Bill Rice Internet Marketing > web 2.0

Social Selling, Building a Sales Process for a Web 2.0 World

March 24, 2009 By
My web 2.0 progess (2006)
Image by sndrv via Flickr

Unquestionably the Web 2.0 moniker has been over used, but unfortunately sales folks have been slow to pick-up the opportunities it gives us. So, I will carefully use it one more time.

If anything defines Web 2.0 it is the rise of the social Web. People are connecting an communicating more than ever on the Internet. Long gone are the days of one-way websites and brochure-ware brands. The new Web has people commenting, interacting,friending, following, Tweeting, and getting involved with the products and services they want to buy.

Why aren’t you getting involved with your customers?

Attracting

Social networks have little value without people. You need to have an audience. Not just any audience–a relevant audience. Fortunately, most social media makes this prerequisite a snap. They are designed to get you connected with relevant people. Here are a few key steps to attracting an initial following:

  • Complete your profile–this is how people find old classmates, expertise, and friends
  • Add what you do–this is a tactful way of selling your services
  • Don’t forget the picture–helps feel more connected or confirm they have the right person
  • Tell your friends, co-workers, and clients–they make a great foundation and referrals

These four simple steps will easily attract you a loyal following of several hundred folks, and the social proofing you will need to get to an audience of thousands.

Listening

Listening is probably one of the most profitable actions you can take in social selling. Consumers are telling you what they want, expect, and how to close their deal. You just have to be listening for the ques–the invitation to call upon them, the opportunity to help.

In order to do this efficiently you need to set-up a listening post. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, but I have found the best way is with TweetDeck or TweetGrid. The tool is really less important–focus on the words (keywords) that people use to talk about the needs and wants that you can help with.

Engaging

Joining the conversation is the popular mantra of the social media world. Getting in the conversation is how you build a strong audience. Just like Web search, social media search is becoming the cornerstone of how audiences are built.

Every input into your social network–every tweet, every wall post, every Flickr picture–becomes searchable content. The more compelling that content the more people will be attracted to your audience.

Your conversations will help build relationships, trust, and credibility–all the elements of a good sale.

Playing

This is the one element many first time social sellers leave out–Play! No one likes to deal with a person who is always business. Your social network wants to know who you are and what makes you laugh. People like to do business with people like themselves.

I do a lot of business with baseball fans. So, if you are in to music, sports, movies, whatever the interest let people know. You will attract an audience of people that like you, and that always makes it easier to do business.

Tell us how you are social selling…

lead management

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Filed Under: Sales Management, Sales Training Tagged With: facebook, Online Communities, Sales Training, Social Media, Social network, web 2.0

Web 2.0 Mortgage Marketing, It’s Social!

June 11, 2008 By

The visionaries behind The Cluetrain Manifesto prophetically summed up our current market opportunity in the first of 95 theses–”Markets are conversations.” The folks you want as customers are increasingly expecting conversations. Your challenge? Figure out how to make an introduction. And I am going to give you the secrets–step-by-step…

Listen First

Since markets are conversations, the nice thing is people (generally) don’t mind you joining the discussion. This give you an enormous opportunity to learn. Take advantage of it.

Listen to other experts, competitors, and practitioners. But, most importantly listen to your customers.

Most miss this opportunity. The powerful thing about listening is that people talk about your products and services and what they want from them. Nowhere is it easier to do market research and survey your customers’ attitudes than on the Web. You just have to tune in.

Looking for the smartest and best in the business at Web 2.0 mortgage marketing? They are the folks watching their prospective customers. Here are the key things you should be learning?

  • Who are they?
  • Who do they talk to?
  • What do they talk about?
  • What words they use?


I highlighted a very important concept above, but let’s not get too far ahead.

Obviously, from the title–Mortgage Marketing–we are all in the mortgage business. Don’t forget your customers are not. They don’t talk to mortgage people. They don’t talk about mortgage, unless forced to. And they don’t know what FHA, subprime, and Fannie Mae are.

