Do you think this was effective? It wasn’t. I don’t even remember her name. But, I can tell you if I saw her at another event, I would do my best to avoid her.
Why would she do this at a networking event and think that it was going to be effective? I am not sure. But, it made me think about the numerous messages that I get every day on social media. People with bullhorns essentially screaming me, me, me to everyone they come in contact with or each new contact that unknowingly connects with them.
Digital Transformation Is The Beginning Of A Social Organization
Let’s take a little stroll through history to see what we even mean by Digital Transformation.
The following is a quick history that will provide some background for you. You can find more insights on Digital Transformation through a simple Google search. But, be careful, there are a lot of definitions and a lot of thoughts and ideas on the subject. Many companies use the term and use it for different purposes. For our purposes, we will take a look at it from a position of business development and revenue creation.
The First Pillar Of Digital Transformation
The first pillar of digital transformation was the internet itself. I like to call it the WWW era when all things started to move to websites and email communication and away from print and snail-mail. It was a new way to communicate, show brochure-like information, and appear to be with the times. Companies created digital versions of their brochures in the form of websites and began to create and push email newsletters and direct email messages at scale.
The Second Pillar Of Digital Transformation
The second pillar of digital transformation was the Cloud era, where we are still residing today. This is the period of transformation where companies began cloud computing, creating and/or utilizing web apps, and software as a solution at scale, along with other similar technologies and behaviors. It continues to change how companies operate and how they serve customers today and into the future.
The NEXT Pillar Of Digital Transformation
Remember, I said this is an abbreviated version of history? I think we have outlined the high-level stages of digital transformation past, now let’s take a look at what is in front of us currently, in a post-Covid business environment.
Most of us are now working from home or at the very least have a lot fewer face-to-face meetings with customers, colleagues, and co-workers. Conferences and trade shows have been canceled or pushed out many months, while many of those types of events are considered to be gone forever. Client dinners are a rare event and most are being postponed. Business travel has been and will continue to be curtailed or canceled altogether.
How Can A Company Become A Social Organization?
What are companies supposed to do to create new relationships that lead to new business transactions, sales, and revenue?
This is the opportunity for a social organization to create social dominance for their brand within their industry!
We found this definition that a company put together when they looked at their social strategy as part of their digital transformation strategy. Our digital selling training program combines training with our Digital Sales Enablement Platform that closes the distance for our clients.
The definition is this… “A social organization sees social as a platform for closing the distance between clients, prospects, remote employees, and potential recruits.”
Following this definition, what can an organization do to socially dominate the airwaves within their industry?
It is simple. It is not easy, but it is simple. Equip your sales team with the digital selling technology AND training to use their digital presence and behavior on social media to start conversations. Yes, just start with a conversation. Did the woman in my above story bother to start with a conversation? No. She went straight to a sales pitch filled with brochure-style information, told me to contact her, and then just walked away. This is what many salespeople are doing today within social media.
Using Sales Teams Social Presence To Create Conversations
Conversations are important because a good conversation can lead to a relationship. All business transactions begin with a relationship. And good relationships lead to opportunities. If business always starts with conversations, then we need to use our digital presence and behavior on social media to create influence, make connections, grow relationships and build trust, which together leads to multiple conversations and business transactions.
When an entire team is equipped and trained to behave in this manner on social media, they can create more conversations, faster than any other time in history. Our digital presence is working for us 24-hours per day.
The question is this… Is a digital presence working to create high-quality, highly engaged conversations that lead to business transactions? Or, does a digital presence and behavior on social media make people move away from you? The difference is felt and seen within a company’s top-line and bottom-line results.
Thanks for reading. I typically write about modern selling, virtual selling, prospecting, sales reps reputation and how content helps all of these with modern buyers. My primary audience includes CEOs, CROs, CMOs, and other executives responsible for increasing bottom line. Post your questions in the comments section below and let’s discuss this!
