Working inside an interactive Marketing Agency FG2.com has introduced me to some of the leading strategists in social media.  Among them are:  Dave Evans – Author of “Social Media – An Hour A Day”;  Mike Chapman, one of the most prolific Social media people I know; and, Steve Golab, CEO of FG SQUARED, who has mentored me on social media’s value in business.

During my journey on the path of social media adoption, I started as a skeptic – at least from the sales side. I began by wondering how social media could possibly affect my business way of life. I initially saw little value aside from my personal LinkedIn account profile. I believed it was more hype than substance for a business application.  But before I dismissed it as another fad I decided to apply an adage I use when describing the business of sales, which seems to work pretty well in helping me understand new ideas and methods when selling.

The adage: “As much as things change in the world of sales, the more they stay the same.”

Being part of the Baby Boomer crowd has afforded me the viewpoint of at least three computer generations.  As we all know technology change can happen very quickly in this industry but business models and concepts seem to repeat themselves.  I remember offering a solution called Timesharing in the early 80’s which offered organizations online software and services for their business applications.  I sold this service to small and medium sized business that could not afford to build or own their hardware (No PC’s), software, data centers or manage internal IT infrastructure. Sound familiar?

The technology we used to offer this service may sound a little archaic based on today’s standards of use:  dumb terminals (keyboard & monitor), phone line with an acoustical coupler (Internet line).  The accounting applications actually ran on Prime mini-computer (server), which collected the information from the online end user and processed application data on the backend (SaaS).  The technology may seem dated but the concept of this solution is clearly being applied today.

As a sales executive in the computer industry since the early 80’s, I have seen a great number of products, services, concepts and approaches come and go.  However, understanding those concepts and then applying them to today’s business needs helped me clarify current social media opportunities.

Case in point – human buying motives from generation to generation, at least from my experience, have not changed.   To illustrate this more clearly I will use a personal experience I had with my father’s buying approach to purchasing an automobile.  I remember that he was in the market for a used automobile when I was turning 16.  He used this opportunity to teach me how to best buy a car.  Before he bought this particular car he explained to me his buying methods.

He said the first thing is to understand which car is available based on buyer needs (shop the market).  Secondly, the car needs to meet buying requirements (cost, image, flexibility, ease of use, etc.) Third, talk to a mechanic (expert) to get recommendations and expectations. Finally, talk to people who purchased this type of car already (get the real story).

So is this an example of my father using social media?  I would like to think that if my father was around today he would find Social media a valuable approach to his decision and purchasing process.  However, I doubt no matter how many times my mother would ask him to, he still wouldn’t stop to get directions off of Google maps before heading out to make the car purchase.

What I have learned over the last few years is social media are indeed very powerful within the human decision and buying process.  I learned that applying social media to my sales methods can now play a critical approach and role based on the ease in which a prospect or client can walk through what is important to them during the awareness, consideration and purchase processes.  In addition, understanding that these same people will talk and recommend your services on the Social Web is a huge competitive advantage for any sales professional and their business.  Of course there is still one vital aspect to any business success; provide quality products and service based on the value sold.  The social web is a great place to find out how your business, products and or services really are viewed by buyers and non-buyers alike.  By the way, you just may find out more from people who have not purchased your solutions than people who have.

The opportunities in my opinion are enormous for businesses of all types and sizes.  Applying social media concepts and practices in your sales efforts is no longer an option for the professional sales person.

Good Selling,

Dave Valentino