Three Sales Tools that Every Social Marketer

Should have PreparedAs a social marketer, you are probably balancing your online business with something else -whether it be a full-time job, family, or other things you have going on in your busy life. If you don’t have some form of structure, your online businesses can quickly feel like it is taking up too much of your time and can become overwhelming. Let’s look at three sales tools that every social marketer can prepare ahead of time to make online selling easier and more effective. 

#1: The Elevator PitchWhat is it, and why is it important?An elevator pitch is a short summary about yourself and your company. As the name suggests, the idea is that you give your pitch in the time it takes to complete an elevator ride. When done effectively, your elevator pitch should compel your audience to want to learn more about your company and continue a conversation at a later time. The average adult’s attention span is 8 seconds -it’s sad but it’s true. As a social marketer, that doesn’t give you a lot of time to work with. Having an elevator pitch prepared ensures you are ready with the most important information to take your business conversations to the next level.

 How do I make one?

You probably remember the 5 Ws from your elementary school days -who, what, where, why and when? 

These are the questions you want to make sure you are addressing in your elevator pitch: 

Who -Who are you? What is the name of your company and your position within the organization?

What -What do you sell? What sets you apart? This is where you share what your company is all about. You want to make sure that you include what makes your company unique. Every company has competition, and your customer wants to know what sets you apart

Where -Where is your focus? You want to show that your focus is aligned with your customer’s needs. 

Why -Why should the person you are speaking to care? Hopefully, you have done your research and there is a reason you have reached out to this person. This is where you share that reason.

 When -When will you follow up? You always want to end with your call to action. Consider what you want your customer to do at the end of your pitch -maybe you want them to hop on a zoom call, check out your website or allow you to put together a quote. 

You want to leave your potential customer with a reason to follow up and a time to do so. This may sound like a lot of information to cover, but your goal is to deliver your pitch in 100 words or less (bonus points if you can get it under 70 words). Remember that the name comes from being able to deliver your pitch in the time of an elevator ride; you can’t be telling your life story. 

You want to develop a pitch that works in any sales situation but leave space to personalize it to your customer. It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. The main points you want to address can be mapped out, but the more personalized your pitch is, the more likely your customer will feel like you made a connection at the end of it. Speak naturally, and be sure to add your personality. Don’t use any words you wouldn’t use in your daily speech. No one wants to feel like they are getting a mass message from a robot. 

Do you have an elevator pitch that you use to introduce your company to new customers? If not, take some time to prepare one now. Once you have your pitch prepared, practice makes perfect! The more comfortable you are in delivering a summary of who you areand what you do, the better you will be able to do it. Pay attention to the responses you get from your pitch, that is the best form of feedback. Refine your delivery and timing until you are consistently getting the response you are looking for.

 #2: The Unique Selling Proposition

What is it, and why is it important?

Your unique selling proposition is a statement that outlines how your business, product or service is different from the competition. If you thought your elevator pitch was short, this is even shorter. Your unique selling proposition is one statement, one sentence, that highlights the distinct benefits and unique features that your brand offers. Competition is the natural order of business, and customers are often overwhelmed with options. Knowing and understanding the right way to position yourself and your products can be the difference between standing out and getting lost in a sea of competition. When done correctly, your unique selling proposition quickly identifies why your business is better and why your prospects should choose you. It is an easy way to attract and retain customers. 

How do I make one?

The first thing you need to understand when creating your unique selling proposition is who you are trying to reach with your message. A generic message catered to everyoneis going to miss the mark and is not going to come across as powerful. Catering to a specific customer is what is going to make you stand out. This doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one proposition, but make sure each one is targeted towards a specific customer base. 

A good unique selling proposition will quickly key into what your customer values. It is a balance of what your customer wants and what your business does well. Think of a problem that your target customer is trying to solve -in one sentence, explain how you can offer a solution. Be sure to include features that your customer is unlikely to see anywhere else. 

You want your unique selling proposition to be snappy and concise. Be sure to use descriptive wording that paints a picture for your audience. Be assertive and brag about your products, but make sure that your statement is defendable. You want your products to stand out and be memorable, but broad overarching statements that you can’t back up with factual proof are just going to lead to disappointing your customer. Now take a quick moment to think, if you could describe your favorite product in one sentence, what would it be? You are now on your way to creating your own unique selling proposition!

  #3: The Responses to Overcome Common Objections

What is it, and why is it important? 

Knowing your common sales objections and having the right counter-arguments in place to overcome them, will help you to alleviate your customers’ concerns and allow you to move forward in the buying process. Although every sales process is different, there are often common sales objections that you will see pop up repeatedly -generally, these concerns center around price, fit or competition.

 One of the biggest mistakes you can make is seeing an objection as an immediate no. Objections often show that your customer is interested in your product. Think about it, why would someone waste your time coming to you with hesitations if they weren’t still thinking about your products? Using the right techniques to overcome these objections can often lead your customer to close the sale and be more confident in their buying decision. 

How do I make one?

Let’s look at four easy steps that you can use to help you prepare statements that will ease your customers' concerns.

 Step One: Agree with your customers.

You want to start off by agreeing with your customer that their concern is valid and that you understand where they are coming from. If you argue with your customer or try to convince them that their concern isn’t valid, you will end up with a customer who is more convinced of their position. You want to help your customers come to the conclusion that their objection was simply a misunderstanding of the products; reassuring them that their issue is legitimate is the first step to doing that. 

Step Two: Repeat the concern back to your customer as a question.

The purpose of this step is to demonstrate that you were listening to your customer, and also to clarify that you have gotten to the root of your customer’s concern. You want to make sure that you really understand what the objection is, be sure to listen and ask a lot of questions. If you are addressing the wrong concern, or haven’t gotten to the root of the issue, your counter-argument will be useless. 

Step Three: Pose a new idea

Once you are confident that you understand what the issue really is, it is time to overcome the objection by giving the information differently. Ensure you ask for your customer’s permission before sharing your new ideas with them. Most of the time, your customer is not going to say no, and this takes a lot of the pressure off them and allows them to listen with an open mind. You are not asking for a sale, just requesting permission to share more information. Once you have your customers buy-in, you can begin to reframe the information to get your customer to think differently about the product. As an example, if the issue is pore, maybe you have options for financing, getting the products at a lower price or you can break down the price as a daily expense.

Step Four: Ask if you have addressed their concerns

 Finally, before you try to move forward again to close your sale, you are going to ask to confirm that you have addressed your customer’s issue and provided a solution that they are happy with.

 Now that you have a structure to follow take some time to think of the most common customer objections that you get and the counterarguments you can create to help overcome them. 

Written By: 

Jennifer Gillap