Blog: Video

March 10By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Why Social Selling is about Opening, Not Closing - Ep. 088

Social Selling is about opening, not closing. You’ve heard this time and time again from us. Well, it’s time we revisit this philosophy. Greg Hyer, Martin Brossman and Elyse Archer discuss why this mindset is critical for success in social selling.

The traditional approach to sales where the sales person is at the center of the sale is wrong. Sales management has been teaching sales reps to close everything while the rest of the organization is tasked with keeping accounts open. Sales has it backwards. It’s time for a change.

Listen to this episode to understand the foundation for this new sales philosophy and start to take your social selling efforts to the next level.

The Social Selling Podcast by Linking into Sales is sponsored in kind by North Carolina State University - Technology Training Solutions. Please be sure to visit to learn more about their professional continuing education opportunities so you too can sharpen your technology skills and remain competitive in your industry.

Audio Run-time: 32:54

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:54 — 30.1MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

February 23By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Introducing SocialSelling.Training - Ep. 087

SocialSelling.Training is now live! Greg Hyer and Martin Brossman introduce their new sales training platform for those looking to improve their social selling skills.

SocialSelling.Training launches with two free courses, “LinkedIn Profile Fundamentals for Social Selling” and “Twitter Profile Fundamentals for Social Selling.”

Greg and Martin start the show talking about the recent events at Twitter including the leadership changes and financial performance. Please keep in mind that Twitter is a financially viable company. Wall Street simply doesn’t understand social media networks like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Greg shares the plans for SocialSelling.Training and how they will be rolling out a new course every month of 2016. By the end of the year there could be as many as 14 courses. Students who complete all 14 courses will earn their Social Selling Certification from Linking into Sales. The next course to be released in February 2016 is “Establishing a Social Selling Routine.”

The Social Selling Podcast by Linking into Sales is sponsored in kind by North Carolina State University - Technology Training Solutions. Please be sure to visit to learn more about their professional continuing education opportunities so you too can sharpen your technology skills and remain competitive in your industry.

Audio Run-time: 28:25

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:25 — 26.0MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

February 8By Podcast, Video Leave a comment

Sales and Selling in 2016 with Rory Vaden - Ep. 086

Greg Hyer, Martin Brossman and Elyse Archer welcome Rory Vaden of Southwestern Consulting to the show to share his predictions for the future of selling in 2016.

Rory Vaden, MBA CSP is Cofounder of Southwestern Consulting, a Self-Discipline Strategist and an Internationally Renowned Speaker. His first book Take the Stairs was a #1 Wall St Journal and #2 New York Times bestseller. His new book Procrastinate on Purpose is the first book ever to focus on the emotional side of productivity and it presents 5 methods to literally multiply your time. Listen to his weekly podcast and get free daily insights at Rory Vaden’s Blog.

Here are three of the predictions that Greg, Martin and Elyse discuss with Rory. The rest can be found in this blog post titled “10 Predictions About the Future of Selling in 2016 and Beyond“.

  1. Trust has to be built before the sales conversation ever begins.
  2. The emergence of the personal brand.
  3. There will be a coalescence of sales and marketing.

Rory explains what he means my servant selling and how sales must transform to help their clients even if it means you won’t make the sale.

You can watch Rory’s TEDTalk at TEDxDouglasville here: “How To Multiply Your Time.”

Audio Run-time: 31:10

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:39 — 27.1MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

December 30By Podcast, Video Leave a comment

Post-Click Marketing with Jonathan Lacoste of Jebbit - Ep. 083

Post-Click Marketing Data Provides Better Context for Social Selling

Jonathan Lacoste of Jebbit talks with Martin, Greg and Elyse about how his post-click marketing solution is used to support the buyer’s journey and gathers important data to be used in social selling. The data collected by Jebbit can be helpful with shaping the context of the conversation social sellers will have with prospects.

Jonathon also lets us in one how his sales team uses social selling. He recommends that his sales team finds the social network they are most comfortable with and run with it. He doesn’t force them into a social network. But they will use the post-click marketing data from their own application to improve sales engagements.

While at Boston College, Jonathan Lacoste launched Jebbit with classmates Tom Coburn and Chase McAleese. When Lacoste and Coburn raised venture capital in the summer of 2013 for Jebbit, it made him one of the youngest internet entrepreneurs to raise venture capital at the age of 19.

