How do I think about Social Selling?

One of the biggest challenges to doing something is understanding something, then starting something...and that's what I hear all the time from people in the sports business industry on Social Selling. "I'd love to do it...I just don't know what it is, or how to do it."

For example, two weeks ago today, I moderated a panel at ALSD on Social Selling with two heavyweights in that area, Lindsey Boggs and Paul Ratner. The feedback that I received from that panel was tremendous. There's a real appetite for Social Selling in the sports world right now...and it will only grow once those find success with it...people just don't even know how to think about it before they even start doing it.

That said, the question is not 'Do I do Social Selling or do I use traditional channels?' This is not a binary decision. Just like email was 10-15 years ago, Social Selling is not a newfangled thing to be done instead of picking up the phone. Just like the phone, just like email, Social Selling are channels that allow you to engage your prospects...and the best parts about them? It's where your potential prospects are already talking. It's almost the definition of shooting fish in a barrel.

I've spent a lot of time talking to people about Social Selling, doing my own writing on Social Selling, and looking at what those in the sports business industry are already doing. Going forward, I will be writing a lot more about 'what to do' and 'what not to do'. This is not the piece for that.

Sales reps prospect in different ways, connect in different ways, and pitch in different ways. Social Selling is not changing that. Social Selling is adding ways to do all of those things in a format that, when done properly, illuminates the abilities of salespeople.

Social Selling is not a 'do it' or 'don't do it' mentality. It's a 'how do I incorporate it' mentality...and the smartest salespeople are already doing it. What are you waiting for?