A fool with a tool still remains a fool.
— R. Buckminster Fuller
In a fool's hands, "social selling" becomes antisocial.
The reason?
On social networks, you should serve, not sell. (Serving puts customers' goal in the forefront; selling puts yours.)
If you can't grasp the difference, steer clear of social selling.
It will rapidly turn you into a black hat.
"There are no other areas of a seller’s life where the circles in the Venn Diagram of 'apps I use for work' and 'apps I use for fun' overlap," says Peter Ostrow on SiriusDecisions.
The overlap is a dark and dangerous pitfall.
Ostrow offers three rules for side-stepping it:
Social Selling = Listening. "The best way to grow long-term sales effectiveness via social is to develop a keen sense for what is being said in your particular corner of the market—and how influencers are saying it," Ostrow says. Follow subject matter experts on Twitter and connect to them on LinkedIn.
Social Selling = Contributing. Use half your posts to curate the best content the SMEs publish. "Your buyers will respect you far more as a helpful source of knowledge if you actually help them become smarter and do their jobs more effectively—as opposed to just selling your stuff in a disguised, purportedly indirect fashion that everyone sees through anyway."
Social Selling = Collaborating. Don't think, do. Dive into the conversations. Share ideas. Serve.
