What do social networking and sales have in common? You have to believe it will work.
Last month I was lucky enough to attend a presentation from Dan Caramanico, co-author of The Optimal Salesperson. His presentation was full of great sales insights, but one of his points really hit home.
Dan pointed out that if salespeople don’t reverse certain beliefs, for example that all customers decide based solely on price, no amount of training will help them break out of their mold. They might try to use what they learned, but they will consciously or unconsciously act to undermine the process, which leads to failure, further reinforcing their already held belief.
Social networking is no different. Unfounded beliefs, unless reversed, will lead to failure. Do you find people (or yourself) putting up barriers to social networking success?
- No one would care what I say
- My customers/clients don’t use that stuff
- I can’t trust our employees to use it responsibly
- It’s all just a big time waster
- It’s just a fad, it’s only for kids
- I have enough friends already (my favorite)
While they are busy avoiding change, others are using social networking to make money and build businesses.
Did I miss any of your favorite barriers to success? Leave me a comment and let me know.
