Newton’s Third Law and Social Selling & AI

futuretelling the future

By Thomas B. Cross @techtionary

Throughout my years of business research and analysis, I have found you cannot react to the future, you cannot predict the future of business; you can only direct the future.  IBM uses that strategy, Microsoft also does it and now Google and Apple as well.  Companies direct customers to their strategy because in order to predict the future they alter the future toward their strategy.  However, in order to understand the future, a look back at history can give insights about the future.  If you examine the predictions of H.G. Welles and Jules Verne you will see that their predicts for air and space travel as well as other innovations often went into the 23^rd century.

forbidden planet

Even sixty years ago, we are reminded from the movie Forbidden Planet, “prepare your minds for a new scale of physical scientific values.  Predictions don’t help you succeed, continuous innovation and non-linear thinking will.  Who would have predicted that Apple would have the #1 selling smartphone and the real innovation is that the iPhone is much more than a phone. The real phone will be the inPhone – inside you reporting on your health and making recommendations for diet and exercise which may take the form of the AppleWatch.

In writing MindMeld: CEO and AI – Business Applications of Artificial Intelligence I found that “the faster you can communicate, the faster you can change, and those that change the fastest will be the most successful.”  Remember a funeral director invented the first electrical telephone switching system and Heddy Lamar, the actress was one of the original patent holders for CDMA.  One more time, you cannot predict anything; you can only innovate more than anyone else.

pushing

On the dark side, Newton’s Third Law also applies to innovation.  That is, for every innovation, there is an equal and opposite reaction by society just like a rubberband.  This means that “technology always progresses faster than we anticipate, while adoption and society always change much more slowly and unpredictably.” (Source: MindMeld)  In the presentation there is that the technology has long existed for “first responder” radio interoperability; however, sadly more than seventeen years since 9/11/2001, it’s doubtful that most cities are prepared for a similar attack or disaster like Katrina.  According to one of the major broadcaster networks, only 6% of cities even have a plan and who knows whether it will work.

Bottom-line – Change is happening at an ever-increasing rate. You must know the impact of everything before it happens and you must also deliver that knowledge to sales, support, channel partners and customers.  Social selling reduces the length of the sales cycle, lowers customer support costs and increases customer satisfaction.

I hope these three tips have been of help.  These is more on selling anything in the new Social Selling Seminar below.

Remember what Doug Green Publisher of TelecomReseller notably said “you can’t sell what you don’t know.

If you really want to sell more, sell faster and retain customers longer gets social selling smart.

social selling

This is both an introduction and taking action seminar and certification program designed to not just “talk the talk” but “walk the walk” in changing the nature of sales, channels and most importantly customers in the way they explore, evaluate, decide, purchase and deploy new and expanded versions of solutions in their business. This is both a half-day onsite or full-day onsite seminar delivered in the U.S with webinar options available. If you prefer to get started with a social selling strategy scroll down to after the seminar.  For scheduling email cross@gocross.com

Social Selling Certification testing is an optional testing program after completion of the Social Selling Seminar.

Introduction to Social Selling – Morning Session for Professional Selling Professionals

Session 1 – Customers Bain or Boon

This session will drill in to the customers mind and not react or predict but direct them to your strategy:

– Social Selling and Social Media Explained – presentation to everyone on what it is, what works and what leads to failure. Social selling concepts helps getting people “on the same page” a horrendous task yet without this effort, factions often arise to derail the process.

– Core Customers – potential, fans, fence-sitters, ignored, end of life – are customers “listening to what you say on social media and are you really listening to what customers are saying” – who is the real buyer and who are other key decision-makers?

– Build customer personas and map to social media platforms based on product/solution. In addition, an evaluation of customer buying cycles, alignments, down to the branch level. Also, what do they know, think, believe and need to know about you.

– Communications Media Channels – product/solution messaging and mediums used for current sales. Understand role of sales-marketing interfaces for specific campaigns, events and other sales activities. Specifically, evaluate how social selling would fit into the organization including support, product and other areas. In other words, is there a “black hole” that could impact social selling solution to derail the process?

– Evaluate Sales Channels of Distribution – channels and partners are just one part of the means to an end, evaluation of “hot spots” and “dead zones” including self-service social selling and indepth analysis of CAC-customer acquisition costs and buying cycles (seasonal, annual, government, other).

Session 2 – Build Strategic Customer Assessments

Explore the following:

1 – Customer type – vertical, specialty, distribution, OEM

2 – Content – what are they saying, selling telling their customers, what do they know about you (what research are you providing them to help them evaluate you) – explore their Omnichannel purchasing processes including multi-source social content syndication news gathering.

3 – Media Channels – what mainstream and other media channels are they using?

4 – Channels of Distribution – build “agile” channel models adapting to known and emerging technologies.

5 – Apps – are customers using app(s) for selling/supporting?

6 – Technology – what social selling/media and technologies are they using – did they build or buy.

7 – Organization – where is their organization going – merge, divest, domestic and international.

8 – Brand – is their brand something that is important to you?

9 – Random – what regulatory, political, environmental factors have on customer buying now and in the future.

10 – Vision – where are customers now and where are they going and how can you “walk in their moccasins” now and in the future.

Session 3 – Taking Social Selling Action Today

Develop and build new Social Selling Strategy on specific elements making each element “more social” than pure selling.

