What Internet marketers can learn from fraudsters?
Cold calling, emailing, and other traditional sales methods are becoming obsolete. Effective sales nowadays involve a process that mixes relationship-building with technology. These cutting-edge strategies, known as digital selling and social selling, make use of social media’s personal connections and viral reach in addition to the most recent analytics and digital marketing techniques.
Social selling resembles a “long con” game quite a bit. The distinction is that everyone wins in the end and there is no dishonesty. Using subtle conversations and sharing by the “grifter” (in our example, a salesman) to develop trust with the “mark” (our prospect or intended influencer) before approaching them for the “payout,” a long con is a confidence plan that takes a significant amount of time to organize and execute (a sale or referral).
Since there are so many books and movies on con artists, it’s simple to see how many of the same strategies may be used by savvy salespeople who practice social selling. Here are a few effective sales techniques that you may borrow—dare we say—from thieves.
Building Your Digital Sales Team: 5 Key Players in a Long Con
Anyone who has seen films like The Grifters, The Sting, or A Fish Called Wanda will be familiar with the fact that it frequently requires a large group of accomplices who play a variety of roles to make the scheme succeed. The same is true of digital selling. A support group of highly qualified specialists is beneficial for your success. Here are a few common con game allies and how the same types of team members might improve your social selling strategy.
The Roper locates and assesses the mark before luring it in. Good ropers find a method to get close to their target, getting to know their likes and needs, forming a connection, and keeping their attention. Then, they give their mark what they seem to desire. The Inside Man is introduced as a result of this (in our case, the salesperson).
Similar “warm hand-offs” are extremely beneficial for social marketing because they increase your credibility. While salespeople can undoubtedly engage in “roping,” it is frequently considerably more successful when done by a member of the marketing team, particularly a social media or content marketing specialist.
The beautiful thing about social selling is that you don’t have to do it alone; you can ask your company’s social media gurus for help while letting them handle the sales relationship building.
A skilled social media user is adept at searching the web for prospects and influencers. A social media specialist can uncover the greatest voices to magnify your sales message by looking for industry leaders that have sizable followings on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Then, they can assist you in fostering this relationship by like and sharing your corporate pages.
A crucial crew member for highly technological scams is the hacker. The hacker oversees or helps with IT and computer operations, including website development, tech support, analytics, and cybersecurity. Similar skills must be present on the team while selling digitally. Data analytics specialists provide salespeople and marketers with crucial information about website visitors, rivals, your industry, customers, and prospects, as well as indicators for content engagement and even prospective contact triggers.
The Shill, often referred to as the Face, is a third party who is purportedly a past victim of the scheme. It is his or her duty to support the mark and make a personal recommendation for the inside man in order to foster a sense of trust and confidence.
Testimonials are like catnip for conversions in the world of sales. Particularly in the case of social selling. Customer testimonials are seen as the most successful content marketing approach by 89 percent of B2B marketers, according to the Pardot Content Marketing Trends Report. Even more effective are testimonials from authorities in the field. The goal of social selling is to entice such influential people to like and share your content or product.
A counterpart known as “The Outside Man” can be employed to convince the mark that they are possibly under attack (such as a fake law enforcement official). By making the mark feel like a team member, this increases trust. Identifying a rival, competitor, or even a government organisation that poses a possible danger to both of your interests can help you build a sense of unity with prospects or even influencers in social selling. Then you can suggest a course of action, ask for guidance, or volunteer to assist by supplying helpful information.
The Cooler is someone who sticks around after the con to make sure the mark is not too upset to “squawk, beef, or come through” by checking in (call the police or alert other potential marks about the con).
Following up with customers discussing their satisfaction after the sale (or thanking influencers for their support or shares) is a great way to interact and strengthen the relationship in social selling. Having a staff member who keeps an eye on your social media accounts is a good idea as well. This person is frequently referred to as a community manager and they work closely with customer service to promptly address any comments, inquiries, or complaints.