Social Media Is Not Just For Kids

2009 Harris Poll Survey

Social Media is no longer a Kids Activity

We have finally reached the tipping point where most adults in business are acknowledging that Social Media sites like Facebook, and Twitter are no longer for kids. According to the Harris Poll and other surveys released in April 2009, here is what they reveal:

• 41% of adults 45-54 years old are now on Facebook (The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, 4/16/09)
• “…60% of 30 million LinkedIn users have high personal incomes, hold executive level or consultant positions, are decision-makers and likely to be active networkers. The results prove, say survey sponsors, that “online social networks are not only a way for professional groups to stay connected, but powerful tools for business as well.” (According to survey conducted by LinkedIn with Anderson Analytics and SPSS, November 2008)
• The total number of members that have the titles President, Founder, or CEO in their current job is 1,897,686 – or about 4.9% of all LinkedIn members (a profile search on LinkedIn)
• Tweeting is also slightly more prevalent among the young, but not by much; 8% of 18-34 year olds use Twitter, 7% of those 35-44 use it, 4% of those aged 45-54 and just 1% of those 55 and older; (Harris Poll)
• Over 150,000 register for Facebook EVERY DAY. That’s 1 million a week. (Global Neighborhoods blog)
• As of April, 2009, just under half of all Americans have a Facebook or Myspace account (The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, 4/16/09)
• 41% of adults 45-54 years old are now on Facebook (The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, 4/16/09)

Year over Year Growth Increases

To further detail the popularity of these sites, I used Compete.Com to look at trends associated to the growth of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

• The fastest growing network is Twitter with over a +1600% growth rate within the last year.
• Facebook and LinkedIn grew at +163% and +108% respectively.
• Myspace slightly declined in growth, but still remains the 2nd most visited network next to facebook.

Social Media Site Comparisons

CRM Meets Social Media

Integration of your existing Customers Social Data into your CRM system will be far more important as these networks grow and as your customers join them. Data attributes such as a Twitter ID, Facebook Page, and LinkedIn Profile are going to be an essential part of viewing your customer profile and should be right along size Company, Industry, and Name information. To learn more about our Social CRM Solutions that power your Sales team and strenghthen your existing customer relationships, click here.

Increasing Sales Using Social Media

The days of Joe “The Cold Calling” Salesperson are over! Avoid spending valuable selling resources on cold calling prospects that are not eager to return your call. Instead, engage those very same prospects in other ways using Social Media Networks, Groups, and Tracking Tools. While there is the never ending debate on whether Web 2.0 Tools and Strategies can truly increase your sales, you can bet that Social Media is here to stay and it will not be going away. In this blog I will review 3 techniques your sales team can employ to attract new prospects, retain existing customers, and effectively sell to new leads using Web 2.0 Tools.

Using Linked In Groups

If your a sales person who is not yet on LinkedIn, then shame on you! Sign up now. Never the less, whether your in the HR Industry, the Tech Industry, or in Finance – there is a group out there for you. LinkedIn provides a great way for professionals to interact, share advice, network, and communicate with those you have a common professional interest. Groups such as Salesforce.Com’s Professional LinkedIn Network, and Zoho CRM’s LinkedIn Group have been an invaluable resource to my business and networking goals.

So what does this have to do with Sales? For example, in one of the groups I joined – there was a thread I noticed where there was discussion about looking for a new email marketing solution that integrates well with a specific CRM system. It just so happened that I worked with a solution in another company, so I got in on the thread and mentioned the solution to the individual. They privately replied and asked if I knew of anyone at the company of the Emarketing Solution company that I recommended. I referred them to the sales person at the company who also was on LinkedIn so I did a formal introduction through LinkedIn because the eMarketing Sales rep was already part of my network. While this was not my sale, it was a referral and the Lead Source of the Sale was a LinkedIn Group Discussion Conversation. Not a Cold Call, Not A Webinar, or A Conference.

