Technology Reseller v07

01732 759725 SOCIAL MEDIA 38 @philjones40 Insider... Visiting a distributor who was celebrating their 40th year in business reminded me of the importance of relationships and relevancy. To stay in business for over four decades is no mean feat. Technologies change, trends change, people change, organisations and business models change. You only get to remain in the room if you continue to change with them. Yet change is not always easy. Recent times have shown that some of the most powerful businesses can go insolvent – evidence that a winning pattern of the past can quickly go out of date unless you constantly take time out to think about the future and your part within it. Relevancy is key. Staying close to your target market, your buyers and your people. It’s as easy to run into problems if all your key people leave you as it is if your service offering falls behind. You have to stay on the ball, as a business owner, salesperson or stakeholder. Travelling down to the meeting gave me a great opportunity to listen to an audio book, Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley. In it, Daniel describes ways to create new markets within your market, how to attract new premium buyers to your product or services. In other words, how to stay relevant. I’d recommend you read it or listen to it. In such a dynamic external environment, the climate is changing quickly. Evaluating your relevancy and relationships should be something you review as often as your sales results, if you plan to be around for the long term. See you out there. Phil Jones MBE , Managing Director, Brother UK Social media a vital sales tool Sales people rely on LinkedIn and Facebook for information on sales prospects and stays relevant through their own practices. Of course, there is a fine line between gathering insight and intrusion, so information gathered via social media should be worked into conversations strategically.” He added: “Sales reps need access to the best possible technology and systems to help them aggregate all the information they need from multiple sources, to ensure they make the best impression from the very start of a relationship. Time spent manually researching could be used more efficiently, and Relationship Intelligence technology can do this automatically and present all the information in one place.” www.sugarcrm.com Sales people on both side of the Atlantic are increasingly turning to social media to prep for meetings and to find out more about potential prospects, claims a new report sponsored by SugarCRM. The SalesTech Report from CITE Research reveals that sales employees are increasingly turning to social media channels for information on prospects, with 53% of sales reps choosing Facebook as their research tool of choice. Even more popular is the business- focused network LinkedIn, which tops the list of preferred platforms for meeting preparation (64%), followed by company website (63%) and Google (61%). A third (34%) are also turning to Twitter to gain insight into their prospects’ likes and interests. Millennial employees raised on social media (18-34 year olds) are more likely to use both Facebook (59%) and Twitter (41%), while older employees (55+ years) are more likely to turn to LinkedIn (76%) and a company website (83%). The report states that social media has now become a part of everyday working life for sales professionals, with 72% spending 30 minutes or more on it for research purposes. Nearly half (49%) use it for at least 45 minutes. Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM, said: “These new findings prove how intrinsic social media has become to both our personal and professional lives. Consumers are engaging with these channels every day, so it’s only right that the business world keeps pace Building Business Relationships When preparing for a meeting with a new customer or prospect, what w bsites do you visit to gather i formation about the person you will be meeting with? Sales people use a mix of social media sites and other internet sources (the company websit e, Google) to prepare for meetings with prospective clients. However, this may be trending toward an increase in social media, as younger salespeople are more often using Facebook and Twitter to research clients. None Crunchbase Hoovers Dun & Bradstreet Zoominfo Twitter Facebook Google Search Company Website Linkedin 0% 70% 2017 SalesTech Report Larry Augustin These new findings prove how intrinsic social media has become to both our personal and professional lives