Rolodexes Are Social Networking Roadkill
Sales people live and die by the relationships they make, not by their histories of contacts.
Like archeological finds, rolodexes preserve the past. Some can tell you the entire career of technology buyers over twenty years. Rolodexes are a fine research instrument but a selling tool inching towards irrelevance.
Kick Some Life into Your Selling Relationships
Whenever some senior sales professional proclaims “I’ve got a killer Rolodex and I can sell millions of dollars in enterprise software!” Inside I immediately call B.S. on it. A Rolodex belongs in a museum, relationships are what matter today. Can a Rolodex lead to someone buying more? No. Can a Rolodex inspire trust? No.
How many times have you gotten a call from someone you haven’t heard from in years and all they want is to sell you something? Congratulations! You have just been excavated from a Rolodex. This is no way to sell in an era where trust is more valuable than gold.
Social Networks and Investing In Relationships
So if you’re in sales and you haven’t gotten on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to connect with your prospects and customers – it’s 2010 – what are you waiting for?
It’s time to wake up and realize everyone, even technology buyers, are changing fast. Social networks are a big part of that shift.
Authenticity, honesty, transparency and trust, they are the fuel of social networks that make them work. Sure there is a ton of deception going on out there, but imagine how powerful it is to be the one person in another’s network who is real and can really help them? Powerful indeed. You will never get a selling relationship to these levels sitting at your desk thumbing through a Rolodex. You have to engage and be real.
If you are in sales there is no excuse for not having a calendar full of appointments and lunches with old contacts you’ve reconnected with through social networks. If they are not on Facebook, Twitter or the social networking platform of choice, you need to get them there.
Key Take-Aways
- If you aren’t earning trust you aren’t selling. It’s time to take that bold step and take accountability for your own selling network, your own selling brand. Ultimately it’s your reputation on the line, regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of who you work for. Social networks unleash your brand as a sales professional. Making social networks work for your selling strategies does a lot more for your career than any amount of whining and complaining ever did.
- Pick 50 cards out of your Rolodex now and make the relationships live again. Call each of these people, your top 50 contacts, and connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and talk to them. Make the relationship alive again. Real selling is about tackling problems for customers even if there isn’t necessarily an immediate sale – it’s about building trust by freeing giving insight, intelligence and help.
- Playing the Blame Game is a cop-out, work your network instead. I deeply respect the salespersons in enterprise software, computer hardware and electronic components that nailed their quota in 2009 and are kicking butt right now even though the economy is tough. They were smart enough to build their networks early on using social networking apps, worked the networks to understand how the economy was impacting their prospects and customers, and in short – have a passionate interest in what is going on with each of them. Not just monthly for a filing their status reports. Daily. With intensity and focus. They are 110% committed to their prospects and customers. These people are too busy working their networks to play the Blame Game.
Bottom line: Imagine if all the sales teams in your company decided to make the most important relationships cataloged in their Rolodex come alive again. That infusion of intensity and customer focus can change a company – and no sales team ever accomplished that going card after card in a Rolodex dialing for dollars.
Flickr image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roach-family/182395939/sizes/t/
Like archeological finds, rolodexes preserve the past. Some can tell you the entire career of technology buyers over twenty years. Rolodexes are a fine research instrument but a selling tool inching towards irrelevance.
Kick Some Life into Your Selling Relationships
Whenever some senior sales professional proclaims “I’ve got a killer Rolodex and I can sell millions of dollars in enterprise software!” Inside I immediately call B.S. on it. A Rolodex belongs in a museum, relationships are what matter today. Can a Rolodex lead to someone buying more? No. Can a Rolodex inspire trust? No.
How many times have you gotten a call from someone you haven’t heard from in years and all the want to sell you something? Congratulations! You have just been excavated from a Rolodex. This is no way to sell in an era where trust is more valuable than gold.
Social Networks and Investing In Relationships
So if you’re in sales and you haven’t gotten on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to connect with your prospects and customers – it’s 2010 – what are you waiting for?
It’s time to wake up and realize everyone, even technology buyers, are changing fast. Social networks are a big part of that shift.
Authenticity, honesty, transparency and trust, they are the fuel of social networks that make them work. Sure there is a ton of deception going on out there, but imagine how powerful it is to be the one person in another’s network who is real and can really help them? Powerful indeed. You will never get a selling relationship to these levels sitting at your desk thumbing through a Rolodex. You have to engage and be real.
If you are in sales there is no excuse for not having a calendar full of appointments and lunches with old contacts you’ve reconnected with through social networks. If they are not on Facebook, Twitter or the social networking platform of choice, you need to get them there.
Key Take-Aways
- If you aren’t earning trust you aren’t selling. It’s time to take that bold step and take accountability for your own selling network, your own selling brand. Ultimately it’s your reputation on the line, regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of who you work for. Social networks unleash your brand as a sales professional. Making social networks work for your selling strategies does a lot more for your career than any amount of whining and complaining ever did.
- Pick 50 cards out of your Rolodex now and make the relationships live again. Call each of these people, your top 50 contacts, and connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and talk to them. Make the relationship alive again. Real selling is about tackling problems for customers even if there isn’t necessarily an immediate sale – it’s about building trust by freeing giving insight, intelligence and help.
- Playing the Blame Game is a cop-out, work your network instead. I deeply respect the salespersons in enterprise software, computer hardware and electronic components that nailed their quota in 2009 and are kicking butt right now even though the economy is tough. They were smart enough to build their networks early on using social networking apps, worked the networks to understand how the economy was impacting their prospects and customers, and in short – have a passionate interest in what is going on with each of them. Not just monthly for a filing their status reports. Daily. With intensity and focus. They are 110% committed to their prospects and customers. These people are too busy working their networks to play the Blame Game.
Bottom line: Imagine if all the sales teams in your company decided to make the most important relationships cataloged in their Rolodex come alive again. That infusion of intensity and customer focus can change a company – and no sales team ever accomplished that going card after card in a Rolodex dialing for dollars.
Flickr image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roach-family/182395939/sizes/t/
Filed Under: Customer Communications • Featured
