Okay! So this post is a bit of a rant… not a social selling growth hack. But no worries young blood, I’ll work on a hack over this Sunday (today is Saturday) so you can get your fix.
Now, if you’re just getting in bed with social selling and aren’t exactly sure what the right approach is… keep reading.
This post is going to be part of a long series of posts I make on the do’s and don’ts of social selling.
On a serious note though… before we get started, can someone please tell me why the apostrophe on don’ts is between the n and t and not t and s? I’m high af again and cannot stop thinking about it. FML…
Okay, focus Dan… focus! Hooah.
What I am about to share with you has definitely happened to you at some point while using Linkedin.
Somebody sends an invitation to connect. You have no idea who this person is… so you check out his profile and decide, “Hey, this seems like a good connection to have. Possibly a potential buyer done the road…”
Out of the kindness of your heart you accept their request, nothing wrong with that… That’s what Linkedin is for anyways, connecting with other professionals.
But what do they do in return? They do this…
What is dis shizzle? They pitch you… No sweet talk, no foreplay. Nothing.
The dude just straight up tried cold selling some service you probably didn’t need or want.
It’s like inviting someone to your home, just so they can pop a squat and take a 
on your newly installed and polished hickory vintage barrel, hand sculpted, solid, hardwood flooring from Home Depot.
on your newly installed and polished hickory vintage barrel, hand sculpted, solid, hardwood flooring from Home Depot.
The shit ain’t even warm… it’s cold. Colder than cold email. Ice cold.
You begin to question why you even accepted the dude’s invite, thinking to yourself (but really wanting to respond with a 
but since you is a true professional, you let it go…):
but since you is a true professional, you let it go…):
“Bro… I literally just accepted your invite. Why turn a warm conversation into a cold pitch? As if I’m ready to buy already… I just met you! At least shake my damn hands (virtually of course)…”
If you’re reading this and your like… “Oh shit, I do that…”
Stop. This is not how sales is done. I don’t where the fuck you learned to do this or who your sales manager is, but you need to stop that shit because you give us good sales guys a bad rep.
Sales is about providing value… it’s not a pitch competition. So stop pitching your shitty service or product.
People make purchases not because your product or service is superior…
Rabbit hole #1: First off, if what you’re offering is not differentiated… and NO… We’re higher quality is not a differentiator you jack ass… and if you also find yourself in an inundated market like sales enablement (talking to myself here), web development, marketing, seo, etc… what I am about to say applies directly to you, so listen (read) carefully…
People make purchases not because your product or service is superior… they make purchases because they trust and respect you as an individual. That’s how business is done… that’s how it was always done…
Rabbit hole #2: Over last 5 years or more… but 5 years because that’s when I first got my taste in sales… companies have been way too focused on making money over providing value. We spend way too much time thinking how we can optimize the pipeline and speed up the sales cycle… and what it’s created is a generation of jackass sales guys who have no idea what sales is really about. I blame this phenomenon on egoic “rockstar” entrepreneurs and business owners who optimize for profit versus building something valuable.
Sales is not about speed… it’s about listening and providing value when and wherever possible. Sales is about the human experience… a deep compassion for wanting to truly help the person standing opposite of you solve their pain…
Sales is NOT about ABC it’s about APV. I just made that shit up, but it works… here’s what it means:
Always Provide Value.
I am a firm believer in the Golden Rule, from Luke 6:31 NIV… Do unto others what you want done unto you.
If you don’t like getting cold emails and messages in your inbox pitching bullshit products and services, don’t be a goddamn hypocrite and cold pitch your bullshit product and services to others, even if you think your shit don’t stank… because it does. Let me explain…
Rabbit hole #3: The secret of life is to reach a point of peace. Some experts call this Heaven others call it Enlightenment… the state that these experts are all trying to capture with silly buzzwords is a simply a state of internal peace, not external peace because that shit won’t happen. When you do the right thing you feel at ease, because it feels right… when you do bad things, you create conflict. You know this because you feel it within yourself… So the secret of life is to really rid yourself of any internal conflict you have… that is if you want to be happy because happiness is simply just a state of deep internal peace.
Okay, Dan you high as hell again… what does this have to with my shit stankin’?
So you may actually have an amazing product or service, but how you share that product or service with people you don’t really know, determines how it is received.
If you serve cold soup, it will be received cold. Warm soup taste much better.
Bottom line… stop spamming people with pitches. Sales is not about the quick win, it’s about relationship building. Take your time and get to know the other person, their company, their needs… you may not close the deal this week or next, but I guarantee you… if you give value, it will be returned in ways you’ve never imagined.
Think about what I said… and share your thoughts below. We’re in super interesting times right now, especially when it comes to selling.
Cold emailing is out the door. Sales guys need to adapt and take on a social approach.
With automation comes great responsibility. The point isn’t to remove humans from the equation, but to give them more time to meet, learn, collaborate, share, and help others.
If you enjoyed this post give it some claps… If you agree that we need to change the way sales is done today, share this post with those in the force.
If we want to change the way outsiders see us sales guys, which isn’t so positive if you haven’t noticed… we need to start by changing the way we do sales.
Sales is an art, one that should be respected, not looked down upon. Help me and my team at Orca change sales for the better.
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