If you read any of my prolific content on social selling and sales teams leveraging LinkedIn, you'll know that I am a huge proponent of sales professionals using social networking tools for prospecting, lead generation, and lead nurturing - particularly the steps of bringing new prospects into the top of your funnel,moving them to the middle of the funnel through qualifying their interest, and finally overcoming their objections in the bottom of your funnel.

This blog post took a completely different approach. The author suggests using social networking tools to improve, enhance, develop, and nurture existing client or customer.

I have a confession to make: although a publish a ton of content on social selling, I personally spend the bulk of my efforts in using social networking, like LinkedIn, to add value to my EXISTING clients.

In most industries, it's very hard to find new clients or customers. Once you've got them, you should treat them as your most prized possession. In most cases, I find that the attention clients and customers get after the initial sale is a check-in to see if they would like to buy more.

What if some of your communication with that client/customer was centered around providing great value (ideas, challenges, thought-leadership, filtering of overwhelming content, issues, pain points) around the topics most important to them.

What if you were there "GO-TO" source for any information in your niche? What if you were viewed as a "trusted advisor" instead of someone who cares only about closing a sale?

If the statistic quoted in the blog article was even half true - 68% of your clients leave you because they don't feel cared for", can you imagine the work involved to keep filling up your portfolio because of the leaking holes?

Take it from personal experience, you can deliver the best product or service at the best price point, but if your clients and customers don't feel well cared for - even when they are not buying from you - they'll seek greener pastures elsewhere.

What do you do right now to sustain, nuture, engage, and provide value to your clients and customers between buying decisions? Is it time for a formal check-up of your inadequate efforts in this important area of making "clients and customers feel cared for?"

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Maybe the ideas on being a superconnector in this article are waaayyy over the top. However, are there one or two ideas you can take away from this article - especially when it comes to helping your referral sources.

There is a group of influencers and superconnectors out there as trusted advisors. In any given community, it's maybe a top 1% level.

Do you go out of your way to find these superconnectors and influencers, work hard at developing a personal relationship with them, and then try to help them long before you expect anything in return.

That tactic is a guaranteed approach to having an abundance of referrals. Is it hard work to get to that level - absolutely! Do you have an alternative? Perhaps, hoping and wishing for people to make referrals of CEOs for your group will come true. Most of the time, Chairs are disappointed in the quality of referrals they get from trusted advisors.

You can't blame the trusted advisors. They just are not superconnectors, influencers, and real trusted advisors to CEOs. They are basically subject matter experts - that's the lens through which they are viewed by CEOs. In addition, they might have a few CEOs as clients - most of their day to day interaction is with lower level department heads.

Is it time to give your trusted advisor network a check-up to determine if your focusing on the wrong referral sources?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs

Are you reading our dedicated Chair blog to learn how to create an abundance of CEO referrals?

http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/vistagechairs

I'm convinced that cold calling is dead for products and services requiring a solution selling approach. Social selling fits perfectly into the model of spin or solution selling by moving a buyer through your funnel - directing them with your content in helping them to buy vs. focusing on you selling.

Very interesting perspective using the social selling cube as a model for understanding this process of social sellling.

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

What a great idea - Circle the Prospect.

Although I preach this strategy with Chairs enrolled in my Chair Coaching Program for Leveraging LinkedIn to Find CEO Members, I've never actually given it a name - now I'm going to give the author the sincere form of flattery by using this concept to describe the real value of LinkedIn:

Having multiple contacts in your network who already love you be your ambassadors to "circling" your prospect.

For an investment of a few minutes daily, you can reap tremendous rewards in referrals and getting on your prospect "radar screen".

The very best business I get in my search practice comes when a potential client calls me up and says "I've been told to get in touch with you by 3 different people who sign praises about your work".

In the old days (you have to have some grey or missing hair to remember pre-Internet times), this might be called WOM - word of mouth marketing.

LinkedIn takes WOM and amplifies it to an unbelievable level. It's almost like multi-tasking WOM or as the Verizon commercial suggests, putting a "cheetah on it's back".

