The past doesn’t equal the future. Change is pervasive. There’s a major upheaval in how products and services are being bought. This upheaval is caused by:

• changes in technology,
• changes in economies,
• changes in the perceptions of value,
• a power shift from the seller to the buyer,
• and a reversion back to the natural human interactions of commerce.

There needs to be a corresponding upheaval in how products and services are sold. Social media is contributing significantly. It enables a natural give and take between people. It’s a paradigm shift that is changing how business is conducted. The last 75 years or so (comprising the rise, reign and fall of the mass media selling model) were an aberration.

Back to the Future – the Bizarre Bazaar

It may feel like today’s world of transparency, social media, digital relationships and reputation management is something exotic and new. It’s not. Mass media and push marketing (and to a lesser degree brand building) are no longer working because they were an anomaly, brought about by an artificial marketplace. The good news is we are reentering a more human way of conducting business. The bad news is most of us have to unlearn our sales and marketing habits.

So what are we supposed to do?

CONTENT. CONTEXT. CONVERSATION.

Value is communicated over time through a series of interactions between your company and your prospects. However, this value isn’t transferred from business to business. It’s achieved through conversations that individuals from your company have with specific people within an account. B2B sales are the result of many discrete conversations, and value is best communicated when those conversations focus on a common goal: solving the client’s problem.

Strong customer relationships are built over time, through a series of value-added interactions between various people from the buyer and seller organizations. Nevertheless, most B2B companies fail to use key conversations as input to formulate go-to-market strategy for subsequent sales efforts.

Digital versions of these conversations are happening daily, by the millions, in social media (AND THEY LEAVE AN AUDIT TRAIL)! The value of this information is astounding. Participate. Learn how to leverage these conversations. You can bet your business your brightest and toughest competitors are immersed in it.

Here’s what I’ve learned in working with my clients on social media. Common mistakes include:

• Relegating social media to the most junior person on the Sales team.
• Investing 10 or 20 hours in it, and declaring it a failure.
• Treating it as a peripheral endeavor – something not core to the success of the business.

On the surface it makes sense to have a junior (i.e. young) person handle social media. After all, they understand this stuff, right? Yes… they understand the platforms and technologies. The danger is that they typically don’t have a deep understanding of your business, the industries it serves, and (HUGE) the nuances of interacting with clients and prospects. Social media are conversations. What is said, and how information is delivered, are extremely important. Sophisticated people skills are required.

Social media is relatively inexpensive. The price of admission is almost zero; but leveraging social media effectively takes a considerable investment of time. Social media reflects how we interact in the offline world. You must spend time listening and learning about the people you want to interact with; and then you must earn their trust. Plan on spending 10 to 20 person hours a week for a couple of months before you see a tangible payback. Too large an investment? It’s either that or compete on price. You choose.

Social media should be an intrinsic part of your business. It can drastically improve the effectiveness of everything from Customer Service to Marketing (including market research and PR) to Sales. Assign or hire a fairly senior person to manage your social media activities across your organization; and give that person a seat at the table along with the rest of your executives. This person will deliver significant value (more than you can imagine) if you give them the time, resources and respect that they deserve. Expect them to deliver documented, winning go-to-market strategies. Integrate them into the formulation and execution of your business development efforts.