The primary role for sales has always been to create conversations with ideal customers. Let’s cut to the chase of this article. Social prospecting and social engagement is more effective in creating first conversation with ideal customers than making cold calls and sending emails alone. 

When the global pandemic shut down our options for face-to-face meetings, every company in every country in the world had the same brilliant idea. 

Send more emails.

Make more phone calls.

That is probably why the data for emails and cold calls has gotten even more problematic for sales professionals.  How many calls do you make it a day?  How many of those get returned?

Hubspot found email responses were less than 1.2% in 2021.

The data on phone calls is all over the board. I spoke with a sales professional the other day who said his team had been making 100-120 calls per day with virtually no returned calls.

That seems like a very frustrating job. It is also not a job that anyone should want because it can be easily replaced by a robot. Inexpensive email solutions that start at $19 per month can send mass emails to a targeted list.

Automated phone systems can call and leave voicemails. There is technology that can dial your call, ring once and stop and then leave a voice mail. The recipient doesn’t even realize they had a call but then gets a voice mail.

These activities are why so many sales teams are fearfully behind on their sales numbers.

These type of activities are why so many sales professionals don’t hit quota. Depending on which data you read, the numbers somewhere between 55-68%. Sales is an amazing industry and an opportunity for an incredible career. But, change is a huge challenge in our current environments. 

How sales professionals keep their jobs from going to robots in the form of automated software is by doing what robots can’t do. 

Engage with ideal customers.

The goal for sending emails and making phone calls is to engage. They are activities designed to create a first conversation with an ideal customer. This is where social networks play a major role in the sales process. Especially in the early business development or prospecting stage.

What we learned during the pandemic is that humans still crave human interaction. A digital selling initiative where sales professionals actively engage with their prospect’s social posts or social media posts which they have previously engaged with is proven to be an efficient activity to generate first conversations with ideal customers.

Want to learn a simple way to generate 200% more first conversation with ideal customers with social engagement?  Check out a recent talk for one of our customer’s Sales Kickoff events here. it is a free training that shares 1 very specific strategy sales professionals around the world use to create conversations with ideal customers faster than they produce with emails and phone calls.  

As a sales professional or a sales leader, it is time to take your sales career in your own hands. If your company is not providing modern sales tools, look at our Certified Digital Sales Training program. We offer a 14-day free trial with our exclusive social engagement software and access to our Certified Social Prospecting & Digital Selling Academy.