Imagine what would happen to your CEO peer group as a Vistage or TEC chair if you got 3-4 of these calls weekly?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs

Are you reading our dedicated Chair blog to learn how to create an abundance of CEO referrals?

http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/vistagechairs

Interesting survey of Sales Professionals using LinkedIn. I would contend that very few (almost none) sales professionals and teams are leveraging effectively LinkedIn as a prospecting, lead generation, and lead nurturing tool.

It's bordering on embarrassing how few are leveraging the power of this inexpensive sales tool. The flip side of that statement is that how can we expect a large number of sales professionals to be using LinkedIn when the real effectiveness of the site as a sales tool has only been within the last 12-18 months.

What really shocks me is that so few sales professionals are even trying to understand what LinkedIn could do for them - forget about executing 15 minutes a day on using it.

I do executive search and approximately 1/3 of my business is sales management and high level sales professionals ($150-$500) in compensation. I probably talk with 25-30 sales professional every week. I try to probe how they are using LinkedIn.

Here's my informal research:

Less than 1% have a profile that would be compelling to a potential client

Of that small 1 percent group, less than 10 percent (0.10% of the sample size) are using even the basic tools that LinkedIn provides for free.

Should I criticize these sales professionals for not yet leveraging LinkedIn, or is this site/tool still in such an early state of infancy on the traditional growth curve?

What's your experience or perspective?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

My greatest take-away from this blog article was the following out of the 5 key points mentioned:

"Referrals Require a System. Attorneys need to create a referral strategy that includes a process for making referrals happen, a way to educate referral sources and a solid follow-up program. Once that is in place, you just need to operate the system."

Although the article was focused on attorneys, it could have been directed at any coach, consultant, advisor, or personal service provider.

It's at the heart of the coaching I do within the Vistage and TEC Chair community, teaching how to make referrals a system and process that requires very little time to run on a daily basis. The set-up can be time consuming, but once it's in place, you've got a system to generate an abundance of warm to hot leads - practically on an automatic basis.

Referrals are too hard to generate on "one-off" approach - I work when I can mentality. Why not create a system that keeps putting great referrals into the top of your funnel with very little effort?

Have you taken the first step to make generating referrals a system and process?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs

Are you reading our dedicated Chair blog to learn how to create an abundance of CEO referrals?

http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/vistagechairs

I find many of my clients struggling with the question of whether to use inbound marketing (content marketing to warm-hot leads that have expressed an interest) or outbound marketing (traditional tactics of sales pitches through cold approaches).

Both have their place in lead generation. My question is: How do you integrate these two separate forms of lead generation and lead nurturing? Which one works better for your business? How do you test?

Have you started the process of putting the new tactics of inbound marketing in place alongside your traditional tactics of outbound marketing? Have you started testing and questioning where your leads come from (and the quality of those leads?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

I am a life-long student of presentations. I learn from every presentation. I continually "sharpen my saw" as Covey described the learning process.  I watch the TED presentations. I study the talks by politicians. I wait tingling with excitement for speakers at conferences.

Recently, there was a presentation that took my breadth away. It was the Super Bowl Commercial "God Made a Farmer". What struck me was the the effective use of few words and the visual presentation of photographs vs. video.

It reminded me of the techniques of Martin Luther King (as the article points out) both on repetition as a theme and the use of metaphors and examples to illustrate a point.

As a presenter, do you strive to refine your presentation to be impact and change the lives of those listening OR do you settle for a standard powerpoint presentation?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Speakers and Trusted Advisors

Are you reading our Blog on How to Attract and Engage with Potential Clients Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/vistage-speakers-trusted-advisors

If you're a Vistage/TEC Speaker - Consultant - Coach - Trusted Advisor, join our LInkedIn Discussion Group to learn how to find, attract, and engage more clients

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Speaker-TA-Group-1875142/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Speaker or Trusted Advisor, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Do you have a marketing department that sees their role in the following perspective:

"I am talking about arming the sales rep with the same or better information than the buyer has. And I contend that the responsibility of arming the sales rep falls in marketing’s lap. It’s the CMO that owns the responsibility for providing the sales reps with better information than the buyer has."

