My belief is that any of the thousands of influencers, changemakers and authoritarians sharing their own content and IP on social media, are doing so to help other people. It is in our DNA and we get a buzz from doing so.

We don’t mind pointing people in the right direction or sharing a bit of wisdom back through our in-mails and emails especially with those people who have the propensity to reach out and connect at a personal level, share their vulnerability and ask for help.

Social has allowed us to get to know people, their likes and dislikes, their personal values and what they believe is important. It’s flattened out hierarchies and removed pedestals so we can see each other for who we are, as well as who we aren’t.

What it has also done is highlighted those who live in the old world of ABC – ‘Always Be Closing’ and reaffirmed that social is not for selling.

Jill Rowley says ABC is ‘Always Be Connecting’ and I agree with her, however, I would like to take that a step further and suggest that the new ABC is, ‘Always Be Contributing’.

Selling is serving, it is giving of yourself and your ideas, it is contributing to the growth of your buyers business as well as your own. It is no longer purely about taking, pushing or getting the deal.

So when I received this in-mail from someone I don’t know and has never conversed with me, and the title of the email was ‘I would greatly appreciate your advice’, it triggered a feeling of being hooked in after I began reading it:
(NAME) Intern at (COMPANY NAME)
February 12, 2015 8:08 AM
Dear Ms. McClelland,
My name is JOE and I am with a company that is representing the XPRODUCT. XPRODUCT is an Iphone6 charging case with a built in Bluetooth headset. I would greatly appreciate a few minutes of your time to show you how the XPRODUCT can affect the sales community, and to hear any advice you may have to offer. Enclosed please find a link to our website, so you can get a better picture of the product.

The link: XPRODUCT Link
Thank you for your time and consideration,
NAME
EMAIL

A rose by any other name is still a rose – A product push by any other name is still a product push.

Now this guy is probably a fantastic resource, offers great value to those he interacts with, his company probably has a fantastic offering but just didn’t land our engagement in the most effective way this time around.

Such a wasted opportunity!

Contrast that approach with the following message I received shortly afterwards,
Hi Bernadette:
Loved Jill’s post and yours. I thought you’d be interested in this as well as some of the articles I’ve shared recently about women in sales. Our hashtag on Twitter is #BigDealsHighHeels.
Hope you’re having a wonderful summer.
My best,
Joanne

The latter about me and my post
The former post was about their product
The former was so NOT relevant to me (I-Phone cases? Come on!)
The latter totally relevant about women in sales
The former had a call to action based on an investment of my time and effort in something that was irrelevant
The latter had a call to action that was based on contribution and shared values
Both had pointers to their site.

Guess which one got deleted and guess which one got re-tweeted?

Guess who I have strengthened a relationship with?

Social is not about selling…

Social is about engagement and at a level where trust is instantaneous, reputation is visible and intention is obvious.

As the old story goes,

‘Your line is what keeps you attached to every fish you catch’

so if you don’t want the big one to get away, check the quality of your line before you cast your rod.

Be Bold and Brilliant!

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Image courtesy of ePi.Longo