Facts vs Fiction - Social Media Tools in B2B Selling
Well, I think sales people don’t have a bad reputation. They are simply no more RELEVANT. Why? Read “death of a sales man”. No no no - I mean read it NOW - read it again - NOW. It will tell you WHY. If you don’t believe me - you don’t believe me like the main character in the plot didn’t listen to the youngsters who took over. Dave (Stein), you want to give them a “entirely different orientation” - wooo how cool is that. Terry, are you still hanging on to the old “solution selling stuff” from 30 years ago? Next comment may be about the “reference selling” method, or all the other good old ways of selling. Anybody up for the “killer instinct” Rarrrrrrr. How about the good schools from Miller Heiman…
Come on people what are you dreaming about at night? You are over fertilized and squeezed out people that try harder and harder to meet the commission, the forecast to walk through your “funnel” that is more like a “tunnel” with no light at the end. You get asked to work harder - you pull in more cold calls, you “align” you call centers… How about finding yet another more fine tuned sales methodology based on Yogi what’s his name. Don’t you realize that YOUR way of selling is DEAD
This is a comment by Axel Schultze from Dave Brock’s post “Why do Sales People have such a Bad Reputation?” on The Customer Collective. This new type of pitch from a new type of salesperson refers to the role of social media tools in the B2B selling environment. Axel followed this up with his own post on this topic Death of a Salesman - Version 2009.
So REALLY, how effective are these new technologies in producing additional sales? and are they now, as has been claimed in some quarters already replacing established sales methodology and processes?
Well according to a new study by ES Research Group, Inc. (ESR), one of the leading research and advisory firms on sales effectiveness, social media tools such as Jigsaw, LinkedIn,Twitter, Plaxo, Facebook, Hoovers and OneSource may be useful for other purposes, but most of them aren’t helping sales teams close many B2B deals today. The survey was developed in cooperation with The TAS Group.
Based on a survey of nearly 400 sales professionals in the U.S., the report found that only LinkedIn (86%) and Hoovers/OneSource combined (61%) were used by more than half of respondents in their selling efforts. Facebook (50%), Plaxo (48%), Twitter (31%), and Jigsaw (26%) trailed in use.
Note: Hoovers and OneSource are separate companies but were combined for survey purposes because of their similar services.
Of respondents actually using the tools for sales, Hoovers and OneSource were the only tools helping more than half (54%) of them win B2B sales sometimes or often. LinkedIn was next at 42% and Jigsaw followed at 35%. Worst were Facebook (15%), Plaxo (13%) and Twitter (13%).
“The results demonstrate that with all the hype and buzz, most social network tools aren’t helping sales teams sell more yet,” Said Dave Stein, CEO and founder, ES Research Group. “For example, Twitter has not come into its own as a salesperson’s tool. It is presently a marketing tool that can potentially benefit the sales organization by contributing to the generation and nurturing of new sales leads. For now, the use of sales methodologies integrated with CRM systems and other sales enablement tools are proving far more successful in driving sales.”
Other key findings include the following:
- LinkedIn is clearly the favorite among B2B salespeople surveyed.
- The established for-pay information services (Hoover’s and OneSource) came in second.
- Free/low-cost information sharing services such as Jigsaw will rise in popularity over time.
- Twitter is an anomaly. It will have a high degree of uptake, but in a very narrow market. Marketing will find the tool much more valuable than sales for the foreseeable future. Presently it is not a valuable mainstream medium for B2B salespeople.
- For the time being, Facebook is best reserved for the personal and family sides of one’s life.
The ESR survey of sales representatives in a broad set of industries examined the prospecting process, the selling process, and the storage and retrieval of customer and prospect information.
No one doubts, the evolving role that social media technologies will play in the B2B selling environment, however the evidence clearly demonstrates that their present significance is no where near what some would have us believe. This is a topic of conversation that we will no doubt re-visit as the months and years go by. For now though, I applaud Dave and the ES research group for seeking out the facts of the matter, and for giving me the reassurance to continue to deliver the best advice for my customers and their sales people.
