What If Your Prospects Are Not Using Social Media?

Much of the discussion revolving around social sales talks about how you can leverage social media to increase your selling effectiveness. This is predicated on the formula … I’m on LinkedIn + he’s on LinkedIn = sale (b.t.w., it’s not that simple). What if your prospects are not on LinkedIn, or Twitter, or Facebook, or … nothin’?

The good news is that, even in this worst-case scenario, you can still use your social media skills and tools to reach out to these people! But first …[Tweet “What do you do if your prospects are not using social media?”]

Don’t ass/u/me

While your prospect may appear to not be using social media, this can be a dangerous assumption. You will want, and need, to verify this first.

Email addresses remain one of the important glues that hold the social networks together and many people will use one email address for work but a different personal address for social networking. Therefore, be sure to perform a good solid search on each of the main social networks.

A simple Google search using that person’s name and city will often turn up most, if not all, of their social profiles.

Tools like Rapportive(Gmail), Xobni (Outlook), and Nimble Social CRM are quite adept at discovering social network profiles based on that person’s name and email address.

Their personal or company website, assuming that they have one, may also reveal social profiles.

Just because they are not on your social network of choice, this does not mean that they are not on their social network of choice. You need to be Gumby-flexible and fish where the fish are.

Ask them. The quickest way to an accurate answer can most often be obtained by going directly to the source.

They will, and you can …

Use the internet for research – While you might not be able to find them, they can still see you. Do you blog?Even if your prospect is not using social media this does not mean that they are not using the internet and they are not talking to their friends as a part of their buying process (they are and their friends could well be using social networking). Statistics ranging from 70% to 90% point to the fact that business people are using the internet to research products and services, and may have even made a buying decision, prior to ever even contacting a supplier, and you need to be able to leverage this fact! Read on at Maximize Social Business …

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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!