The single most important factor to consider in using social media to sell more is to make sure your social media efforts are reaching your primary target market.

I say this because even the wrong activities focused on the right people are 10 times more effective than the right activities focused on the wrong people.

So who are the right people? From a Trigger Event Selling™ perspective you ALWAYS want to focus on those people who have money and authority.

Those without money and the authority to spend it typically need to experience all three forms or a Trigger Event:

1. Motivation Trigger Event: Now I want it
2. Financial Trigger Event: I can now afford it
3. Justification Trigger Event: I can now justify buying it

… which typically takes 3-12 months after the initial Motivation Trigger Event.

By focusing on those who have money and authority you only have wait for the Motivation Trigger Event – The event that makes them want to change.

So how can you be sure that your social media efforts are reaching your primary target market – those with money and authority?

Yes Facebook and here is how. You create a Facebook page for your business and then use social media to promote your Facebook page. Once you have enough ‘fans’ you can see the demographics of those your social media efforts are reaching.

In my case, my ongoing Won Sales Analysis (aka Trigger Event Analysis ) tells me the decision makers with money and authority who are most likely to buy my services are men and women who are plus, or minus, 7.5 years my own age (47).

They have the money and the authority to spend it on the services I provide and based upon similarities in age and psychographics (aspirations, values and interests) they buy from me instead of my younger or older counterparts.

When I created a Facebook page for Trigger Event Selling and used social media to promote it, it took less than 24 hours for me to get over 250 fans. I was then able to view the demographics of the ‘fans’ of my Trigger Event Selling page by looking at the insights feature of my page.

In doing so I was able to validate that I am reaching my primary target (men and women who are +/- 7.5 years my own age). The image above shows the demographics of the Trigger Event Selling page on Facebook. Granted Facebook does demographics in 10 year intervals but even with 10 year intervals I can still confirm that I am reaching primary target market.

Win $1,500 worth of Trigger Event services by submitting either a great example of, or great idea on, how to use Facebook to harness Trigger Events and turn prospects into customers. To win you must get the most votes for your answer.

Answers are submitted by commenting on this blog post. Answers are voted on by clicking on the button that appears at the end of each answer/comment and voting ends on Monday September 28^th.

Answers/Comments need to be approved – to avoid spam – which typically takes just a few minutes. Contact me by phone (+1.403.874.2998), Skype (Craig.Elias), or this contact form, if you don’t see your comment approved within a few minutes of posting it.

Tweet, Stumble!, Digg, and email your friends so you get the most votes, because the voting system I use does not allow you to vote for your own answers.

Do you have a sales team that could benefit from Trigger Event Selling but you don’t have the budget at this time? Get members of your sales team to submit ideas and then get votes for their submissions.

Have an EVENTFUL week!

Craig

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The #5 mistake I see sales people and entrepreneurs make is either not analyzing their sales or doing a ‘Lost Sales Analysis’ INSTEAD OF conducting a ‘Won Sales Analysis’.

Here is something I find interesting. If you use Google to search for the term sales analysis – by using quotes around the words “sales analysis” when you search – and you’ll find around 750,000 pages on “sales analysis”. If you believe that when you lose the business you don’t want to lose the lesson and you use Google to search for the term “lost sales analysis” you will find around 1,000 pages on “lost sales analysis”.

But even when you conduct a lost sales analysis you still have to use conjecture to figure out how to win more sales. The top sales performers on the other hand conduct a won sales analysis so they know exactly what made them win, so they can go out and replicate their biggest wins.

Here is what I find truly amazing, if you use Google to search for the term “won sales analysis” you’ll find, on last check, around 250 pages that talk about how to capture more customers by analyzing the business that you have already won AND if you subtract the number of pages that reference the won sales analysis described on this this site you’ll be left with only three pages.

Of all the pages on the Internet that talk about “sales analysis”, only 0.15% talk about how to grow your sales by analyzing the sales you lose and less than .00002% talk about how to win more business by analyzing the sales that you have already won.

My question, to be answered by commenting below, is “What question provides the greatest insights into how you can win more sales?”

Win $1,500 worth of my time to help you conduct a series of Won Sales Analysis and analyze the results by getting the most votes for your answer. Answers are voted on by clicking on the button that appears at the end of each answer. Comments/Answers need to be approved – to avoid spam – which typically takes just a few minutes.

Stumble!, Digg, Tweet, and email your friends so you get the most votes, because the voting system I use does not allow you to vote for your own answers.

Have an EVENTFUL week!

Craig

P.S. If you want to replicate your biggest wins and identify the ‘Trigger Events’ that lead up to them you can download the Won Sales Analysis form and the instructions on how to use it here.

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In previous posts – Back on Track … Finally! & What’s The Big Deal About Trigger Events – I described how to increase close ratios, shorten sales cycles, and increase margins by getting to buyers when they are in the ‘Window of Dissatisfaction’ and the three types of Trigger Event’s that put buyers into the Window of Dissatisfaction.

In this post I will describe how to identify specific Trigger Events for the products/services that you sell. This can be done by doing a specific form of sales analysis.

Use Google to search for the term sales analysis – by using quotes around the words “sales analysis” when you search – and you’ll find around 3,000,000 pages on sales analysis. If you believe that when you lose the business you don’t want to lose the lesson and you use Google to search for the term “lost sales analysis” you will find around 1,750 pages on lost sales analysis.

I am looking to replicate my successes, therefore I want to better understand what it is that makes me win business. To do this I conduct a Won Sales Analysis. Here is what I find amazing, if you use Google to search for the term “won sales analysis” you’ll find, on last check, only around 50 pages that talk about how to capture more customers by analyzing the business that you have already won.

The Trigger Event method of Won Sales Analysis identifies the Trigger Events that resulted in getting new customers, when these Trigger Events happened, what made the customer choose you over your competition, and how you can close more sales in the future.

If you want to use the Trigger Event method of Won Sales Analysis you’ll find the Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) version of this tool at http://www.wonsalesanalysis.com.

Contact me if you want an explanation any of the aspects of the tool so you can use it to enhance your selling efforts.

Other Trigger Event Resources to Consider

I scour the Internet searching for ideas, resources, articles, and success stories about leveraging Trigger Events to outsell the competition. This time I want to share with you a blog post by Don Dodge called “Is your product a vitamin or painkiller?“. In this post Don shares his thoughts on what catalyst or event causes your prospects to actively seek your product or solution”

I encourage you to get together with others and brainstorm on ways to capitalize on Trigger Events to outsell your competition. Contact me when you have ideas, resources, or success stories about leveraging Trigger Events that you want to share with the over 1,500 entrepreneurs, business leaders, and sales and marketing professionals who subscribe to this blog.

Have an eventful week!

Craig

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