients. With some time and patience, a social stream can provide detailed information on what people are looking for and how to get it to them. It’s basically free marketing research! No surveys, polls or paid leads!

Don’t spam!

It’s so important to make sure not to spam the stream with sales pitches. The idea is to capture the attention of potential customers socially. This can be attained by following thought leadership practices. Provide material that is useful to customers. Make these posts shareable.

If social selling has not been a priority in your business, now is the time for implementation. It can eliminate prehistoric methods for growth when done right. The key to social selling is to be human, interact and avoid being animated. This will be what will grow your sales.