They say good things come in threes, and it's no different for social selling. The Power of 3 is an established formula that has been concocted deep in the sales laboratories. It will help you succeed in understanding, mastering and implementing social selling. Here is the recipe: The 3x3 Rule, The 3-Tier Approach, and The 3 Cs.
The 3x3
The 3x3 is a concept developed by Vorsight that helps you manage your time when executing social selling activities and research in to your prospects. The rules states that you should have some context before attempting to reach out to someone. Use web and social media channels to find 3 pieces of contextual information in under 3 minutes. This will arm you with ammunition you can use to personalize you reach outs whether they be by email or phone. It will also give you the opportunity to quickly understand your buyer more than your competition and improve the ability to find common ground to ensure a good relationship in formed.
3-Tier Approach
The 3-Tier Approach involves finding the right people, at the right time, with the right messages. In order to do this one must take a holistic approach to social media and find all of the networks that potential buyers are using and must surround them socially. This is the right people. One must listen to these networks for signals or triggers that the buyer or buyer's company may be looking to make a purchase now or in the near future (More on Trigger Events from Craig Elias). This is the right time. One must deliver specialized content to the buyer to help inch them towards purchasing your products through strategically sharing content and insights meant to lead the buyer. This is the right message.
The 3 Cs
Are you looking for the social selling recipe for success? Here it is: the 3 Cs. The recipe for can be broken down into 1 part connecting, 1 part content, and 1 part context. If you follow this recipe, your social selling endeavors will pay huge dividends.
Connections
Ever heard of ABC? Well, now it has changed: Always Be Connecting (elegantly coined by Jill Rowley). Everyone involved in social selling should always be connecting in order to leverage the power of their contacts, coworkers, and colleagues. Since the modern buyer is digitally and socially connected, it's never been more important to have contacts in place that can introduce you and give you credibility to your potential buyers. By connecting daily with people, you increase the likelihood of being able to get an introduction or to get exposure to buyers you never knew existed.
Content
Content is equally as important and is the backbone of showing your potential buyers that you are insightful and knowledgeable about the space and the topics that they are interested in. Sharing good content that your buyers want to read can make a direct impact on them by pointing to you as a trusted advisor and sources that can help them. By sharing content daily, you are also leaving a trail of content clues that will attract potential buyers when they find your content and follow it to you. Jamie Shanks refers to these as breadcrumbs for the buyer. Since buyers are finding enough info online to have the buying process 70% complete before engaging a rep, you need to be the one to shape their decisions through sharing content that supports your products and initiatives.
Context
Context is what can give you the ammunition you need to have powerful conversations with buyers. LinkedIn provides serious context to someone professionally, but personal networks like Twitter give you context into the buyers personal life. This enables you to have a 360 degree viewer of each buyer and truly understand what makes them tick personally and professionally. This is what sets you up from the spray and pray traditional salespeople that are offering you their lunch. Utilize information you uncover online and work it into your traditional communications in order to personalize them and increase your success rates. With the availability of this information, there is no reason to ever do a cold call or send an email template again.
The Power of 3 is designed to make social selling practices repeatable and develop a consistent understanding across your sales team. These practices can be applied to both B2B and B2C settings.
Social selling and the power of 3 / shutterstock