Using Twitter Tracking Tools

So you think your too mature for Twitter as a Senior Sales Rep? Think again! Twitter has changed the control of a company brand from the company right back to the consumer. With just a couple of tweets, the product or brand your selling could be the biggest hit or the biggest flop in the eyes of millions of Tweeters around the world. Tracking conversations on Twitter around a specific topic, product, company, brand, or service you are selling could be your next big deal!  There are dozens of Twitter Tracking Tools, and there are three in which I recommend to utilize. Another worthy mention is TweetDeck which allows you to monitor real time conversations in the Twitterverse while also sending you alerts. Using a combination of these tools combined with your CRM system, you can help you to track key questions, conversations, or comments based on a relevant term. So if your selling a CRM Solution, you may want to track daily conversations of Twitter Chatter around the term “#CRM Solutions” using the “#” hash tag prior to the term. This way, when someone in the Twitterverse says “Does anyone recommend a good CRM Solution for small businesses?” – you can engage into that conversation immediately.   Some other examples are using your actual product or service as a keyword to either generate a lead, or close an existing sale!

Google Alerts & RSS Feeds

For everything else happening outside the standard social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn I would recommend using Google Alerts to track, monitor, and stay up to date with keyword terms, products, or whatever it is your trying to sell. Google Alerts tracks pretty much everything that is published on the web. However, getting the results in an email from Google Alerts can be inundating. So I recommend you utilize Google Alerts and set it up to be utilized as an RSS feed to track your keyword terms. Then you can easily configure your RSS Reader to track those relevant sites publishing content related to your keyword terms. You can learn how to do that in this tutorial.

Conclusion

There are several more strategies to employ, but these are the most sales oriented strategies that I have seen work most effectively. Be sure not to exclude your existing customer base from these strategies as well. Applying the above along with following your existing customers on their Social Networking profiles can only strengthen your relationships and potentially increase your sales. In my next series I will talk about how CRM tools should be integrated into the Sales 2.0 framework such that the above strategies can be seamlessly integrated into anyone of your CRM systems. Feel free to email me or let me know what strategies you have utilized to increase sales.

Who Needs CRM? – An AutoRepair Company Example

This is a question I get daily as I talk with small and medium sized business owners who desperately need it but don’t know what it means to their business. So I decided to shed some light on the topic from a very small business perspective. For those who are still getting familiar with what C.R.M is, there is an excellent article on what CRM is via Zoho’s CRM Website. For those familiar, keep on reading to see a simple small business’ example of a company that desperately needs a CRM solution.

Auto Repair Service Inquiries

Let’s take Joe’s Auto Repair & Towing shop. Joe is a business owner who needs CRM but he has never heard of the term. Joe’s business is all about doing body work on cars, as well as towing cars when they get into accidents. The way his workers manage invoices, and work orders are through filing tons of paper work. Whenever a car gets into an accident, they fill out 3 pages of handwritten paper work to process the claim. Shortly thereafter, the customers car is now in Joe’s autos hop. Upon towing the car into Joe’s shop, the customer’s paperwork is processed and filed away in a drawer with tons of other customers.

Joe’s office workers answer phones all day from customers whom have their cars in the shop. Whenever a customer calls about their car or insurance status, Joe’s service reps go through the alphabetically indexed list of folders in the drawer. They find the customers paperwork, and process their requests accordingly. When an insurance company calls the shop, they have to do the same thing. In fact, 85% of Joe’s incoming calls involve going through the dreaded Black Drawer.

What if Joe’s paperwork were lost? Even worse is what if Joe’s business was flooded as a result of weather conditions? How quickly would be able to get back in business? Joe’s business needs a Customer Relationship Management solution. A Solution that sits in the cloud. CRM Solutions would have allowed Joe and his phone reps to do a simple look up of your customer records, and invoices via a CRM Database lookup. In addition, his records would be secured and stored in the cloud protecting his business from any catastrophic weather conditions resulting in him being able to process orders the very next day by working from home.

Stay tuned as we come up with more small business examples who need CRM. What types of small business’ do you think need CRM?

Zoho CRM – An affordable CRM Solution

Learn all about Zoho CRM here with a video overview, and price comparison of features. This product is ideal for small to mid sized business’ and Service-Push can assist you in your implementation with Training, Consulting, and Configuration of this application. For more information, email us at sales@service-push.com.

Video Overview

Price Comparison

Zoho and SFDC Price Comparison

Feature Comparison

Zoho and SFDC Feature Comparison