Are your sales reps "flying blind" or are they approaching prospects with full knowledge of the due diligence and research the prospect can access through the internet. Do they have scripts, explanations, and information to offset disadvantages and negative information?

Where does your company fall on the spectrum of marketing supporting the sales team in a "buyer 2.0" environment where the traditional "secret sauce" your sales reps had is now completely transparent?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Over the last 15 years as a speaker, I've also had the opportunity to see plenty of presentations in addition to having "constructive criticism" applied to my presentations by over 30,000 CEOs and senior executives.

I not only laughed at some of these classic mistakes of presenters, but cringed when I recognized myself making some of the same mistakes.

Excellent slideshow on presentation mistakes by one of my favorite trusted sources.

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Speakers and Trusted Advisors

Are you reading our Blog on How to Attract and Engage with Potential Clients Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/vistage-speakers-trusted-advisors

If you're a Vistage/TEC Speaker - Consultant - Coach - Trusted Advisor, join our LInkedIn Discussion Group to learn how to find, attract, and engage more clients

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Speaker-TA-Group-1875142/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Speaker or Trusted Advisor, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Good article on using content marketing to develop leads. I've seen many chairs get frustrated by the number of contacts, referrals, targeted CEOs that don't respond to their invitations to discuss Vistage.

I think the problem is that you might be trying to close too hard before gaining trust. Instead of calling to discuss the value of Vistage, perhaps the first step should be sharing information that is of value to them (whether thye buy - sign up - or not). I realize this might fly in the face of conventional tactics.

Here's the quote from the blog article that struck home for me

"So the next time you’re talking to a lead, remember that they first have to know, like and trust you before they’ll do business with you, and forget about the lame rehearsed pitch you thought you needed and hate using. Instead, conduct a meaningful conversation about the latest whitepaper (or article, or blog post, or instructional video) that you can get to them. They’ll remember you and want to know more."

I never ask clients whether they need my executive search services or hiring consulting help. I provide a wealth of content around their pain points in hiring, and those that feel the pain, raise their hand and ask to engage with me. There is NO selling in the process. The minute someone feels like they are being SOLD - they back away - especially if deep trust has not yet been established. The higher up the food chain you go - CEOs - the more cautious, conservative, and skeptical your prospects become.

What are you doing to "grease the proverbial skids" before pitching CEOs by building trust. Are you sharing information that will help them without asking for something in return?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs

Are you reading our dedicated Chair blog to learn how to create an abundance of CEO referrals?

http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/vistagechairs

Does your sales team leverage LinkedIn to "Always Be Connecting". By now, it's well established that LinkedIn is a powerful tool for lead generation, lead nurturing, relationship building, content marketing, communicating with your prospects, engagement, and moving potential clients/customers along a path of buying.

Do all your sales reps have the knowledge and skills to use this tool and the  hands-on mentoring to actually take the learning and apply it on a day-to-day sales level?

My experience has been that very few companies selling products and perhaps even fewer on the service side have any clue where to begin. Most companies are still stuck in a 1970s mode of cold-calling for new leads - MAJOR FAIL.

I've presented to a wide variety of banks, law firms, benefit consultants, media buying firms - the full list covers a broad spectrum of companies - the percentage of companies effectively using LinkedIn as a sales tool is probably a little shy of a microscopic percentaqe.

When will you being to leverage this effective platform as another tool in your sales quiver?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

I've seen these stats, reserach, and surveys bounced around for the past 12-18 months. I think the prestige of Eloqua gives the research an additional ounce of credibility.

Would anyone disagree that in this age of digital information, buyers of your services and products are dramatically better informed, and are able to do their due diligence on you, your competitors, and your solutions with a high degree of efficiency.

Why then do so few companies - especially at the entrepreneurial and small business size - fail to implement content marketing and social selling programs to engage with customers long before they are willing to talk with a sales rep?

