Don’t allow social media sites to hurt your sales motivation. FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn and countless other sites are all designed to help you feel part of a community. I’m okay with that, as long as you are not spending so much time on these sites that involvement begins to hurt your level of sales motivation.
It’s very easy to start off spending only a couple minutes on a social networking site, and before you know it, you’ve been out there an hour. First, determine a time limit before you log in. More importantly, allow yourself to only spend time with those people who are a positive influence on your sales career. Second, keep in mind that social media sites are far more sizzle than meat. The dollar payout you can expect may be quite low, unless you have a very clear strategy for using the sites to either cultivate new prospects or stay in touch with current customers.
Even with a strategy, always pay close attention to how the sites affect your sales motivation. I’m not saying you shouldn’t participate in these sites (in previous blog entries, you know I have emphasized the importance of being involved). I am merely encouraging you to use them to build your sales motivation, not simply occupy your time. Social networking sites can definitely connect you to motivated individuals and motivational sites that help you go out and do your sales job more effectively.
Sorry to those who feel I’m raining on your “sales 2.0” parade, but we still have a few years to go before we can really say “sales 2.0” has the ability to create revenue from social sites.
