Are Your Social Skills Costing You Sales?
by Sophie Bujold /Travel Market Report is pleased to welcome back guest columnist Sophie Bujold.
According to social sales specialist Jim Keenan, nearly 79% of salespeople who use social media to sell typically outperform those who don’t use social media.
While the statistic is not specific to the travel industry, it reinforces the potential of social media marketing in your sales process.
But social selling is different from traditional sales, because social selling is far more focused on engaging and educating your client.
With this in mind, here are three ways to ensure that you engage with meaning on your way to generating more sales.
1. Offer value
Sales 101: people naturally want to buy from people they trust. Online, you build that trust by answering questions, networking and offering valuable information to your target customers.
Valuable information can be anything from quick tips to full e-books.
The easiest way to decide what to offer is by asking yourself a simple question: “Beyond transactional information, what do my clients ask of me the most?”
To find your answers, think about:
• the questions you answer most often
• occasions when a customer was thrilled by extra tidbits you provided that saved them time and aggravation
• information that will help people make a better buying decision.
Those are the things that provide value to customers and that will help sell you as an expert.
2. Treat people like people
In a world where it’s oh so easy to automate, it can be tempting to put your social media marketing on autopilot.
But think of a time when you were so impressed with the service you received that you gave someone your business on the spot. I bet it didn’t involve an automated response or a robot.
People want to connect with people. On social media, that means things like getting personal with your audience, being as interested in them as they are in you and dealing with interactions – the good AND the bad – with respect and dignity.
Companies who understand and apply these fundamentals are hugely successful in the social space.
3. Be proactive
Would you ever attend a networking event, stand in the quietest corner and expect a crowd to flock to you? That’s exactly what you’re doing if you create your social profile and then just wait for fans or followers to arrive.
If you want to become the go-to travel expert who people seek out, put yourself out there and create conversation with your target clients.
Seek out, connect with and follow influential people; contribute meaningfully to other pages and groups, and put a plan in place to offer meaningful content that make people want to connect with you.
Simple tactics
For practical ways to become more engaging on social media, here are 10 simple tactics you can use today to boost social media engagement.
Travel industry specialist Sophie Bujold is an expert social media strategist and speaker. Sophie’s passion is helping travel professionals make sense of social media and learning how to use these technologies to achieve greater business success. For more insights from Sophie, sign up for her weekly email tips. (It’s free)