Social media report_final

Social Media in Sales Survey ‐ 2013

© Richardson 2013, all rights reserved • www.richardson.com

Richardson Social Media in Sales Survey ‐ 2013

• A surprisingly large number of sales reps don’t actively use social media.

• Many companies in regulated industries block or prohibit social media activity.

• Many reps say they don’t know how to use social media effectively, which suggests a training need.

• Low blog utilization by sales suggests a new disconnect with marketing.

• Top‐3 common uses for social media in sales are related to researching people.

• LinkedIn is the most popular social media tool for selling professionals , but reps still haven’t unlocked its true potential to support prospecting and account management.

Key Findings

2© Richardson 2013 • www.richardson.com


Do you engage with any Social Media sites as part of your sales and marketing process?

Yes54%

No46%

A surprisingly large number of responders don’t actively use social media to support their selling efforts.

The data presented in the subsequent pages of this report reflect the responses of those who answered “yes” to this question.

© Richardson 2013 • www.richardson.com 3


14

60

71

28

46

24

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Do not see the value

Do not fully understand how to use

My company blocks access

I don't believe it will work

Too busy with other selling tasks

Other

What has been the biggest hurdle in using Social Media in your sales efforts?

Blocking is most common in regulated industries.

This suggests a training need



130

76

42

9

62

44

26

13

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter PersonalBlog

CompanyBlog

YouTube Google+ Pinterest

If you were using social media tools in your selling efforts, please indicate which tools you would use. (Choose all that apply)

Low blog utilization suggests a possible disconnect between marketing and sales



0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Prospecting Efforts Strengthening Existing Relationships

< 2 hours per week

3-5 hours per week

6-8 hours per week

9-10 hours per week

> 10 hours per week

How much time per week do you spend using Social Media sites as part of your sales process?



162

133

190

58

98

168

38

23

121

81

86

123

79

132

130

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Identified possible new prospects

Gained introductions through mutual contacts

Learned more about my prospects

Helped convert prospects into real pipeline opportunities

Better qualify leads

Learned more about my existing clients

Closed more deals

Increased invitations to Request for Proposals (RFPs)

Networked with other people in a client organization

Identified additional sales opportunities within an existing client

Helped establish credibility for my company

Created brand awareness for my company

Built my own personal brand

Strengthened relationships with my existing clients

Helped provide insights to clients and prospects

How has Social Media helped you succeed throughout your selling process (choose all that apply)?

Top‐3 are all related to researching people.



0

50

100

150

200

250

Leads Opportunities Closed Business

< 5%

6% - 15%

16% - 25%

26% - 40%

41% - 50%

>50%

What percentage for each of the following have been generated/originated through Social Media?



0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Prospecting Efforts

Strengthening ExistingRelationships

Which of the following Social Media tools do you use in your selling efforts? (Choose all that apply)

LinkedIn is the most popular social media tool for selling professionals



Please rate the effectiveness of each of the following Social Media sites that you have used in prospecting.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


CompanyBlog


Not Very Effective

Very Effective

LinkedIn is only rated by about 40% of reps as a “very effective” prospecting tool



Please rate the effectiveness of each of the following Social Media sites that you have used in strengthening relationships.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


CompanyBlog


Not Very Effective

Very Effective

LinkedIn is only rated by about 45% of reps as a “very effective” relationship management tool


Survey Comments

The issue with some of these social media options is the amount of correspondence it can generate. Some clients/customers are "addicted" to social media and respond to EVERYTHING which somewhat obligates you to keep up the correspondence.

I am in the medical device industry and due to healthcare compliance any and all use of social media for sales efforts would come from marketing. Reps are not allowed to set up their own sites for sales efforts.

Challenges for Social Media is not having enough time to be proactive with Social Media tools

Using YouTube to show our product actually being used by customers is a very good sales tool.

YouTube is an excellent tool to show videos about performance and explanation for some applications

I have not had one customer ask why I do not Facebook ‐ twitter ‐ etc.. If I find using these items is worth the time and not making personal visits to my customers than I may pursue this avenue.

I'm a part of several industry group personally on LinkedIn and I see very limited discussion that applies to productive use of social media in our business

For me personally, I prefer to contact my clients personally and I find the social media cheapens the process for commercial insurance sales.

Twitter is a great place to really learn about someone.

I know that I could use social media better but am just beginning to utilize it. I've recently used Linked In to find new contacts within an organization, but am not having as much success in getting them to respond.

This helps with on‐line demo's of equipment and for training tools that we have for our customers.

My company has strict regulations regarding social media sites.

I am part of a start up team to actively learn/use LinkedIn and Social Media at our company and eventually roll out on a broader basis. We are convinced it is the way communicate with customers and prospects to lead them back to our company. Because of fair balance and regulations social media is off limits to the

pharmaceutical industry. Most messaging needs to be subject to legal review.Very limited resources to apply to social media outlets. Feel there is more opportunity to use social media if I had the correct content to present via a social media channel. Social media can turn quickly against you if you have a angry customer or

things are not understood well enough. Very impersonal.


Survey Comments

Many of our folks are in the BYOD space due to frustration with corp culture. A small "hacker" culture exists. The company does have web and mobile presence at a corporate level and likes to brag to end customers about virtual engagement. We fall short where infrastructure is concerned. Many have suggested a new approach where IT, Purchasing, Leadership and the Business sit down to discuss needs and current limits to capacity. As an example, most of the organization is desktop bound, low wage workers with a high need for desktop image control and that bleeds over to the mobile needs of a field sales force, forced to use the same locked down, controlled image for their laptops. This is a major issue, couple this with underpowered laptops and no mobile tools creates an environment almost eliminating functional remote/mobile engagement.

Our company only allows LinkedIn to be access through company computers. When it was a new site ‐ only consultants for high tech firms were on so not very effective for me. Somewhere around 2008 my clients, COIs (centers of influence ‐referral sources) and prospects started using. At that point ‐ it started becoming more effective. And because I had been on longer ‐ people would ask me how to use for their business development. But only once has someone called out of the blue and said, "I saw that you were connected to Mr. X and since he's someone I respect, I thought I would call you and see if you might be able to help me....". Didn't turn out to be a good lead :). I do think; however, that it raises people's awareness of the type of people with whom you network and that helps 'credentialize' you ‐ particularly if someone provides a testimonial or 'endorses' you. Have been solicited by people for jobs; however, that my company ended up hiring ‐ which was good for me (referral fee) and my company.

I have just started using Linked In as a business tool and am already experiencing an increase in business as a result.

If you could convince my company to leap from the stone age and join the rest of modern America when it comes to using social media to market ourselves that would be greatly appreciated!

Our company wants us to use social media, but they do not provide a platform to make it easy. For example, an advanced version of Hoot Suite would be key to time management and ease in the process. It is great to have a social media strategy, but if you do not enable the teams to use social with ease, then it is very, very cumbersome.

Most of my clients and key prospects are not active on Facebook, but with an embedded YouTube channel on my website, I can get my marketing message out to more people.


Social media report_final

Business

Transcript of Social media report_final