Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40026
72 • SEPTEMBER 2011 • WORLD FENCE NEWS Value, selling and the social media sales revolution BY LANDY CHASE, MBA, CSP Is your business or association positioned for the changing economy? Do you have the strategy in place to put you and your staff/members in the best position to succeed? If the answer to the above questions is anything other than a solid "YES", then contact us to discuss possible ways we can help you to improve your overall operations and to help put you and your business or association in a better position to succeed. MANAGEMENT MOTIVATIONAL ASSOCIATES, INC. When you need an experienced executive level management consultant like Jim Lucci to review overall business strategy and procedures or business specifics such as sales training, staff motivation, time management, inventory control, scheduling, yard/warehouse layout, etc., call Jim Lucci at 516-379-0903 or fill out and return the coupon below by mail or fax to 516-379-2404 or contact us by e-mail at MMAJandJ@aol.com (please identify subject as "consulting"). We will contact you promptly to discuss your needs and schedule business, seminar, meeting or convention appointments and rates. Appointments may be made for personal appearances or telephone consultations. Jim Lucci World Fence News contributing editor Read Jim Lucci's monthly column: The Human Link • Jim's by-line: PROFIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD!™ Past IFIA Convention speaker and presenter of Eastern International Convention keynote addresses COUPON Fill out (please print) and return to: James V. (Jim) Lucci Management Motivational Associates, Inc. 18 Hansome Place • Freeport, NY 11520 • MMAJandJ@aol.com Please call me. I'm interested in____________________________________________________ Telephone________________________________ Convenient time________________________ Fax Number _____________________________ E-mail: ________________________________ Name __________________________________________________________________________ Name of Business/Organization_____________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________________________ City________________________________ State ______________ Zip _____________________ Although your business card may identify you as a salesperson, in the Selling Revolution your job is not so much to "sell" as it is to provide con- sistent, ongoing value to your cus- tomers. You already know that the reason any business exists is to fill needs and solve problems of its mar- ket. In your traditional role as a sales person, you have accomplished this goal by providing goods and services to your customer based on their needs for what you sell. This is also how cus- tomers have traditionally defined the value proposition of a salesperson. The problem inherent with the tra- ditional selling model is that the bene- fit to the customer from working with you is largely limited to what occurs during the transaction process. In other words, your value to the marketplace in the past has been largely limited to those times in which a buyer, or prospective buyer, has an immediate need for what you sell. (Yes, 'farming,' or client relationship management, may be considered a part of your adding value, but let's face it – a lot of that post-transaction face-time is of lit- tle real value to most customers, right?) Your opportunity to provide value has historically revolved around these purchasing episodes, and in each case, when each transaction is com- pleted, your ability to provide personal value largely evaporates once the pur- chase order is signed or the contract is finalized. In the social media selling revolu- tion, that restriction on salespeople no longer applies. The technological phe- nomenon of social media as it pertains to adding value is this: it allows you to expand the fundamental purpose of a sales person – to solve the needs and problems of his or her customers – far beyond the traditional, transactional model. It allows you to deliver personal value outside the bounds of simple business transactions. It gives you the means to efficiently provide value to potential customers when they are not in the market for what you sell. Also, it affords you the opportunity to brand yourself as a value generator within the business circles that you serve. Why? Because, while your prospects and customers do not always have a need for the products or serv- ices that you offer, they do have a con- tinuous, never-ending need for useful information. In today's world, of course, the vast majority of these peo- ple get that information via the Inter- net. That information is procured in one of two fundamental ways: either they search for it themselves, or the in- formation comes to them through re- sources that they follow with social media. If you can position yourself as one of those resources that they follow – specifically, an individual within your industry who provides useful in- formation that solves their needs and problems – your market will follow you online, and you will accomplish three fundamentally important objec- tives as a value generator: 1) You will establish high-value relationships with both prospects and existing customers within the mar- ket(s) that you sell to; 2) You will eliminate transactional events as a prerequisite for delivering value to those whom you wish to do business with, and instead, will do so consistently; 3) You will reverse the relationship between seller and buyer. No longer will you be preoccupied with "pursu- ing" prospective customers. Instead, they will follow you. Social media marketing is the ve- hicle that allows you to provide value to your market on a continual basis, even when you aren't involved in a transaction. This value is delivered in the form of content. Your role in this new selling environment is therefore to provide ongoing value to your prospects and customers by providing information (content) that solves their problems and addresses their needs. By making sure that you commu- nicate and add value online as much as possible, you build influence. Every- thing you write essentially lives online somewhere forever. Even if only a small number of people find your in- formation somehow, every little bit adds up. Once you get the hang of this, creating offline content in some ways almost seems obsolete. Landy Chase, MBA, CSP is an ex- pert who specializes in speaking to corporations and as- sociations on ad- vanced professional selling and sales management skills. His last book, Com- petitive Selling, was named an Editors Landy Chase Choice Best Business Books of 2010 selection and is available on ama- zon.com. To book Chase for your next sales meeting or conference, visit his web site at www.sellingrevolution.com or call 800-370-8026.