How Sales Leaders and Sales Reps Can Create a Social Selling Organization

Convert Average Sales Teams into Top Performers Using Social Networks

Sixty-five percent of the most successful salespeople who use social media as part of the selling process believe social media is critical to their success. One study found that 78 percent of salespeople who use social media outsell their peers.  However, two-thirds of firms do not have a social media strategy for their sales organization, according to one survey, even though 80 percent of the salespeople surveyed believed the salesforce would be more productive with a greater social media presence.

Nearly 60 percent of a typical purchasing decision—researching solutions, ranking options, setting requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on—happens before the potential buyer engages in their first conversation with a supplier. Therefore a social media presence that demonstrates a sales person's helpfulness, expertise, or thought leadership in their product field can lead to significantly improved sales results. Research into actual use of social selling has revealed that sales professionals who use social selling are 51 percent more likely to exceed quota, three times more likely to go to a special sales event for top sellers and get promoted to vice president 17 months faster.

This research looks at the changes to people, processes and technologies that can transform an ordinary sales team into an extraordinary team using social selling.