November 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
By Alan Cherry
If you aren’t using social media platforms as part of your sales strategy, you’re losing easy business, missing out on big opportunities for new business, and failing to get a full picture of your customer.
In the competitive world of sales and in an industry that spans the globe, simply being more accessible and more available than your competition is going to give you an edge. Having a presence on the web and social media in particular means that you’re always accessible when you can’t be immediately available.
Repertoire recently talked to a couple of IMCO members who’ve seen great success in a time when the marketplace is experiencing disruption – thanks in large part to their savvy use of social media to help grow their network and their business.
“Typically, when you hear about a company, the first thing you do is run to your computer and Google reviews or check out content on their website. You’re almost judged by that more than you were previously judged on your face-to-face appearance,” says Scott Wicks, sales manager at C&S Medical Supply. “The content that you put on there is your salesmen. You’re using these platforms to really sell yourself. Then it’s your job to go in and create that relationship.”
Relationships
The key to success in healthcare supply chain is maintaining good relationships. Social media allows you to develop and maintain real, personal connections. If it builds your relationships with your friends, why would it be any different for your business relationships?
“People think that social media, email, and text are ruining personal relationships, but I think it’s strengthening them,” says Nick Merritt, sales rep with Grove Medical.
Wicks says that social media has been a great avenue for him to show his passion for the industry and show his customers that he truly cares about their patients.
“I’m constantly researching and trying to find products that are going to help my customers better care for their patients, provide better resources for them, and for them to see the relationships I have with my manufacturers and with my other facilities. I really just use it to stay in front of them and let them know that I’m in the marketplace and I’m there for them,” says Merritt.
Building and leveraging your network
When it comes to networking, both Wicks and Merritt have found great success using LinkedIn due to the way that the platform connects users to one another. But when it comes to social media, it’s important not to forget the social and personal connections that those platforms are trying to foster.
Does your network consist of people that are just utilizing you for your contacts? Or is your network truly a connected one that is bringing value to the table?
“I’ve got a great network where we all tag each other on social media. We all do different things, but we bring everybody into our network,” says Merritt. “As you help them out, then your views grow, and as your views grow, your network grows. People realize that you’re a value-added service rather than just somebody posting motivational quotes on social media.”
“And that’s where I think people improperly use social media – they try to pump themselves up and try to make themselves look great, but they’re not helping their network, so their network’s not helping them,” Merritt adds.
Eyes on the prize
Connecting on a personal level with your customers is only one objective of your overall reason for using social media as a sales rep.
“Your social media presence is basically a 24/7 sales rep that works rain and shine to spread the message of what you do. The ultimate goal is to direct viewers to the website where there’s a lot more in-depth content and things like that,” says Wicks. “For any sales rep or business trying to get into it, it’s a very inexpensive way to kind of get your message and to make it a little more human. It’s been an invaluable tool. And it’s very simple because you can do it really at any time of the day, any hour of the day and then let the technology do the work for you.”
Return
When wielding social media as a tool for sales, keep in mind that the returns and payoffs are different from other tools and that the success needs to be measured in its own ways. All of the experts we talked to agreed that you shouldn’t expect to measure the returns in dollars. Success often takes the form of new opportunities and relationships. Realize that success takes time and patience.
The good news is, especially in the current market climate, you probably won’t have to be waiting for that long.
Wicks says that, even though he and his company have only been active on social media for a few months, the effort has already paid for itself, with new leads that they never would have had if not for people discovering them on the web and then seeking them out.
Merritt adds that one of the biggest keys to success is consistency and paying attention to what works, what doesn’t and why.
“You just have to really figure out what you’re posting, what the content is and the best time to post that content. If you utilize it properly and provide good content and don’t vomit at the keyboard, then people want to come to your profile because they want to see what you’ve posted,” Merritt says. “It’s a big snowball effect.”
What NOT to do
Doing the right things is all well and good, but on the internet, it’s crucial that you also avoid doing the wrong things. One misinterpreted comment can hinder, alter, or just ruin a relationship that was previously fine.
“One of the most important things is just being very cognizant of how you say things,” says Merritt. “When you’re on social media, you’ve got to make sure you say things in a way that the audience understands your meaning and where you’re coming from.”
Just like in real life, using any social media channel effectively means you need to read the room. While all social media platforms have the same basic function of facilitating personal connections, the types of content and expectations for those interactions varies greatly from platform to platform. Bringing the wrong type of content to a platform is going to be a waste of your time and could ultimately work against you if people don’t like what you’re posting.
“If you utilize social media the way that most people think it’s intended to be utilized, you’ll fail. If you utilize it in a way that’s strategic, and if you are genuine, put yourself out there and are making a point to show people who you are in the business world, in your family world, and in your relationships and in your network and you support your network, then that is the ultimate way to utilize social media,” says Merritt.
Best Practices
- Always be genuine and personal.
- Be active and responsive.
- Be consistent and constant.
- Be patient – your goals are long term, not quick success.
- Don’t just throw random things out there because you’re thinking about it in that moment.
- Be strategic with your posts and posting times. Having great content isn’t going to do much unless you post it when people are most likely to see it.
- Be aware of what the purpose of the platform is and tailor your posts to match it.
- Before you hit send on anything, double check that your message is coming across the way you intend it to.
- Make sure the things you post or share are true and come from credible sources that have good data and documentation to back up their claims.
- If you truly believe in a product, then talk about it. But don’t put something out there that you’re not willing to stand behind.
- Levity and humor are great – but don’t say or share something you wouldn’t be comfortable saying face-to-face.
- Don’t use social media platforms and messaging as a direct selling tool.
Where to Start
Here are tips on how to use some of the larger social media platforms:
- Facebook is not a great platform for business networking or selling. People are on Facebook to keep up with their friends and relatives and share stories and pictures of their social lives.
- Instagram is really only helpful if what you have to post has a visually compelling component.
- Twitter is more of a mixed bag when it comes to the personal/professional breakdown, but it’s conversational nature makes it very easy to get lost or buried under other content.
- LinkedIn is the clear winner when it comes to using social media for professional relationships. For starters, people expect to find professional and business-related content when they look at LinkedIn. On top of that, the way the platform shows and shares content to users makes it a great place to network. That said – our experts all agreed that, even though LinkedIn is more professionally geared, it is still a place for social connections. Don’t automate your interactions or go straight into “sales mode.” You’re there to form business relationships, not just to advertise your product or engage in “guerilla marketing.” Tactics like that are more likely to burn bridges than they are to create opportunities.