Given the wide acceptance of the changes in selling - particularly for products and services that are of high value and require a consultative sell - do you have a written plan in place to shift your marketing and selling focus to take advantage of the trends and tools that are now becoming commonplace?

Even if you don't believe the statistics and survey results in this blog article, there is an overwhelming sense that cold calling in most non-transactional sales environments is all but DEAD!

We all know that buyers are 70% along the path of making a decision before speaking with a sales rep. Everyone knows that gatekeepers and other electronic forms of communication have limited the effectiveness of leaving messages and trying to get someone on the phone.

Research, case studies, testimonials, trends in sales training = all lead to the conclusion that cold calling is a dying art form. Even if you don't buy that assessment, let's at least agree that it's a low leverage activity compared to other forms of getting in front of a prospect - like using LinkedIn.

The problem I see in most of my entrepreneurial-small business-middle market clients, is that since the CEO doesn't use or understand LinkedIn as a sales tool - they have trouble embracing, encouraging, and investing in it's use for their sales teams.

Current state of affairs in most sales teams is that advanced use of LinkedIn as a sales took for business development, prospecting, lead generation, and lead nurturing is 3-5 years away.

There is a signficant learning curve in being able to leverage LinkedIn. Attending a one day training doesn't begin to provide the depth of knowledge and understanding of the tool. It's a 2-3 year minimum investment of using on a daily basis before it's truly effective.

The big question is do you put your proverbial toe in the water NOW and start to learn how to use it - or do you wait 2-3-5 years until all of your competitors are light years ahead of you?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Every article, case study, example, illustration, and research report I've read in the last few years confirms that blogging as your centerpiece of communication and social media activity levels the playing field between your small business and the larger, more established, better funded companies whom you compete with in your niche.

Heidi Cohen does a great job laying out the benefits of having a business blog a simple set of steps to launch/manage an effective business blogging element of your marketing.

In my experienc with over 5,000 Vistage and TEC CEOs in the US, maybe 1% are writing a consistent blog (at least once per week) that serves as the centerpiece of their social media and on-line marketing tactics.

If blogging is a proven tactic, all the research confirms it - why have you put your toe in the proverbial water to start learning how to blog as a small business?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

As a Vistage or TEC Chair, how much time do you spend daily/weekly on LinkedIn, Blogging, and Content Curation/Marketing to CEOs about your expertise in coaching CEOs and facilitating CEO peer Discussion Groups?

Leveraging Social Media to become a thought-leader, expert, go-to person within the CEO content space requires an investment of time. As Chris Abraham talks about in this blog post, is your preference to excel at mediocrity or to stand out from the crowd.

What are you willing to do to create a pipeline of warm-to-leads for your CEO group, and be overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to join?

Is it worth 15 minutes a day, an hour a week, writing a blog post of 500 words once every two weeks?

There is no more effective tools than blogging, LinkedIn, and content curation/marketing on this planet to find, engage, and nurture CEO relationships and referrals.

Perhaps, you would consider cold calling to be an effective tool? In a comparison of cold calling to leveraging social media to find and attract prospects (candidates) in my executive search practice the difference is factor of at least 10X - and could perhaps be 4-5 times that difference.

If you could be 10X more productive, efficient, and effective in helping CEOs see the value of joining your Vistage or TEC CEO peer group, would you invest a few minutes a day?

What's holding you back? Why do feel it's not worth the effort yet in spite of numerous chairs having great success in leveraging these tools?

What's your plan to move from unconsciously incompetent to consciously competent?

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs

Are you reading our dedicated Chair blog to learn how to create an abundance of CEO referrals?

http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/vistagechairs

I find the buzz about this concept of "youtility" somewhat humorous. It's interesting how in different iterations or generations folks come up with words to describe what was done previously. It makes it sound different.

I give Jay Baer credit for using one of my favorite marketing tools - "Stick-to-itness" - using words or phrases that people will remember. For example, in my hiring workshops, I use the concept that most sourcing and finding of candidates falls into the mode of "army drill instructor" using job descriptions that bark at candidates. Participants in my workshops will never remember I recommended these 3 best practice tactics of finding top talent; however, they will remember the funny-humorous-twist of a phrase I used to describe their common frustration. A decade latter former participants come up to me and remind me that they remember that phrase.

