During a sales meeting, the question of why the company no longer has a stock pile of tri-fold brochures to hand out to potential clients came up.  I scratched my head and looked puzzled, since we have not used a single tri-fold brochure in over a year.  As a company, we moved away from outdated marketing tools and adopted high tech and interactive tools to meet the requests of our clients.  It was then that I realized that even though it is not the intention, change is not always embraced and we all want to slip back into our own habits from the past.    

Ever sale begins as a two-way conversation.  The goal of this conversation is to investigate our customers' needs and find solutions from our line of products and/or services.  In addition, we need to relate to the customer the value and benefits our products and/or services will bring to their lives beyond meeting their initial needs.  With the emergence of social networking as a marketing tool, the challenge is to find ways to keep things simple in a media that at times seems so complex without lapsing into old marketing habits that do not translated to the social networking world.  Social networking is not the environment to sell, but the environment to start the conversation that becomes the sale.  So how do you start a conversation on what some believe to be such an impersonal media?  Below are three “conversation starters” for social media. 

Ask Questions

When we ask appropriate questions, we improve our chances of successfully offering the correct solution.  Social networking tools like polls become a forum where you practice the art of asking and listening to your potential and even existing clients.  The answers to these questions then become your next step in developing customer-centric services and products.

Listen and Respond

People are more likely to engage in a conversation with someone they believe has their best interest in mind.  Create a forum for your customers to speak freely.  Be open to the words and the meanings of those words expressed by your customers as an opportunity to grow.  In response, be professional and offer vital information about solutions, answer questions and demonstrated how you and your organization are here to bring about benefits through a business partnership with your clients.  Invite your consumers to your website to do business with you.

Share the Experience

Everyone is looking for the “Disneyland” experience in life.  We all want to walk away from a transaction feeling euphoric about the experience.  Creating customers for life is about creating that euphoria for each customer, every time.  If your customers can feel great when interacting with your staff and purchasing your products and services, then you have created a walking-talking advertisement.  Create a space to invite your customers to share about their positive experience.  Post stories about employees that create that transference of feeling into a great occurrence for your clients.   Once again, extend the offer to do business with your organization by visiting your website or calling a representative.

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