Social media influence in sales helps generate more opportunities

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Author: Lizzy Wolff

Taking advantage of the growing number of outlets for connecting with consumers and corporate clients is an increasing challenge for organizations of all kinds. The cloud allows businesses to seamlessly integrate their daily activities with the cloud, a structure that has also turned the internet into one of the biggest selling opportunities. Companies are trying to make more use of the various elements that the online experience affords consumers, but finding strategies to turn these contacts into sales may still be difficult. Providing sales coaching and compensation may be key to achieving the conversion companies need in order for these outlets to become profitable.

Focused market success
Some industries are experiencing much better social media traction than others as they adopt these kinds of compensation management strategies to their online pitch ideas. Property Casualty 360 reported that the insurance market especially has seen solid improvements due to the addition of incentivized social media contacts for its employees. As more staff members and businesses make regular use of social channels, so too should they be encouraged and given sales coaching that shows them how to generate leads and pitch products based on social interactions.

The source reported a study by Celent and Locke Lord showed more than three-quarters of insurance vendors are now invested in practices like this. Half of those that currently lack social strategies intend to remedy that situation by the end of 2014. The reason for this push is the strong adoption sales personnel have shown toward the practice, as well as the lucrative response that clientele are giving social contacts.

Diversified outreach approaches
As Business and Leadership stated, firms of all kinds are focusing their attention more on social media initiatives. The source stated that a recent survey of corporate social media usage trends showed more than 80 percent of all companies currently cultivate a presence in this sphere, encouraging lead generation through strategic tweets, Facebook posts and Pinterest shares. The majority of these efforts focus on trying to forge a closer relationship with each viewer and increasing their knowledge of corporate culture, products and services.

These social channels grant businesses a broader audience and more opportunity to get themselves known outside the direct community in which they reside, giving them more opportunities to draw in sales from clientele they may never have otherwise encountered without the assistance of social media resources. Integrating incentive compensation into the mix could help personnel get the push they need to use social outlets more aggressively to change these contacts into sales.