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A client in the financial services sector recently asked me for my thoughts on how trends in social media will affect the way their sales force engages and closes a deal with a new customer.  After pondering the question, I offered the following scenario:

It is just as likely the customer-agent meeting will take place at a local coffee house as a traditional office. The potential customer will have done some comparative shopping of products, looked at comments or recommendations your current customers or competitors have posted on the web, and will have searched the virtual fingerprint of the agent via LinkedIn, Facebook,  Google, etc.

Sitting down to a fully-personalized beverage (I get to have it exactly as I want it, all life should be that way!), the customer will be connected to the internet via a handheld device and able to confirm, refute or clarify their own info, and the inputs or comments from the agent, within moments of the need to do so. The customer may even provide a running commentary about the meeting live to friends and family—via Twitter, Foursquare or Facebook—or record it in a public forum like Yelp.

Bottom-line: the engagement will be on neutral turf; the customer will be armed with information that may or may not be your messaging; and, the customer’s take-aways from the encounter have the potential to be shared with an un-calculable audience in seconds.

While I thought this was a pretty rudimentary review of the state of the social web, I then asked the client the following questions which, as it turned out, they were totally unprepared to address:

• What company-provided tools has the agent used to prep for the meeting?
• How will the agent know that the potential customer has already communicated with someone else in the company?
• What mobile sales and marketing tools will the agent have at the meeting?
• How fast will the agent be able respond to questions on policy or investment options during the meeting?
• What options or limits will the agent have to sharing information that addresses objections or that counters the customer referring to “something I read” on the internet?
• How will the agent record the encounter and how will HQ gather, digest and disseminate any key lessons to the rest of the company—especially to marketing and sales?
• How soon will the company know the customer has met with the agent and will HQ be able to trace a subsequent internet comment—good or bad—to a particular engagement? Will HQ be able to react to it if desired?

The coup de grace came when I asked what they wanted any social media tool they were considering to actually be used “for”…as in what the tool was supposed “to do” for the company or an agent. I heard crickets chirping.

The trends in social media usage by Joe Public are pretty well recognized and every indication is that usage will continue to grow in core areas—more engagement, deeper looks, broader sharing, and larger listening audiences. For example:

• Within the next five years “more users will connect to the Internet over mobile devices than desktop PCs,” advises Mary Meeker.
• Universal McCann found sixty percent of Smartphone users expect their mobile internet usage to increase significantly over the next two years and to become an even more integral part of their lifestyles.
• According to eMarketer, the number of user-generated content creators will reach 114.5 million in 2013, up from 82.5 million in 2008. That will translate to 51.8% of US Internet users in 2013, up from 42.8% in 2008.

But, as with my client, what that means to a company’s ability to compete on the sales battlefield—equal digital firepower if you will—is not yet crystallized for most businesses. While many tools are available, do you know what you want to actually do with them? Another way of asking: are you looking to play offense or defense? Are you thinking about how the array of tools and venues can actually serve your needs or are you just trying to “be there” in the social space because your customers (and competitors!) are?

I offer this perspective—your company needs to look at how to use social media tools to nurture the relationships that support your business. What the social media revolution has changed is where and how relationships occur, not the fact that relationships are the foundation of successful business.

As academic research, and our personal experiences, have confirmed, we like doing business where we have some sense of relationship with the service provider. We buy cars from the guy we trust and recommend the store where the salesperson seems to know what we like to wear. In the era of full social media connectivity, relationships will still drive business success, but the changes in the digital battlefield mean we must have the tools to compete there. Our business tools need to allow us to research, respond, inform and share in ways that nurture relationships.

Consider these stats and perceptions:

• 83% of online shoppers would make purchases if sites offered increased interactive elements (Allurent).
• 92% shoppers have more confidence in info sought online vs. anything from a salesclerk or other source (Wall Street Journal).
• 74% of shoppers said “after interacting with companies or brands via new media, I generally have a more positive impression of the company or brand” (Consumers Demand Brand Interaction).
• Mobile presence is perceived as cool, active and timely – the attributes of a vibrant brand that is positioned for growth and viral adoption (Universal McCann)

In our world of high digital interaction, the winning business solution will likely require meeting an expected level of digital capability that services the “secret” to business success: strong relationships. What is your company doing to help your employees nurture relationships on today’s social media battlefield?

© 2010, nunndog. All rights reserved.

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Tags: business relationships, business success, financial, nunndog, relationships, social media

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Horizon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.