Jebbit is a venture-backed marketing technology company that has created the #1 Post-Click Marketing platform used by brands such as Volkswagen, Reebok, and Dell. Without a single line of code, the Jebbit technology transforms webpages and content into interactive experiences that drive deeper education, engagement, and conversions. Marketers utilize Jebbit to amplify the short and long-term results of digital campaigns and to create a better customer decision journey.

Links Greg mentioned:

Jonathan Lacoste’s interview with CNBC
Jebbit - The Post-Click Marketing Platform
Jebbit’s Marketing Personality Quiz

Visit SocialSelling.Training to start your online training. Register and we will start your training off for free with two courses; Linking Profile Fundamental for the Social Seller and Twitter Profile Fundamentals for the Social Seller. In addition, we will show you how the path to social selling was blazed in our “Introduction to Social Selling” lesson. These courses are free and will be updated as changes are rolled out to LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit SocialSelling.Training to register today.

Did you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher? If you did, we want to send you a free Linking into Sales vinyl sticker. Once you’ve left a review, let us know by visiting our request form.

Thank you to our sponsor: NCSU-TTS is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 32:18

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

December 22By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Social Selling Planning for Q1 in Q4 - Ep. 082

Social Selling isn’t just about Selling. It’s about Planning too!

Don’t let Q4 cancellations get in your way. Use social selling techniques to get those meetings scheduled now for Q1. Elyse Archer is back to talk with Greg Hyer and Martin Brossman about how to stop whining and start scheduling those meeting for Q1.

January is a critical month for sales pros. You need to be visible in December to have a successful January.

Contact your client and ask for meetings or referrals. Use this opportunity to strengthen relationships for mutual benefit. Greg suggests using the tagging tool on LinkedIn and the list tool on Twitter to organize prospects. Martin suggests reevaluating relationships and focus on the wins. Set yourself up for success by associating with the win. Elyse wants you to write down those wins and share those stories with your clients and prospects.

Take the time to get organized and don’t stopped calling prospects. Be persistent. Remember our episode with Lindsey Boggs? She stressed the importance of being persistent. Remember, be positively aggressive.

Remember to schedule time for learning. Things are moving very quickly. Software platforms are being updated and strategies are changing. Refer to our interview with Holly Sullenger of NC State - TTS where she discusses the importance of professional continuing education.

Greg reminds listeners that Social Selling is about Opening, not Closing and the real ABC’s of Social Selling are “Always Be Creating.” Social sellers need to always be creating new connection, new opportunities, the next step

Planning is so important. Elyse suggests taking a look at a book called “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. It’s about a new routine focused on planning your day and being proactive rather than reactive.

Check out our list of social selling tools and see if any will help you being persistent and effective.

Social Selling News

LinkedIn in is retiring the Sales Plus account level. Learn more about what to do with insight from Lindsey Stemann

Visit SocialSelling.Training to start your online training. Register and we will start your training off for free with two courses; Linking Profile Fundamental for the Social Seller and Twitter Profile Fundamentals for the Social Seller. In addition, we will show you how the path to social selling was blazed in our “Introduction to Social Selling” lesson. These courses are free and will be updated as changes are rolled out to LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit SocialSelling.Training to register today.

Did you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher? If you did, we want to send you a free Linking into Sales vinyl sticker. Once you’ve left a review, let us know by visiting our request form.

Thank you to our sponsor: NCSU-TTS is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 22:31

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:33 — 19.7MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

December 9By Podcast, Video Leave a comment

Selling Across the Generations with Tim Moore - Ep. 081

Selling to a Baby Boomer, a Gen-X’er, or a Millennial?

Selling to someone born in a different generational group can be challenging when you don’t understand what influences them to make decisions. We spoke with Tim Moore, a generational sales and marketing speaker. He delivers keynote presentations on “selling, communicating and marketing to the generations.”

In this episode Greg Hyer and Martin Brossman talk with Tim Moore to understand the challenges that Baby Boomers face selling to Generation X and Millennials. Then we look at the challenges Millennials face when selling to Baby Boomers. Some of the challenges each face come down to communication preferences and how decisions are influenced.

This was a fascinating discussion that will make you realize that the sale is not about you but who you are selling to. You must set aside your preferences and pick up on those of your prospect. Otherwise, you will never be a top sales performer.

