3 Unique Social Selling Strategies with Mario Martinez Jr., #201

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There’s no wonder that prospecting is still considered the most time-consuming part of the sales cycle by nearly 70% of sellers. From trying to find ideal prospects, to engaging with them through sales messages or social media, to following up to get a booked call – prospecting has become a science. And, those modern B2B sales professionals that know the right prospecting formula and have created a unique set of prospecting strategies are in a prime position to ultimately win the sales game.

How to prospect in today’s post-pandemic business environment is the topic of today’s episode of the Modern Selling Podcast. I share a recent in-depth conversation I had with Jose Palomino, host of The Revenue Throughput Podcast, where I detail some rarely used prospecting strategies that work for us to get more “hellos” and close more deals.

Whether you’re an up and coming sales rep, a seasoned sales leader, or leading your organization’s sales enablement team – this episode is jam-packed with new things for you to implement to get in front of your target buyer more often.

Download the full conversation to hear the ins and outs of how and why these prospecting strategies work.

A New Approach to Prospecting in 2022

The world has changed drastically over the past two years. The sudden shift to online has not only given buyers more access to information, but it has actually given the modern seller more opportunities to reach their target audiences.

Fifteen years ago the number of people on social media was a mere fraction of what it is today. Even video platforms like YouTube were still in their infancy. Today, whether it’s LinkedIn, email, paid ads, SMS messages – there are many more ways that the modern seller can engage with buyers.

But, this also introduces the challenge of how to do it the right way. With more channels to find buyers, the amount of what I call “digital pollution” has also exponentially increased. Buyers are more skeptical and are willing to do their due diligence before ever reaching out to a sales rep.

Sales teams are no longer the “gatekeeper of information”. Buyers generally know what 3-5 companies they want to buy from by the time they reach out to book a sales call.

That’s why what’s really working in this post-pandemic environment is to prospect through thought leadership.

Consider your buyer persona – what problem are they trying to solve? How do you solve this problem? What articles, posts, or videos can you share online that showcase how you solve this problem?

The goal with 21st century prospecting is to be at the beginning of the buyer’s information journey so that they come to you for recommendations on what best next step to take (ideally it’s buying your product/service!)

Listen to this episode to hear how I suggest every sales organization leverage LinkedIn to rapidly increase their sales pipeline with customers who are ready to buy.

The Importance of Mastering the Art of Video Selling

Here at Vengreso, we work with small business owners, entrepreneurs, individual sellers, all the way up to large Fortune 100 sales organizations – with one goal: to help sales leaders create more sales conversations and grow their sales pipeline by teaching them how to prospect better and sell more.

Although there are lots of sales channels to choose from, our channels of choice are: LinkedIn and video. Our digital training teaches sales leaders and individuals how to create engagement with prospects at every stage of the sales cycle.

That way, when your buyer is looking for a solution, you stay top of mind (and top of timeline) and are their first destination.

Over the past 6 years of Vengreso, we have amassed a significant amount of thought leadership, whether it be blogs, podcasts, free video courses, etc. So when someone is searching for sales training online, we have a pretty good chance to be ranked very high on Google. 

(In fact, our Prospecting Guide is currently ranked #3 in search).

Of course, this strategy took time, but I highly recommend that all sales organizations invest in creating video content. Post it on YouTube, on your website, use it in sales email nurtures, and share it on LinkedIn.

Video is one of THE top five global marketing tactics being used to capture people’s attention and lure them in for a sale, especially in this digital sales space. Most other forms of outreach – whether it’s email, text message, direct message, or phone call only engage one of the senses.

Video messages are multi-sensory experiences for your prospect to hear, see, and experience your personality, your sincerity and start to build immediate rapport and trust with you. 

If you’re not maximizing your use of video in your prospecting process, then download this episode to get some actionable ideas to follow. 

How to Prospect on LinkedIn

With the average buyer being bombarded with over 5,000 marketing and sales messages every day – it makes it even harder for yours to stand out from the crowd. That’s why I always say that in order to be interesting you must be interested. In other words, prospects are not usually going to instantly want to book a sales meeting with you just because you reach out to them.

They need to know that there is something in it for them to even give a sales rep the time of day. So, whether you’re leading with value by sending them a free resource, sharing something that could help them solve a problem, or even crafting a personalized sales message – you have to make it more about your prospect and less about you.

At Vengreso, we teach the PVC Sales Methodology for prospecting and it is how we have been able to become the largest digital sales training company in the world. Everything we do is personalized to our prospect, from how we research leads using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, to how we write the initial sales messages we send, to the sequence of our email campaigns that nurture our pipeline. 

We also use a “3 by 3” approach, whereby each sales rep spends 3 minutes on a prospect’s LinkedIn profile to find 3 unique or interesting things to bring up in conversation to get them to lean in (and at least respond to our initial message).

If used right, LinkedIn can easily become your digital rolodex and your way to attract, engage, and sell to millions of modern buyers. The challenge, however, is how to maximize your prospecting efforts using LinkedIn, without coming across as selling.

Join the conversation I have with Jose and you’ll learn how you can tap into the networking (and sales power) of LinkedIn to streamline your prospecting and get more booked calls.