How to Increase Social Sales Productivity

I had a very interesting discussion recently about Social Sales. It revolved around how a good salesperson is always trying to find time to do everything they need and want to do. It occurred to me that in the business world, when we get overwhelmed with just too many things on our plates, we blame our schedules, claiming there is never enough time. 

This LinkedIn post does a good job explaining a few faults in this mindset.

When it comes to social selling, often the objection from salespeople is that it is too time consuming. Here are a few of my own thoughts on how to achieve maximum social selling productivity:

• Be smart with your time. Focus on getting the right message out at the right time.
• Use software technology to schedule your posts throughout the week. This way you can still plant seeds while getting pulled all over the place during your crazy, normal work week.
• Encourage your company/department/division to make the best content available to you. Make sure this is a scalable solution that can easily grow with you.
• Try and focus on having conversations, not just shouting your message to your followers and connections. Sometimes the best conversations in building a professional work relationship aren’t about your product or service.

What a weird way to think of productivity – stop trying to do so much! Try it and see what happens. How many of you have heard about a “Stop Doing List”?

If you haven’t had the opportunity to hear Jim Collins speak, please make sure you take the time to see him and, most importantly, to listen to some of the things he has to say. This article, written by Jim, contains a ton of information, including the immeasurable value of a “Stop Doing List”.

As I look around my desk, through mounds of paperwork and folders, I am reminded constantly that there is no way I am going to get to all the things on my “To Do List”. There is just no possible way! Time could stop or pause for 72 hours, and there is still no way that I would be able to get my list of things done! BUT there is one thing I can do, and that is adhere to my “Stop Doing List”. I try to revise my list every 6 months to make sure that I am focused on the correct things.

Social Sales Productivity is doing the things you need to do at the right time, and clearly understanding the things you don’t need to focus on. Good luck!

(Editor's Note: This post was originally posted on rFactr's blog. rFactr's social sales program provides sales organizations with an easy way to activate their team on social channels, enabling them to connect with prospects and begin the sales process earlier in the sales cycle. Learn more... )