Jon Ferrara CEO, Nimble - Social Business Engine Podcast

The Evolution of Sales in Modern Business

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On this episode, I’m joined by Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble. We discussed the evolution of sales in business as it has evolved from the industrial age of mass production and mass media promotion, back to relationship building as it was in the neighborhood village where everyone knew your name and interests. Jon’s key point is that “modern business views sales as a service.”
New Year's Resolution for Social Selling Success 2015

On This Episode You’ll Discover:

  • How social is bringing us all back to the “small town” feel of people interacting in life and business.
  • We’re all a 1 to 1 connection and conversation in business.
  • Social in the modern era is made up of both culture and technology.
  • Sales is a service built on trust and relationships.
  • Traditional marketing is a function of mass production in the industrial era exceeding demand, thereby requiring marketers to adopt the Mad Men mentality to “manufacture” sales.
  • CRM (customer relationship manager) technology was forced on sales people by management.
    • At its core CRM tracks, email, contacts and calendars.
    • It provides reporting for management
    • The real purpose of CRM however should be to enable relationship management.
  •  2015 will be the year “Social Selling goes mainstream.” 
    • Be top of mind with the buyer as a trusted advisor
    • Sales should be a service to the buyer
    • Provide content that helps the buyer in every stage of the buying journey
  • When the buyer is educated by employees, not just by the marketing department, social selling is at its finest.
  • Social selling is the evolution of all of us becoming a social business.
  • Social selling is about connecting with all the constituents that influence buyers through a relationship and trust building process.
  • If a company the size of IBM can “be social,” any company can be social.
  • We’re eventually going to drop buzzwords like “social selling.”
  • The organization needs to empower employees to participate in the customer journey.
  • The 5 E’s of social business: educate, enchant, embrace, enchant, empower.
  • No business has a “secret sauce” anymore…
  • Jon’s One Thing” : “Empower employees to make decisions to deliver a great customer experience.”

Featured On This Episode:

I invite you to listen to the entire podcast episode above at your desk or on a mobile device via iTunes or Stitcher. This episode was sponsored by Social Media Strategies Summit.

In Volume 2 of the Social Business Journal, we partnered with Cision to create a How to Guide in Influencer Marketing. You’ll hear from dozens of business experts on everything from what an ideal influencer looks like, to the “secret sauce” of penetrating the sphere of an influencer.

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