How you can learn more about Tim Moore:

Visit his website: http://www.timmoorespeaks.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/timmoorecary
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmoorespeaks
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TimMooreSpeaks

Visit SocialSelling.Training to start your online training. Register and we will start your training off for free with two courses; Linking Profile Fundamental for the Social Seller and Twitter Profile Fundamentals for the Social Seller. In addition, we will show you how the path to social selling was blazed in our “Introduction to Social Selling” lesson. These courses are free and will be updated as changes are rolled out to LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit SocialSelling.Training to register today.

Did you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher? If you did, we want to send you a free Linking into Sales vinyl sticker. Once you’ve left a review, let us know by visiting our request form.

Thank you to our sponsor: North Carolina State University -Technology Training Solutions is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 48:14

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:14 — 44.2MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

December 1By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Social Selling Keeps the Momentum in Q4 - Ep. 080

Social Selling can be very effective in Q4.

Q4 can be a drag for some in Sales. Either you can’t reach people or they have just decided to postpone the decision until Q1. It’s frustrating. Greg Hyer and Martin Brossman share a few “To-Do’s” that can help you keep the momentum going with social selling until year end and for the beginning of next year.

To-Do’s by Year End

Touch base with clients and prospects - Think nudges. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they are facing at this point in the year. If they are working retail, it’s likely they are very busy and are very unlikely to make any buying decisions. If your clients and prospects are B2B chances are they are planning for Q1. No matter what type of client and prospect you sell to, you have to remember to pace them.

Social Selling fundamentals reminds us to use our social listening skills to understand what’s effecting our clients and prospects. Visit their profile pages and check on their most recent status updates. If something they have shared should be engaged with by you, then do so. This is an opportunity to stay front of mind. If you send an email use a tracking tool like Yesware or Sidekick to notify you if they have opened your email.

To-Do’s for Next Year

If things are really slow, update your social selling profiles with customer successes. Remember they your profiles should be customer facing. The successes you share should be how you have helped your clients become successful.

Get your social selling tracking and reporting spreadsheet ready for 2016. If you aren’t using a spreadsheet, make sure you’re logging you activities correctly in your CRM. It’s up to you to prove that social selling is working in your sales organization.

Establish your theme for 2016. What is the persona that you will be prospecting? Start building your lists based on similar characteristics. Personas help personify the type of prospects you want to reach. Remember that prospects respond better to people that know the issues they face and has a proven track record for success.

Define your education goals. We are big proponents to continuing education. It’s how you avoid becoming stale. The Social Selling Sales Professional is agile and smart. They stay informed to what’s happening in their prospect’s industry as well as they keep up with the changes that can directly impact their ability to sell.

Narrow your client focus. Pruning is needed. Define your MVP clients and how you will keep them happy. Let go of the ones on the bottom dragging you down. You are the front line to keeping your business open and healthy.

Visit SocialSelling.Training to start your online training. Register and we will start your training off for free with two courses; Linking Profile Fundamental for the Social Seller and Twitter Profile Fundamentals for the Social Seller. In addition, we will show you how the path to social selling was blazed in our “Introduction to Social Selling” lesson. These courses are free and will be updated as changes are rolled out to LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit SocialSelling.Training to register today.

Did you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher? If you did, we want to send you a free Linking into Sales vinyl sticker. Once you’ve left a review, let us know by visiting our request form.

Thank you to our sponsor: NCSU-TTS is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 13:31

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:31 — 12.4MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

November 24By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Social Selling: Nine Things We’re Thankful For - Ep. 079

Social Selling Give Us A Lot To Be Thankful For.

Social Selling has given us many reason to be thankful. So in this Thanksgiving special of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast, Martin Brossman, Greg Hyer and Elyse Archer share a combined nine things they are thankful for.

Elyse
1. Social Selling eliminates the need to “Just follow up.”

2. Using social selling anyone can distinguish themselves as a true expert.

3. Social Selling gives us the ability to connect with clients we would never reach otherwise.

Martin
1. The ability to use a tool like LinkedIn to refer people. If I refer someone to a person I just met it make it easier to trust the referral because they can pre-screen them unless they have a lame LinkedIn profile.

