Social Media…is turbo charged always best?
Through social media people often have the misconception that getting a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account will make business happen, immediately. Just like any other type of networking activity, it’s all about creating the connections. We need to take the same steps to create relationships that start online or off.
One of the things that I have found with social media is that just as in person it is okay to let the relationship take time to develop. Sometimes we try to jump into the phone call, or the meeting. It takes time to find common ground and establish the reasons. Social Media and active networking make the curve quicker. Use the tools for research, follow up, and active conversation. Do your homework and make the connections count.
What’s your take, or take away from social media. Is turbo charged best?
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[...] Social Media…is turbo charged always best? (insights-group.com) [...]
I believe it depends on individual situations. My personal experience has been that I do not control the time line for developing the relationships. If the client has an urgent need and he/she knows that you have the right solution then the relationship develops in “turbo” mode. Sometimes, even though you know that the client can gain benefits by virtue of using your product, it still takes convincing. The key there is persistence and patience. I have a “potential” (potential because she has not yet placed a purchase order) customer who was not interested and indicated that she would keep the information on file. Without offending her, I gave her specific examples of how her competitors (without violating their confidentiality) are using our product to improve the quality of their product as well as improve their manufacturing efficiency. I now have a meeting scheduled to go present to her and her technical team. So my persistence paid off.
The key is diversification in your client base. Turbo and non-turbo. This way you always have encouragement to persist with your “non-turbo” customers by the positive steps you take with you “turbo” customers. Manage the communications with all clients on a CRM (customer relationship management) database and keep it current. I use a simple excel spreadsheet as my CRM database. This is a good way of not losing track of the follow-up and you see visual representation of small steps of progress that you make with each customer.
This is my two-cents.
DK
I see what you are saying. I think that if you use social media in a natural way as opposed to starting a “follower” collection…Everyone has a more enjoyable and productive experience. -Kevin
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