What is social selling? It’s one of those terms you probably hear a lot but may not be able to define. At Sandler Training, we define social selling as: “Using online networks and resources to add more prospects, opportunities, and information to your sales pipeline.”

Why it’s better to raise (and address) potential problems before a prospective buyer notices them. Have you ever lost a sale because of a problem you could have and probably should have dealt with earlier in the sales process? Have you ever lost a customer because you waited too long to tell them about a delay or defect? If you know a problem is going to blow up in your face, defuse it now.

As the Holidays approach and the year ends, businesses are preparing for the final push to ensure that their organizations reach their annual sales goals. It can be a time of considerable stress on sales teams and managers trying to reach the highest possible numbers and reap the benefits for themselves and their business. Not to mention, you still have to balance time off for the holidays and keep the family happy.

You don't have to be a tech wizard to grow your business through social selling. You can use your network of business contacts, to take a proactive, client-centered view of prospecting on social media. This special bonus podcast cuts through all the noise, tech-speak, and misconceptions about LinkedIn and social selling.

How Can You Succeed in Sales? Now that we have a thorough understanding of the problem from last week's post, let’s look at the solution. We call it the Sandler Selling System. It involves strategically developing your sales process to build trust, set up a mutually beneficial arrangement, qualify prospects as ideal clients, and demonstrate a unique value. Imagine if you talked only to the absolutely correct people. Imagine having the best sales conversations possible with qualified prospects who wanted to talk to you. Imagine being invited, instead of begging for appointments. Imagine no longer wasting time or money on people who will not buy. We have a saying at Sandler, “Selling things people want to buy to people who have money and decision-making authority is not cheating!” It is the way sales should be… Do you think it would be possible to actually sell more and sell more easily? Could you actually spend less time, money and energy on business development and enjoy more revenue and profit? When you stop trying to sell to everyone, you can actually invest time and effort to build real ideal client relationships with qualified prospects. You can work smarter instead of harder.

Around the New Year, I find it easy to be reminded of your imperfections, flaws, and room for improvement. However, I thought I would take a couple of minutes and remind you how awesome you already are.

Kansas City has some wonderful holiday traditions. As a visitor to our fine city, you are invited to participate in any of these public events.

I have been sharing a lot of best practices on LinkedIn this year, so I thought it was time to share some worst practices. Here are my top 5 things to avoid when social selling through LinkedIn.