The importance of social selling: Vijay Sharma, Director, Jindal Stainless
“Out of sight, out of mind”
This phenomenon holds true for the landscape of social media which is constantly reorienting itself. Any company that is not ‘persistently visible’ in the digital eyes of the public, is bound to turn redundant after a point of time. A company is identified with the people behind it. For example, Apple and Steve Jobs are synonymous to each other. Hence, the propellers of any company are its key people who make an effort to increase the visibility of the company using themselves as the medium. It is because of social media that ‘people presence’ has increased so much, that the personal becomes synonymous with the social self. It is this social self that affects the image of a company and in a way, its sales too.
For the leader of a company, it is imperative to keep three things in mind to grow in the right direction–
1. The importance of 3rd-degree connections in marketing-
The best platform to make third-degree connections is LinkedIn. In today’s day and age, it is not important to just know people, it is important to know who they know as well. A recent survey conducted by LinkedIn itself, proves that a person’s connectivity to co-workers influences their job-hopping as well as retention rates. Those who are well connected with seniors in an organization can get better engaged in the work processes, thereby leading to higher retention. Human beings are social creatures, and like to get validated in any way possible. Hence, every interaction with another person is an informal interview and is a pathway to better growth opportunities.
2. The need to promote a lively yet achievement-driven culture-
The organizational health depends on the happiness index of its people. According to me, I wholeheartedly believe that a team can work well only when the team members work in unison and inculcate a lively culture. This is why, I believe that a team requires a leader who is friendly and approachable rather than one who is authoritarian and disconnected. There is a thin line between being a friend and being friendly, and a leader who can walk on that fine line will have a team who is excited to come to work every day. A leader is not a friend but certainly needs to be friendly to his/her team. Creating a happy work environment is in itself a big success.
3. Business with Humans (BwH)-
An effective leader exemplifies the virtues of empathy and emotional intelligence. I believe in ‘business with humans’ and therefore building relationships beyond business is important for both work as well as personal gains. Social selling becomes an effective approach when it comes to customer-centricity. To repeat customer orders, it is important that the customer is not only satisfied with the product but also has a pleasant experience while doing business. I always encourage my team to build real relationships with our customers as it fosters trust and brand loyalty.
The dynamics of our business change with the people involved in it, and thus, my personal outlook on building a strong business foundation is to value people - both online as well as offline.
This phenomenon holds true for the landscape of social media which is constantly reorienting itself. Any company that is not ‘persistently visible’ in the digital eyes of the public, is bound to turn redundant after a point of time. A company is identified with the people behind it. For example, Apple and Steve Jobs are synonymous to each other. Hence, the propellers of any company are its key people who make an effort to increase the visibility of the company using themselves as the medium. It is because of social media that ‘people presence’ has increased so much, that the personal becomes synonymous with the social self. It is this social self that affects the image of a company and in a way, its sales too.
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