– Start selling – build new social “cold calling” build new social selling newsfeeds.

– Upsell – build new means to selling “dogs” and finding “happy meals.”

– Pitch-sell – build new social selling “pitches.”

– Re-sell – integration of social selling with resellers, VARs, channels, direct, partners and anyone else.

– Cross-sell – exploring ways to social selling multi-vendor solutions.

– Follow-up selling – is social selling working, “mid-course” corrections and testing multiple approaches?

– Shorter selling – build ways to shorten sales cycle, integrate CAC-customer acquisition cycles and building selling cycle calendar (no point in selling Christmas trees in January).

– Outselling – not really outsourcing options for social selling but soliciting other “sources” to help in sales.

– Support selling – “constant courtesy” – integration of selling and support

– Cool selling – can toys, movies, and fun be to use

– Develop funnel buying stages.

Questions & Answers

Session Evaluation: “Taking action, building real call to actions and engaging actions were just some of the actionable efforts I put to work immediately after the seminar making social selling exciting and actually works.” Jeff D.

socialselling

Advanced Social Selling – Afternoon Session for Corporate and Sales Management

Session 1 – Selling Social Selling to the Organization – The Hardest Part

– Organizational integration of social selling – review of where social selling “fits in” to the current organization.

– Organizational marketing “socializing social selling” to other departments – often internal selling is harder than external and what internal roadblocks emerge to divert or block the social selling strategy.

– Incorporate industry and competitive research and other “thought leadership on who else is talking about social selling?

– Evaluate social selling and integration with current/proposed compensation plans.

– Integrating Social Influencer aka KOL-Key Opinion Leaders involvement into the pilot program.

– Discuss critical elements of the implementation program include:

– Social media “word of mouth” social sales

– Social selling is really an extension of, not replacement for being a great sales person and great selling processes, what, where and how will social selling be used to extend that process will be developed.

– Social Influencer and Leadership – “you cannot manage a sales force, you lead it” and social selling leadership development will be included.

– How internal social selling leadership and external social influencer programs are integrated into content development and delivery.

Session 2 – Critical Social Selling Concepts

This session focuses on management and the changing nature of management in the future including:

– Connections – how to create and connect with other social media influencers.

– Curation – review and curate company content, provide guidance and enhanced thought leadership via influencer team.

– Content – how to create content to have compelling “thought leadership” knowledge.

– Collaboration – learn how to collaborate with internal and external social leaders.

– C-Level – get help from C-levels to gain access to and assist and guide others on their social media efforts along with gaining-retaining followers.

– Concerns – learn key points in responding to concerns expressed by global crisis issues, cultural issues, terrorism, customer comments and others including social media. Learn how to build and monitor system for sales, support/service, IR/PR and compliance issues.

– Build tools to track results for monitoring, managing, auditing and making the most of your social influencers and KOL-key opinion leaders program.

Session 3 – Corporate Management and Social Selling

Here are some of the key issues addressed:

– Integration of organizational compensation systems with HR for personnel management – hiring/firing is the often the greatest challenge — integration of social selling is key to an overlay or replace to current selling processes.

– Crisis – discuss having a crisis response team to address 7×24 tracking to avoid situations such as Uber (sexual harassment) Target (hack attack), Wells Fargo (internal corruption), Chipotle (incompetence) and learn how to other respond to corporate devastating consequences with live “tweetchats” demonstrating responsiveness.

– Develop a social selling approach based on key elements in the buying cycle and what customers need to know at each stage, accelerating where possible, testing concepts if possible to evaluate what works, doesn’t and viable social selling “best practices.”

Ongoing audit and assessment KPI factors – no selling or social selling practice is viable without some form of auditing and key metrics. Albeit social selling metrics are more about social media engagements, likes and other mentions and postings. Social selling engages with various customer types is just one kind of metric. All content factors will be included in the assessments.

– Integration of KPI factors with other organizational KPI metrics.

– Explore the new social selling organizational structure.

Questions & Answers

Session Evaluation: “For me the ability to scale management of staff channel managers and 100s of channel partners was worth ten times the seminar fee. I now run multiple Linkedin groups and Twitter accounts that extend my reach providing great ways to make people “get and stay on the same page” cuts communications chaos and speeds the sales process.” John D. VP Sales

Social Selling Corporate Strategy

This seminar is part of a comprehensive social selling strategy. Click on image for complete presentation.

Delivery methods – three- or six-hour onsite delivery with webinar option available. Scheduling is extremely limited due to previously scheduled seminars. If you have topic or scheduling questions, you can call 303-594-1694 or email cross@gocross.com

Scheduling and Terms – Tuition and travel are prepaid prior to confirmation of delivery date. Payment methods include credit cards, PayPal, ACH/wire. Due to the breadth and depth of this seminar, all topics may not be discussed due to student questions and class interaction. Course topics or terms may change without notice.

Disclaimer

If you have any questions regarding specific content presented or want specific topics or issues addressed, please email or call.

The author and presenter have used their best efforts in preparing this seminar and the programs contained in it. These efforts include the development, research, and testing of the theories and programs to determine their effectiveness. The author and presenter make no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, with regard to these programs or the documentation contained in this seminar. The author and presenter shall not be liable in any event for incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of these programs.