Running from social media a path to nowhere

What’s your company’s social-media policy?
Probably shortsighted.
Social media, or social networking – better defined by the larger players: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube – has become more than a global phenomenon. When combined with your online presence and online outreach, it’s a global business phenomenon and a revenue-generating phenomenon. If it’s done right.
Many businesses are using social media.
Many businesses are not using social media.
Many businesses forbid social media.
Many businesses are still trying to figure out what to do.
Social media is not only here to stay, the few that are heavily involved are (silently) reaping the benefits.
Why silently? Because they don’t want their (stupid, chicken, technophobic) competitors to wake up and get on the bandwagon, or should I say, brandwagon.
NOTICE TO THE SHORTSIGHTED MANAGEMENT THAT IS AFRAID TO LET THE NEW WORLD IN: I assume your health care package includes blood-letting.
There’s a huge trust factor at hand – you can’t treat your salespeople like children and expect them to act like adults.
What your management is saying by restricting social-media access is:
&#8226 We don’t trust our people to do the right thing.
Management is also saying:
&#8226 This is how we want our young employees to perceive management.
&#8226 We want to create an opening for competition to steal our customers.
&#8226 We want to create an opening for competition to hire our disgruntled employees.
&#8226 We want to create an opening for a huge morale issue.
&#8226 We want to create a word-of-mouth issue about our low technology and trust.
&#8226 We want to create a perception to customers of our inferior technology.
&#8226 We want to lose an unbelievable chance for feedback from customers.
IDEA: If you don’t allow standard Facebook – allow Facebook fan or “like” pages.
IDEA: Create a social-media training program for what it is, how it works, and what to do to succeed.
BETTER IDEA: Seek professional help.
BEST IDEA: When you establish guidelines, tell employees what they CAN do, not what they can’t do.
Here’s a simple list of what to do as you enter the social-media world:
&#8226 Model after others who are successful.
&#8226 Create attraction through value and valuable information offered. &#8226 Offer value before asking for money.
&#8226 Don’t stick your big toe in the water. Dive in!
And it’s FREE!
&#8226 There are 450 million people on Facebook – who’s your fan? Who likes you?
&#8226 There are 30 million people who twitter – how are you sending value messages to thousands of customers and prospects – for free?
&#8226 There are 65 million businesspeople on LinkedIn – what’s your share of connections and leads?
&#8226 There are millions of videos posted on YouTube everyday – why aren’t some of them yours?
&#8226 There are millions of YouTube videos viewed every MINUTE – why aren’t your customers viewing yours?
REALITY 1: The sales pressure is on for EVERY company in this country. Maintain volume, improve, survive, make profit and hurry up. Go out and make more cold calls – generate more activity (whatever that means).
REALITY 2: Social media is the new cold call, and you are still dialing for dollars, or pounding the pavement. How about trying to keyboard for connections?
By coincidence, I’m in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada for the geographically challenged), to deliver a seminar to a group of tech people wanting to sell better and sell more – people who are not natural-born salespeople. How did you find me? Eh, on the Internet! Through my e-mail magazine Sales Caffeine, my Facebook page and my tweets.
And for those about to e-mail me, telling me you have been cold calling for 20 years blah, blah, blah – go turn on your laptop. You’re right, cold calls do work. One out of 100 times.
I came across a piece I think will interest you – a chief marketing officer’s view of what to do to be effective on each of the social-media platforms. It’s not gospel, but it’s a perspective I think is worthwhile to read. Go to www.gitomer.com and enter the word CMO in the GitBit box. &#8226

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “The Sales Bible” and “The Little Red Book of Selling.” President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached
at (704) 333-1112 or e-mail to
salesman@gitomer.com