Search is your friend, especially the blog search engines. Remember you are looking for conversations. Conversations about homes, buying homes, refinancing homes, mortgages, mortgage brokers, mortgage scams, real estate rip offs (yes, look for hateful conversations too). Here are some good places to start for conversations:


Back to words! This is the number one failure in marketing and a death sentence in Internet marketing. On the Web, words are how customers find us. If you use words that they don’t–you guessed it: No conversation!

These conversations, from blogs, discussion groups, and Twitter, are short and candid. Write them down and use them.

Identify a Niche

You know where they are, who they talk to, and the funny words they use. The next order of business is to find out what they want (not what they need)–another common marketing blunder.

Their conversations will give you valuable information. It will reveal their pain, like their monthly payments going up unexpectedly, a job loss, or may be a divorce that is going to force them to reconsider their current home or loan. Maybe they are just concerned about the stability of their lender or even getting a bargain on a foreclosure.

Once you know what they want and how they ask for it, build your Web 2.0 mortgage marketing platform.

Building a Web 2.0 Social Platform

Web 2.0 mortgage marketing is all about directly engaging your potential customers in conversation, but you need an identity. This is the role of your website or blog. Almost every social application on the Internet associates you with a website. If you don’t have a website people can’t learn more about you–and your efforts are already doomed.

How you design and build you home base is critical to your success. Did I mention it is your identity? This is how people are going to decide if they want your expert mortgage counsel.

I typically suggest a blog. It is simple and versatile. Plus, it is a conversation.

Here are a few suggestions on where to get a blog:


The other consideration to this platform is your name (identity), which in the Web world is a domain name. Take some time in figuring out the right name. It doesn’t have to be your company name, and probably shouldn’t be.

Here are some creative guidelines:

  • Consider your list of words your customers use
  • Consider the niche you have selected
  • Short is better
  • Register only .com, .org, .net


With your social identity and home in place it is time to fill it with credibility.

Content in King

Web copy is the current king of Internet marketing and lead generation. You need to not only know how to write, but what to write. Again, go back to your list of words your customers use. Take each one and design your Web site to talk about each of these key words.

Here are some good resources on writing good copy for your website or blog:


Your written words are critical because they are the language of Google and other search engines. However, don’t miss the growing importance of other media types, like audio and video. These richer media types help to make a more personal conversation. Consider adding in podcast, short audio messages, as well as video into your social platform.

Here are some resources for developing out your audio and video content:


Content builds credibility and trust, the two critical components in any sales. Make sure your mortgage marketing plan understands the impact of content to a simpler sale.

Develop Amplifier Relationships

Okay, we have a platform and lots of valuable content. But, who knew? The Internet is a big place. You, alone, screaming into an already buzzing conference hall filled with good conversations is not going to get you noticed.

You need amplifiers. People who find you interesting and are willing to tell others. Hopefully, some of these already have a big audience.

This, like the conventional offline Rolodex, is the role of social networks. Connecting with people who have audiences is the quickest way to get into the conversation.

Great places to build a social network of amplifiers:


These are all great tools and people on the Web love to share, but no one likes someone how takes advantage of a relationship. Be respectful and add value first. Even in little ways.

Distribution Makes a Kingdom

Being a king is only interesting if you command a kingdom.

In the Internet world that is an audience of potential buyers that respond to your recommendations and/or you have a networks of amplifiers that brings this ability.

Creating that kingdom is a process of distributing your name, your value, and your content.

The most effective way of executing that distribution is built into a lot of the principles I have already introduced:


Add to these inherent distribution channels some well placed personal emails and you will have a kingdom in no time.

Assembling the Web 2.0 Toolbox

You have the road map. A mortgage marketing plan that should have you flowing leads in no time, but what are some tools you should have on hand to run your new mortgage marketing empire?

Here are some of the basics:


The key to building your mortgage marketing platform is trying, testing, tweaking and re-testing. These tools allow you to produce and try a variety of approaches to your social market.

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: blogging, blogs, cluetrain, generating mortgage business, Lead Generation, marketing, mortgage, web 2.0

about |  contact |  disclosure