There’s plenty of hype around social selling these days and, frankly, Mike Weinberg is sick of hearing it. Learn why he’s dead set on dispelling social selling myths that aren’t just misleading, but flat-out dangerous.

You hear them everywhere these days — loud, shrill voices proclaiming that everything has changed, that social selling has replaced traditional prospecting and selling. In this week’s episode of Labcast, Mike Weinberg, founder of The New Sales Coach and one of OpenView’s Top 25 B2B Sales Influencers for 2014, explains why he believes that kind of thinking is dangerous, and why we should look to social as a supplemental tool rather than a replacement. Fair warning: This may get loud.

This Week’s Guest

“Many salespeople incorporate social in their repertoire and use it really well, but they still have to be really good at telling their story, at running a discovery session and identifying needs, at doing the hard work, at representing the company, and managing the deal well.”

— Mike Weinberg, founder of The New Sales Coach

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Key Takeaways

* The social selling balloon is leaking air fast — let’s just stick a needle in it and pop it. People are saying that everything that used to work doesn’t, that social selling is the answer, and that if you master it you will be the king of selling forever. This is exactly what the reactive, passive salesperson who is either scared to hunt or doesn’t want to hunt wants to hear. Telling them that they don’t need to proactively target, prospect, and pursue potential customers who haven’t already raised their hand is dangerous.

* Myth: Buyer is 80% through the “buying process” before they are willing to engage or seek out a salesperson. Sure, this statement may apply to the reactive salesperson who is sitting around waiting, but no true proactive salesperson waits for buyer to be 80% down the path before engaging. By that point, too many of the cards have already been dealt and you may be forced to play a hand you may not like.

* Don’t be late to the party. If you are waiting in reactive mode then you’re going to be late to the party and possibly last to the opportunity. That means you won’t have a hand in establishing the narrative. You won’t influence the buying criteria or help shape their buying process. Meanwhile, your more proactive competitor got in early and built a relationship before the buyer had urgency, a clear budget, and a clearer understanding of what they think their specific need is.

* Stop calling it social selling. Call it what it is (marketing). Think of social as another tool in your tool box to help you identify potential customers and conduct pre-call activities such as research, etc. Social is great as an additional tool (not a replacement).

* Social is awesome, but calls are still the ‘protein on the plate.’ The best use of social is as a supplement to traditional prospecting and sales techniques. Don’t be confused — connections and retweet are not sales metrics. Those who do well in sales are those who are good at the traditional aspects of selling, but can incorporate social into their repertoire.

* 3 keys to transforming your results:

* Make a great list. Get strategic. Save time and energy to be proactive by going after one targeted list of prospects at a time.

* Sharpen your story. Stop talking about what you do and start talking about what you do for customers. Focus on what’s important to the customer.

* Be selfish with your time.