If My Contacts Aren’t Using Social Media, Why Should I?

Articles, Social Selling

When I initially decided to consider whether or not to get  involved with Social Media, this was one of the very first questions I asked myself.  It was like selling fax machines when they first became commercially available. All I heard was …. “This is pretty cool but, nobody I know has one so who am I going to fax to?”. A valid question. Social Media was like that. What good is it for me to be on it if none of my existing clients and contacts are using it themselves? After all, my goal was to communicate better with them.

I even went so far as to conduct a test whereby I took all of my contacts from my various email databases and imported each of those to Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn just to determine how many people that I knew were currently using the major social networks. The statistics were shocking and demoralizing. As I recall, about 10% were on LinkedIn, 5% on FaceBook, and 2% on Twitter. But, that was then (less than two years ago), this is now, and here is what I have learned …

  • While not exactly an early adopter, in the world of B2B, I wasn’t too far behind the curve on this and I was probably ahead of most of my peers.
  • The tools used to interact with social networks have become much more sophisticated, easy to use, and efficient.
  • The social media adoption by the business community has skyrocketed over the last two years. If I were to run that same test today, I’m confident that I would see a substantial increase in the percentages.
  • Turns out that several of my contacts were closet social media users or were using it for personal use only. Much of social media remains tied to your email address and many folks established personal addresses just for this specific purpose. More and more, recognizing social media as a business tool, they are starting to use their business addresses as well.
  • Even if you decide that social media is not for you, please be advised that you are too late. You and your company, for good or bad, are likely already being discussed on the major social networks. If you are not involved, you have no way of monitoring your brand, protecting it, or rewarding your loyal clients.

Sales Results LLC has joined forces with SEN Technologies to become Nimble Social CRM’s first Idaho Authorized Solutions Partner. Together we will provide our clients with full CRM needs assessment, recommendations, implementation, and on-going support and training including selling skills and social media applications. Don’t yet “get” CRM and/or Social? We’ve got you covered!

What I totally failed to recognize was this. My traditional contacts and clients are still there. While I am always looking for new and better ways to communicate with them and take care of their needs, they will continue to control how we do that. I will continue to serve them in the same manner that I always have. But, and this is a huge BUT, I never looked at social media as a means to dramatically expand my contact and client base. I quickly discovered that, while my traditional clients were not using social media, there were a ton of folks who I needed and wanted to know who were. These same people did not run in my traditional circles and, very likely, without social media we never would have connected. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? Only further evidence that I’m not exactly the “sharpest knife in the drawer” 🙂

And, by the way. What if your contacts are using social media and you are the one left out in the cold? Think about that first and then tell me what it is you want to do.

Thanks for visiting!

Craig

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Craig M. Jamieson

Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services
Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!
Craig M. Jamieson

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