By nature, human beings are social creatures; we want to interact, assimilate, commune, share stories and experiences. Social interaction is often the medium through which we develop relationships. It is how we formulate our opinions, our preferences and determine what we like, whom we trust.

Sales is a social event; yet the inherent, old school practices of many sales organizations are preventing them from making the “A” list. One such practice is attempting to sell customers on the merits of products and services without having an understanding of their likes and dislikes, their true wants and needs.

So, how do you get your customers to open up and tell you what they’re thinking? Just listen!

Since the advent of social networking sites, today’s customers have been talking about you and your business every day, to virtually everyone! According to a recent study, “three of the world’s most popular brands online are social media related (Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia) and the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites. This equates to 22% of all time online or one in every four and a half minutes. For the first time ever, social networks or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online, after the number of people visiting these sites increased by 24% over last year. The average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago, almost 6 hours in April 2010 versus 3 hours and 31 minutes last year.” (Source: Nielsen, June 2010)

Getting with the program – utilizing social networking sites to hear what customers are saying and communicate with them will lead to more relational rather than transactional experiences for salespeople and their customers.

Lynda Fleming - Director of Learning & Development, Frontline Performance Group

In the 10 years I have been with FPG, I have conducted monthly goal setting sessions with thousands of salespeople across numerous industries. One of the key insights I have gained from these sessions is the importance of seeing the potential fruits of your labor before you move forward with achieving your goals.

What do I mean by this? Salespeople need something tangible, something they can visualize, to help them achieve their goals. As a result, when setting goals it is critical that sales leaders ask their frontline employees what they would like to do with the extra incentive money earned when (not if) their sales goals are met. When salespeople are asked this question their answer is often a halfhearted “put it in the bank.” While putting it in the bank sounds and is noble, I have learned that saving more money is simply not compelling enough for the average employee to push through the additional efforts and rejection required to achieve the highest levels of sales performance.

This is because saving more does not elicit emotion. Having an extra $100 in your bank account is nice, but it doesn’t drive behavior consistently – it does not cause acute pain when it isn’t achieved. Conversely, when you are staring at a picture of a sunset on Waikiki Beach, a cherry red Ford Mustang, a pair of deep blue Gucci jeans, or a new home with a swing set and a photo of your children alongside, it hurts when you fail. It sears and it disappoints. But best of all, it angers. This type of pain is a good pain, a valuable pain because it focuses your energies, resolve and concentration to achieve something of worth…and of difficulty.

Salespeople should be encouraged to choose tangible personal rewards as part of the goal setting process, and to use pictures to remind them of their goals. However, as I always tell our clients, make sure the images placed on your refrigerator or in your work space are a true representation of what you desire most – because what you constantly think about, you become.

Albert Einstein said it best, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

What are you imagining?

Chris Brown - Senior Vice President, Frontline Performance Group