The reality is that youtility is a cute sticky phrase for spin or solution selling - which at it's core is being helpful to customers, being proactive, learning about the customer needs, asking good questions, being the "go-to" trusted person for answers.

What other new-fangled words/phrases have you come across in this so-called digital age that are replacement words for something you've been doing since day one?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Excellent blog post from Hubspot about working inbound marketing leads and the differences from leads that are generated by people raising their hands for more information vs. those that are bombarded with sales messages.

I could probably boil it down to one idea. The author appears to paint the need to act consultative and be "helping" vs selling when dealing with an inbound lead. I'm not convinced the suggestions apply just to inbound leads - maybe the vast majority of leads are affected by these concepts.

I could probably attribute this mistake to most sales calls at various places in the sales funnel. The traditional model of ABC "always be closing" might not work as well in today's environment. Perhaps, we should change it to "always be consulting" - asking questions, offering ideas, tips, listening, discussiong, challenging, comparing, and helping.

Your thoughts?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

If you're still stuck in a 1970s model of buying behavior, this article and graphic might change your mind of how you approach marketing. It challeged me to think about the "discovery path" my clients use to determine whether they want to engage with me.

How are you modifying your traditional models of customer/client buying based on changes in the digital/social media world?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching how to drive Sales Through Social Media

Are you reading our Sales Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

Learn how to leverage social media for sales.

Don't forget to Join us on our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Building Sales Through Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Another perspective on presentations. Wow did this one hit home. How many times have you been a victim of having to sit through one of these presentations - or perhaps it was you giving the presentation.

Do you give a presentation that is "memorable?" Do people come up to you 5-7-10 years from when they originally heard you - and can recall specific elements of your presentation that impacted them?

When designing slides and your presentation - do you think about being "memorable?"

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Speakers and Trusted Advisors

Are you reading our Blog on How to Attract and Engage with Potential Clients Through Social Media Blog?

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/vistage-speakers-trusted-advisors

If you're a Vistage/TEC Speaker - Consultant - Coach - Trusted Advisor, join our LInkedIn Discussion Group to learn how to find, attract, and engage more clients

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Speaker-TA-Group-1875142/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Speaker or Trusted Advisor, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Are your key executives holdouts to using social media? Is your company struggling to gain a foothold into leveraging social media for sales, marketing, customer service, and employee engagement since none of your senior executives buy into the idea that social media can add value?

Is it time to start using it on a daily basis? Are your executives afraid since they don't like using a computer, learning new things, being embarrased by younger colleagues?

Without encouragement, learning opportunities, and guidance from the CEO, most of your senior execs will probably continue to take a "wait and see" approach thinking the whole social media experience is going the way of historical busts like the Dot Com era and Dutch Tulip Mania.

Is it time to get your toes wet around using social media to determine the ideal leverage points for your company OR should you wait until your competitors are so far out in front of you that you'll never recover. Are you prepared to experience the feeling of being in the last quarter of a basketball game with 3 minutes to, and you're down 22 points. Perhaps, you should just give up and concede to your competitors?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about

Whether you decide to launch into social media or not at your business, the reality is that your employees are already talking about your company, personnel, strategies, and tactics.

Instead of turning this into an authoritarian content of rules and regulations, why not develop a social media policy that turns all your employees into company and brand ambassadors?

Do you have a formal social media policy?

Barry Deutsch

Master Coach for Teaching Vistage/TEC Companies HOW TO drive Sales Through Social Media

Join our private blog for Vistage/TEC Members on HOW TO Leverage Social Media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Vistage-TEC-Member-Group-Leveraging-1875132/about

Not a Vistage or TEC Member, then be sure to visit our public blog on how to drive sales through social media, AND/OR our open discussion group on LinkedIn, Sales Through Social Media

http://www.barrydeutsch.net/sales-through-social-media

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sales-Through-Social-Media-3854199/about