Buy the 10-page ESR/Insight™ Brief , The New Social Media: Do They Enable B2B Selling?
Over at Top Sales Experts,
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Tags: axel schultze, b2b selling, Dave Stein, death of a salesman, ES research group, facebook, hoovers, jigsaw, linkedin, onesource, plaxo, Sales 2.0, social media tools, the future of professional selling, TSE timetable for april 09, twitter
April 6th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
[...] ready to go. You can follow the action on Twitter, check this blog and Wikibon for updates Facts vs Fiction - Social Media Tools in B2B Selling - btbtraining.com 04/06/2009 Well, I think sales people don’t have a bad reputation. They are [...]
April 6th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
[...] Posted in Uncategorized by salesenablement on April 6th, 2009 btbtraining.com posted Facts vs Fiction - Social Media Tools in B2B Selling on April 6th, 2009: “[...] how effective are these new technologies in producing additional [...]
April 6th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
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April 6th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Very interesting research. I guess it would be equally interesting to actually interview the customers how they look at the situation.
We just introduced a research report today (The Mindshare Report) where we dissected over 1 Million customers of 6 global enterprises including Dow Chemical, John Deere, NetApp, New York Life, Toyota, and Vodafone. It is most shocking to see what a small group of analysts can do and that this can be dome by any trained consultant. Businesses are extremely vulnerable if they don’t understand the implications of social media. The “control” over their customer list is evaporating and more so the sentiment of their customer base. But as with every threat there is an equally huge opportunity. The report is available at http://socialmedia-academy.com
At the end I agree that social media is no tool for “selling” at least not the way we understand selling. But it is a weapon that is still underestimated by most executives.
@AxelS
April 6th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Axel, Stop dissecting people, they don’t like it
Businesses can’t afford to underestimate social media, Agreed. But businesses also have to live and operate in the here and now. In the here and now, social media tools remain an evolving entity for B2B. As change happens, biz will have to change to keep up. “Social media is no tool for selling” here is where I disagree. I think it can be, but then I think that much of our disagreements stem from the fact that my understanding of selling is very different to yours. Thanks for your comments.Cheers,Niall
April 7th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The media are NOT the message, whether social or marketing. The media are a means of transmitting the message.
The reason that selling is dying is because the basic concept of how to sell is obsolete. Selling, as the Art of Persuasion, is dead. It was killed by Information Overload. The markets for every product and service are far more sophisticated than ten years ago.
Cold-calling doesn’t work anymore.
Lead acquisition methods are costly and inefficient.
Finding needs has become counter-productive.
Establishing Rapport has become counter-productive.
Educating prospects has become counter-productive.
Selling benefits turns off most prospects.
Persuasion causes resistance.
Selling points have become resistance points.
Consultative selling has been show to be fraudulent.
Closing techniques do not work.
Overcoming objections kills sales.
Top sales producers do not do any of the above. Their sales processes are simple, yet highly effective.
They know how to find prospects that are ready, willing, and able to buy.
They know how to develop immediate relationships of mutual trust and respect.
They know how to determine prospects’ exact buying intentions.
They know the importance of assessing prospects’ conditions of satisfaction.
They know how to quickly arrive at mutual agreements and mutual commitments.
They know how to have prospects’ enthusiastically close the sale.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hi Jacques, Perhaps I have missed the point here. Persuasion that results in resistance is by definition not persuasion. You can’t sell something to someone who doesn’t want to buy unless, you are dishonest. Anyway, Why would you try to do this? what would be the point. Are you saying that this is what some salespeople have been doing? If they have, that just really bad selling and very questionable ethics.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am
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November 4th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
[...] Posted in Uncategorized by salesenablement on November 4, 2009 In the comments of ‘Facts vs Fiction – Social Media Tools in B2B Selling’ I found the following from Jacques Werth: “[...] The reason that selling is dying is because [...]