The Marketing Mentress: Are you Social...Really!??

Social media is not about posting and blasting information; it is about listening!

How often have you connected with someone new on LinkedIn and sent them a short message thanking them for linking up with you, only to receive a blast back with a long piece of sales copy? How did that make you feel?

In all my sales training, the one key element my teachers stressed was to listen twice as much as I speak. Many people think that they have to be a good "talker" in order to be a good salesperson.

Not so.

Dale Carnegie in "How To Win Friends and Influence People" shared a story where he had a lengthy conversation with a woman about her recent travels. They were at a party where he did not know anyone but the person who invited him. H

e simply asked questions and kept her talking. When the evening ended, the woman he had been listening to about her travels said, "You are the best conversationalist I have ever met." All he did was keep her talking about herself through questions. He hardly said anything...just asked questions.

Hint-Hint.

This has been a long learning process for me, finding ways I can ask questions and steer the conversation to where I can learn whether they would be interested in what I have or not. If I can see that they are not interested, or what I have will not apply to them, I never talk about business...just about them and all that they can do.

This simple technique works wonders for me:

F - O - R - M

Family - Occupation - Recreation - Message

First I ask about their family. Then about their occupation. Then I ask what they like to do when they are not working, for fun. By this time usually they ask me what I do. I keep it short and bring the conversation back to them, always keeping the focus on them and what I can do to help them in some way.

It is never all about me. It is always all about "them".