Social selling implementation: 2 ways to encourage seller adoption

More than three quarters of B2B buyers and sellers now prefer a digital experience over face-to-face interactions. According to recent McKinsey research, virtual interactions have made it easier for buyers to get information and place orders. So it’s no surprise that more and more organizations have implemented social selling programs to generate, nurture, and convert leads — but it’s not necessarily as simple as it sounds. The first, and possibly biggest, hurdle is ensuring seller adoption.

When you roll out a new social selling program, you want your salespeople to feel empowered. The more confident they feel, the more likely they are to embrace this new way of doing business. Easier said than done. As a sales leader, you may understand that social selling is critical to your success, but driving seller adoption can still be a challenge. If you’re planning to implement a social selling program in your organization, here are two ways to encourage seller adoption:

1. Select a social selling platform with best-in-class onboarding

Comprehensive seller onboarding is critical to the implementation of a social selling program. Without sufficient onboarding, businesses risk low user adoption due to inadequate seller training and a lack of meaningful goals that align with business objectives. Social selling programs are more likely to be successful when you have a technology partner that provides best-in-class onboarding. It’s the ideal time to discuss best practices, establish goals, and identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that contribute to the success of the program. Of course, it’s also the best time to learn how to use the tool and ask questions that will enable your sellers to fold social selling into their existing sales process.

Learning shouldn’t stop after onboarding ends. Choose a platform that offers an integrated learning management system to train and upskill employees on social media tactics and thought leadership content. Ensure your sellers have adequate resources, such as quick-start guides, to assist in the onboarding process. Features such as reminder tasks and suggested actions can not only encourage best practices, but also drive onboarding and adoption.

2. Utilize gamification tools within a social selling platform

Gamification uses basic human psychology to motivate and engage sellers. It fuels their desire to connect, compete, and be rewarded for a job well done. When implementing gamification in a social selling program, it’s important to understand what motivates your sales team and how they prefer to be rewarded. For some, it may come in the form of a monetary reward. For others, it may be recognition among peers. When your sellers receive personalized rewards, they’re more likely to repeat the behaviors that helped them achieve success.

When you implement gamification in your social selling tool, your team should have several benchmarks that lead to overarching goals that align with business objectives. For example, one goal might be to grow seller networks by 30%. In order to achieve that goal, benchmarks could include producing more content for their social media handles, increasing engagement, and maybe even joining relevant industry groups. Each benchmark should have specific metrics for your salespeople to work toward.

It’s also a good idea for sellers to be involved in the goal-setting process. When they have input into expectations, it can increase the likelihood of success. Real-time leaderboards can help salespeople visualize how well they’re performing. They can earn awards and badges upon completion of different activities when competing with their peers. It’s an excellent way to encourage a competitive spirit, increase productivity, and even nurture collaboration.

Sprinklr Distributed is the industry-leading social selling platform with seller adoption rates as high as 85%. Excited to learn more about how social selling can work for your organization? Download our ebook today.

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