2. It forces us to know our customer better. Build more detailed personas of them and take the time to understand what educational information they need on the buyer’s journey vs just pounding away on the close with assumptive close techniques.

3. It works across generations and levels the playing field. The younger people have more of a challenge with the in person sales component and older with the online. Both are needed.

Greg
1. I’m thankful for LinkedIn Advanced Search and Advertising. To find exactly who I am looking for using the advanced search tools is very valuable. With Advertising, it’s simple to target people based on their endorsed skills and other filters with sponsored posts or PPC ads.

2. I’m thankful for social listening and the tools that help us listen in social media for the relevant discussions our prospects and customers are having. Tools like Sales Prodigy, Buzzsumo and Twitter Hashtags make it much easier to find relevant conversations to prospect as well as to keep yourself informed with what’s affecting your clients.

3. I’m thankful for organizations that realize that social selling is about opening, not closing. Sales needs to stop thinking about closing while the rest of the company is trying to keep accounts open.

We are very thankful for our listeners and the guests we’ve had on the show this year. Without you, this show would not be what it is. Thank you for letting us inspire and educate you.

Visit SocialSelling.Training to start your online training. Register and we will start your training off for free with two courses; Linking Profile Fundamental for the Social Seller and Twitter Profile Fundamentals for the Social Seller. In addition, we will show you how the path to social selling was blazed in our “Introduction to Social Selling” lesson. These courses are free and will be updated as changes are rolled out to LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit SocialSelling.Training to register today.

Did you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher? If you did, we want to send you a free Linking into Sales vinyl sticker. Once you’ve left a review, let us know by visiting our request form.

Thank you to our sponsor: NCSU-TTS is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 22:19

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:19 — 20.4MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

October 26By Podcast, Social Selling, Video Leave a comment

Social Selling with Lindsey Boggs - Ep. 076

Lindsey Boggs Shares Her LinkedIn Sales Connect 2015 Experiences and More!

Social Selling was the main topic of Sales Connect 2015, the Social Selling LinkedIn Conference held in Las Vegas in October. Lindsey Boggs had quite the experience. Not only is she an amazing sales person, she’s pretty good under pressure. Well, if you think standing next to Shaquille O’Neal, sinking two free throws and raising $10,000 for the Boys and Girl Club all within the span of three minutes is easy, think again.

Lindsey Boggs welcomed Martin Brossman and Greg Hyer into her home in Raleigh, NC. She works from home for the Indiana based ecommerce marketing automation solution provider, SmarterHQ, as the Director of Sales. She leads a sales team and supports their social selling activities using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Saleforce.com

In this episode, you will discover her three “P’s” of social selling; Personalization, Persistence, and Patience. You will also hear about her presentation from Sales Connect about getting 50% response rates on her InMail outreach and what moments delivered incredible value to attendees. And of course, you will hear about how Lindsey sunk two free throws and raise $10,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of America. We actually included the 3 minute experience in the video and audio productions of this episode.

Here are Lindsey’s slides from her session.

If you’d like to connect with Lindsey Boggs, please visit her LinkedIn profile and follow her on Twitter.

Audio Run-time: 32:25

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:25 — 29.7MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

October 6By Podcast, Video Leave a comment

Sales Continuing Education Interview w/ Holly Sullenger of NCSU-TTS - Ep. 073

The continuing education of our sales professionals is critical to their success and the success of the company they represent. In this episode Martin Brossman, Greg Hyer and Elyse Archer talk with Holly Sullenger of North Carolina State University - Technology Training Solutions about the importance of being an adult learner, especially for sales professionals.

Holly gives us a few suggestions to start:

[list][list_item icon=”icon-caret-right”]Knowing your learning style[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”icon-caret-right”]Look for the tools we can use[/list_item]

[list_item  icon=”icon-caret-right”]Build the relationships we need to enhance our education.[/list_item]

[list_item  icon=”icon-caret-right”]Scheduling time to learn and make it a non-negotiable.[/list_item][/list]

 

NCSU-TTS is an in-kind sponsor of the Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast. To discover the adult learning and professional education opportunities available please visit http://linkingsales.wpengine.com/ncsutts.

Audio Run-time: 18:02

The Linking into Sales Social Selling Podcast is a professional development podcast geared towards sales and marketing professionals that use social media tools and networks to support the sales process and help them become more proficient in social selling.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:02 — 24.8MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS