Somewhere along the way sales professionals thought they had found the infamous “silver bullet” for sales success. “If I just Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin I will have thousands of sales easily!” Question… when has marketing using email, faxing, or mailers ever worked that way? Isn’t social media the same? You’re return will always be fractions of a percent for the effort. Always has, always will be… and you know what? That’s o.k. So, Is social media a waste of time?

Law of Large Numbers and Social Media
I first became aware of LOLN with my first sales job as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life. This was quite some time ago… I was selling whole life and personally collecting premiums to give you an idea how long ago… but still has tremendous value today. Insurance Companies use this formula (among other things) to calculate and lessen risk. As a sales force we used this principle for sales success and I still do today. With the right training “Large focused activity will bring success every time” becomes pretty simple. Can’t we apply this to social media in sales today?

“I’m getting nothing from this!” “What a waste of time!” “You told me to get a presence and now my pipeline sucks!” Sound familiar?

Social Media is not about Large Numbers – Soothsayers
There are those that subscribe to the idiom that small focused social relationships are the key. Anything more than that is a sacrilege of some sort. That’s like saying the Internet should only be for personal groups, colleges, etc. It should not represent a global marketing – prospecting – sales existence. Poppycock! Social media is definitely about large numbers for sales success.

There’s nothing “magical” about Marketing using Social Media.
Like any marketing strategy you need a plan and a budget. This goes for time involvement as well. If you spend hours and hours reading status updates – social media voyeurism – then it will definitely kill your sales mojo. You simply won’t get the results desired for time spent.

Social Media a Waste of Time – 5 Steps to Keep That From Happening.

1.) Keep your social media time to a small roar.

2.) Do it every day – day in – day out. Persistency is the key here.

3.) Understand your end-game and stay focused towards attaining that.

4.) After hours… socializing with family for hours is of course fine. Just not during productivity hours.

5.) Connect with as many “like minded” people as possible. Un-Follow those that are of no benefit for you or them by being mutually connected. Business and sales should be about win-win.

Is Social Media the Real Issue?
I don’t buy into this at all. I do feel, however, that short sales cycle opportunities are shrinking… Presentations are happening less… and it’s taking more sales calls to close a deal are major contributors. Owners, managers, and sales professionals feel it’s just not “fun anymore”.

“Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, “This is the real me,” and when you have found that attitude, follow it.” – William James

Social Media and a Rejuvenated Success
It’s a pretty tough sales environment today and we’re all looking for some relief. Social media can help with that. I have had some great successes with social media as has some of my sales team members. All would tell you that it comes with a focused consistent message religiously conveyed. I am now in contact with hundreds of CEO’s, owners, managers, and sales professionals globally and locally. My sales prowess has increased with their sharing of knowledge. They’re motivating and in some cases inspirational. Relationships have been born and I have found social media as a great way to get pass gatekeepers. Bottom line is it has, after twenty plus years in sales, rejuvenated my sales success. Let it do the same for you.

Chris Lott

Chris has over 15 year’s Sales Management experience including Business Ownership, Product Management and Web Design/Marketing. He’s a national sales team strategist and trainer. Chris is the designer of the popular totallysales™ sales playbook with thousands of copies downloaded. He’s a nationally syndicated author with his articles on SalesBlog! rated as a “top must-read” on consultative selling.