Sales Strategy

Secrets of a

Social Ninja

Sales Strategy

Secrets of a

Social Ninja

Millions still use the Internet to post selfies, write hashtags and watch ridiculous videos of animals. Some users, however, have mastered the art of Social Media, and are now also using social platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter to drive their sales and exceed their targets. Long gone are the days of cold calling for the Social Ninja, who understands the importance of the relationship before the call.

Written in the DNA of every natural sales and marketing Ninja is the need to connect, so it seems obvious that some are now using the Internet to build rapport with viable sales leads.

With millions of people using the major social platforms every minute, the chances are that your desired prospects are out there somewhere. Finding them, however, can prove easier said than done.

In this white paper, I, The Social Ninja, will share with you ancient sales strategy lessons that were passed down by my father, and by his father before him. You’ll learn how to improve your online research skills by hiding in the shadows of the Internet, how to carefully prune your relationships like the sacred Bonsai tree and, finally, how to choose the right time to strike.

Good Luck,

The Social Ninja

introduction

Key Statistics

51%

Sales professionals who use LinkedIn for social selling are 51% more likely to exceed their sales quota than sales professionals who don’t.

500

Millionactive users on Twitter

238

Millionactive users on LinkedIn

Sales professionals that use LinkedIn for social selling are 3 times more likely to beat their sales quota for the year than

other sales reps.

3x

90% of CEOs don’t respond to cold calls or emails 75% of B2B purchases

involve social media

Lesson #1:

Move in the

Shadows

If you’re serious about getting a sale, you need to do your research

before calling a prospect or sending them a message. One method

for doing this is to stalk your prospect dressed in full Ninja attire for at

least one week, tracking their every move, hiding in the shadows as

you go, using the experience to hone your craft and become a true

sales warrior.

Or, you could just browse your prospects’ social profiles to learn who

they are. As I don’t want to give away too many secrets, we’ll go

through the latter method.

T he a r t o f ESPIONAGE i s one of the 3 key

p i l la r s upon wh ich T he Soc ia l N i n ja i s bu i l t .

Sneakily looking at the company’s social accounts will give you a great insight into their organiational goals, so you know exactly the direction in which to throw your pitch when the time is right.

More importantly though, your stealthy search through the key decision maker’s profiles will reveal who they are beyond the job title and company name. Working out what makes your prospects tick will make a world of difference when you come to try and frame your conversation.

The most valuable information will lie in the only area which somebody writes about themselves as a self-promotional piece: their LinkedIn profile. This area should contain a lot of hints and clues as to who they think they are, which will help you massage their ego, build rapport and, ultimately, construct a long-standing sales relationship. The same can be said of their Twitter account, which, if active, should give you a good view of the prospect on a personal level.

All of this will also help you make the all-important small talk that helps ensure you make a true connection with a prospect and that they actually like you. After all, building bridges over common ground will always enhance your chances of getting on with someone.

Top Tip:–Enter into your account settings and find the privacy controls. Here, you can change what people see when you’ve viewed their profile. Go anonymous and you can be extra sneaky.

Lesson #2:

Love, Prune

and Water

If you prune too much from your Bonsai’s branches, the tree will not

survive; if you prune too little, the tree will grow to be unreliable.

Watering the tree too much will simply drown it, and not enough will

see it dry up. The same can be said for your relationships.

Let me put this in Western terms for you: would you ask someone to

marry you on the first date? No! Would you even ask them to meet

your family? Probably not. And why? Because you don’t know each

other yet. You don’t know if a relationship would improve your lives,

solve any of your problems or make you happier.

So why do so many salespeople still think it’s wise to pitch to

someone before getting to know them? How can you expect to

solve somebody’s problems before you know what they are? Sales

and romance are based on the same basic relationship principle: if

you can improve each other’s lives, the relationship will work.

Jus t l i ke the sacred BONSAI TREE , you r

re lat ionsh ips need to be ca refu l l y ma i nta i ned

and nu r tu red i f you want them to b los som.

When using social media to find, acquire and grow leads, you need to slowly and gently ease into the relationship. Never pitch to somebody immediately. “Will you marry me?” and “Will you buy from me?” both sound as desperate as one another.

You stand a far greater chance of sealing the deal if you make them fall in love with you first. So talk to them as a human. Say that you liked a recent post or article of theirs, ask for some advice (even if you don’t need it), just do anything you can to make the first embers of the relationship burn.

From there, you can add more timber in the form of strong conversation and questions about what their industry is like at the moment. This then opens the door to ask more personal business questions, and, before you know it, you know exactly what their problems are and which of your products or services can solve them.

Importantly though, just as the sacred Bonsai tree needs constant care, you need to keep in contact with your clients after the sale is sealed. If you don’t, somebody else will take over that relationship, and you’ll be left out of pocket.

And remember that people aren’t stupid any more; they’re savvy. Savvy enough, at least, to realize when you’ve sent the same message to 1000 people and when you’ve just written to them. Make sure your tone of voice is professional, but also ensure that it’s relaxed; you don’t want to sound like a corporate robot.

Top Tip :–Ten Personal LinkedIn InMails are worth one thousand generic ones, just as one hundred followers who are interested in you are much more valuable than ten thousand who aren’t.

Lesson #3:

Strike when

the Time is

Right

When selling, time is of the essence. It’s of vital importance to tell

a prospect how you can solve their problems right after they lay

them out, but never cut them off or stop them from giving you more

information. Every small detail will help you sell, so get as many pieces

of the puzzle as you can.

If you feel as though there is more information to be had from a

prospect, or as though you need more knowledge before you can

pitch, make sure you get it; you’ll only get one chance to make the

first pitch. There’s no need to snoop through bins or hire detectives,

but make sure that you know all of the facts before pitching to

someone.

Al l o f the GRANDMASTERS have taught

fo r thousands of yea r s that s t r i k i ng e i the r too

soon o r too late w i l l resu l t i n you r defeat.

On the flip side of the coin, don’t leave it too long after they’ve

spelt out to you what they need. Not only will it kill the conversation,

it will also look as though you can’t help them. More importantly

though, this may be the first time that they’ve actually thought

about and realized their day-to-day problems, and if you don’t

offer them a solution, they may just go looking for one of their

own accord.

It’s at this moment, when you’ve got all of the information you

need, that you tell them you need to talk, and ask which phone

number is best to contact them on. Make it seem fairly urgent,

because it is. Say that you’ve worked with the problem before,

and let them know that you can solve it, because you can. Never

pitch through LinkedIn though – there’s far too much valuable

information to be had from their tone of voice and what they

say, and nowhere near enough in an InMail.

Visit www.sales-i.com/blog for more from the sales-i team.

www. s a l e s - i . c om

Watch the Video

to See How it Works

sales-i allows you to access targeted customer data in seconds, meaning you can easily spot cross, up and link-selling opportunities. We turn an average performers into truly skilled

salespeople.

Increase conversion of your sales calls as you’ll always have a reason to get in touch with your customers. What’s more, sales-i will give you the information to spot competitor threats early.

sales-i can create rich and powerful sales reports in seconds, right from your laptop, smartphone or tablet, saving you countless hours. Preparing for meetings doesn’t get

easier than this.

Create Skilled

Salespeople

Increase Your

Profits

Write Reports

Faster

See the Power of sales-i!