Top 3 Reasons Social Selling Training Programs Fail

Why Social Selling Training Programs Fail to Grow the Sales Pipeline
We define social selling as the ongoing process of leveraging online channels and tools to find, engage, and connect with prospective buyers. When done right, curated online relationships should turn into more meaningful and more qualified sales conversations.

Learning How to Sell Socially Matters
There is no doubt that your target B2B buyers who control the majority of the purse strings are using social media to inform their purchasing decisions.  Recent IDC research found that:

• 75% of the B2B Buyers use social media to inform and support purchase decisions.
• 84% of B2B Buyers most active in using social media to support the buying process were more senior, had larger budgets, and made more purchasing decisions than those buyers who did not use social media to support their purchase process.

Top 3 Reasons Social Selling Training Programs Fail
There are three primary reasons your social selling training program will not meet your expectations:

1. Misalignment with the Overall Sales Strategy
   Strategic sales clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high and low performing sales teams.  The first step in setting social selling training up for success is to ensure that your digital sales and marketing strategies fully align with the overall sales strategies in terms of target markets, value proposition, goals, roles, and success metrics.
2. Weak Adoption Strategy
   Based upon measuring over 800 sales training projects, we know that only 1-in-5 sales reps will change their behavior and performance from stand-alone sales training – regardless of how good it is.  If you want to increase adoption and change sales behavior, ensure participants are clear about how the new skills and behaviors will help drive the sales strategy forward; that participants are held accountable for the new social selling skills and behaviors on a consistent basis; that they believe changing their behavior is in their best personal and professional interests; and that they are supported by a competent sales coach to help them along the way.
3. Lack of Sales Coaching
   Sales reps who receive consistent and frequent sales coaching outperform their peers 4-to-1 in terms of revenue growth and quota attainment.  Ensure your sales coaches are credible, focus on performance improvement, and can provide consistent, frequent, and meaningful feedback when it matters most.

The Bottom Line
B2B buyers who control the majority of the purse strings are using social media to inform their purchasing decisions.  These digitally savvy buyers expect digitally savvy sellers.  If you have not provided your sales force with proven and effective LinkedIn Sales training, then you are missing a big opportunity to grow your sales pipeline.

To ensure that your sales training is set up for success, download The 6 Top Reasons All Business Sales Training Initiatives Fail

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.