The term “social selling” has been hitting the headlines hard lately and there’s certainly a major shift happening in the way companies interact with customers.

We believe that the tactics and strategies used in social selling apply to nearly every one whose success is dependent on the strength of their network - salespeople, marketers, recruiters, journalists, public relation professionals…the list goes on.

No matter what your profession, having a large network with strong connections will help you be more successful. It’s that simple. A great quote from Tom Rath, bestselling author, fits nicely into this weeks Roundup - “Our relationships with people are formed by small moments - and relationships are crucial in business.”

With that said, here’s the Nudge Social Selling Roundup #4 offering insightful commentary on some of our favourite content that will help you become better at growing the right relationships.

Why Social Selling Is Not About Selling

The art of social selling revolves around your ability to nurture authentic relationships with the right people. Jim Fields, VP of Customer Experience Marketing for SAP, does a great job at highlighting these facts and provides a great framework for what it takes to be a successful social seller.

Jim also highlights how the term “social selling” is actually a bad name since the techniques used in this area are closely related with great networking. It’s funny how many of the leading experts in the space recognized this issue with the term and are trying to convince the rest that you shouldn’t judge a “book” by it’s cover.

There’s quite a few different social selling frameworks or pillars on the web but I do love the simplicity of listen, voice, content and network that are highlighted here. Don’t miss this one!

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Social Selling is for Everyone

I wouldn’t usually include an article of my own in the social selling roundup, but given the article above, I couldn’t help myself. It’s great to see that others involved in the space see complications with using a term like “social selling”. I think a better term might be “social networking?

It’s exciting to see the progress happening in this space and it will certainly be an interesting journey as it continues to evolve. In this post I wanted to highlight how everyone can learn something from the techniques used by the top social sellers.

You’ll notice it takes time to develop these skills and see a return on your efforts, but over time there’s no doubt that building stronger relationships will work in your favor. I also wanted to focus on the importance of bringing one-to-one conversations back into the digital space. Too many of us are focused on growing more connection vs. stronger relationships. I hope you enjoy this one!

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3 Phrases That Are Poison to a Sales Conversation

I like to focus our Social Selling Roundups on the larger trends of social selling - networking, connecting, sharing insight, building relationships etc. However, there are certainly aspects learned from the traditional sales world that still apply in the digital age - Jeff Hoffman, sales leader, does an awesome job at showcasing that here!

HubSpot have a ton of great content around selling and this was a great post to add into this weeks roundup as each of these phrases should be avoided in any social selling outreach. The whole basis of social selling revolves around your ability to build authentic relationships. If you must use these phrases, there’s a good chance you haven’t done a great job at this.

You should absolutely never be using the phrase “i’m just checking in” or “touching base” with social selling. If you’re not providing value, don’t send anything until you can. This is a quick read but definitely sheds insight into some phrases i’ve been known to use!

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That all we’ve got for this weeks Nudge Social Selling Roundup! Be sure to follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn and if you’re looking for a new tool to help you grow the right relationships be sure to sign up for Nudge Beta below - have a great week!