To:

Patrick McNiff

From:

David Kook

Date:

20 January 2015
Winter, 2015

Subject:

Sales in Social Media

As the world continues to evolve technologically, the business to consumer relationship must also adapt. As
a result, businesses have commercialized their products into the social media environment. Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking utilities are progressing in their number of active members,
and businesses see this growing empire as an incredible opportunity to connect with consumers. Many
companies understand the potential in these online communities and are launching their own profiles or
pages in order to gain a profit. Consequently, social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or
LinkedIn, have become an arena for business to consumer sales. In the past, social media was a peculiar
tool for businesses to utilize; however, now, high-performing companies have developed an intelligible
method to effectively promote their organizations in the social networking environment.
In this new era where countless information is easily accessible, consumers are now able to thoroughly
research a companys products and become fully informed about the business. The writers of the Harvard
Business Review article, Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy, Barbara Giamanco and Kent Gregoire,
note that the process of researching a company involves social media. Furthermore, they mention that
buyers start the sales process without you; research has shown that today they typically complete most of
the purchase journey before having any contact with sales. Because consumers now rely on social media
for more than just chatting with old friends, businesses have become expertly attuned to social networking.
According to the article, social medias greatest potential is at the front end of the sales cycle during the
prospecting, opportunity qualification, and pre-sales-call research that leads up to a face-to-face meeting.
The article outlines the best method to which a business may utilize social media.
First, the article details the method of prospecting in social media. When using any social networking
platform, sales reps are not required to initiate a conversation with a prospecting customer. If intrigued, the
customer will show an interest in the product that the business sells.
Moreover, with programs like HootSuite, a company will be notified when there are signals of interest for
the companys services. This not only removes the need for constant monitoring, but it may also help
identify which social media platform most of the businesses consumers use. By finding and isolating the
platform consumers use most, the article believes, repscould spend as little as 1% of their time
researching [prospects] freeing up virtually all their time for actual selling.
Once prospects have been located, reps will spend some of their time qualifying their leads. The article
suggests reps use IBMs simple guide, BANT: a customer has the necessary budget, an authority to buy, a
need for the service, and the time for delivery meets with the customers expectations. This method can be
simply executed by using the easy messaging function in most social networking platforms to ask the
prospecting consumer questions.
Lastly, and most obviously, social media is a valuable tool to maintain a business to consumer relationship
after or during a sale. This means following them on Twitter, friending them on Facebook, or engaging
with their business on LinkedIn. With the growing number of social media platforms such as, Instagram,
Reddit, and more, there are numerous ways to maintain a relationship with a customer. Social media is
changing the way businesses connect with customers, partners, and the world, but some companies are
afraid of potential mistakes. To this, the article advises, Choosing not to be present in social networks puts
your company and your salespeople at a competitive disadvantage.
The HBR article is extremely thorough with its information. The article utilizes numerous trusted articles
for its resources. Furthermore, many top-name websites such as Forbes use HBR as a credible source.

Sources:
1. Gregoire, B. G. (n.d.). Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from
https://hbr.org/2012/07/tweet-me-friend-me-make-me-buy