How To Hitch A Ride On The Buyer’s Journey

Gerry Moran

If you were a hitchhiker on the B2B highway, would customers pick you up?

Or, would they stick their disapproving and down-turned thumb out?

Many new prospects and consumers might consider you a traditional selling stranger – who will scare, bother and inundate them with unwelcome emails – and an unworthy candidate to help them solve their business challenges.

Today’s sales reps need to be social selling and content marketing experts to help position them as a stop-over on their customer’s journey.

The Social Selling Facts

• 92% of customers would engage with their sales contacts who are thought leaders on some level (Source: LinkedIn)
  
• 86% of clients would engage with a sales rep if they provided insights about their company, industry or category (Source: LinkedIn)
  
• 17% of customers would engage with a seller if they reached out cold, indicating that cold calls are like jumping on a car speeding by! (Source: LinkedIn)
  

  

These facts suggest the best way for you to hitch a ride with the customer is to be a thought leader who can offer relevant insights. That’s your relationship currency to buy you a ticket to join them on their buying journey.

3 Ways To Use Social Selling Picked Up On The Buyer’s Journey

1. Look The Part. Like any other scary 1970’s horror film filled with axes and leather masks, no one is going to pick you up unless you sound like you can help them! So, tune up your social media profiles to back up the content marketing and social selling value proposition you are offering.

2. Talk The Talk. Your customers expect to be engaged differently on each social media and content channel. Know how to pass on the right information on the right channel in the right way. Otherwise, you might look like a poser or at least not very authentic. Learn how to retweet, learn how to tweet and learn how us LinkedIn posts to help you build your customer credibility.

3. Be The Gasoline and the Roadmap. Use insights, knowledge and content to help fuel their research process and show them the direction in which they should be driving their buying decision. Use social selling and content marketing skill sets to develop a relationship with your customer. Listening, blogging, regular Twitter and LinkedIn posting and engaging with your customers on their networks will make it easier to jump on the buyer’s ‘ride.’ Increase your personal reputation to help build value to the customer.

Do you have another social selling tip to offer? If so, please share below!

The Big Buyer’s Journey Takeaway

By being consultative and providing relevant information you can become a trusted advisor, and be asked on the next trip before it starts! This way you’ll both have a smooth ride on the buyer’s journey, and you’ll have a successful social selling one, too!

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