Social Selling and Dark Social for B2B – In Just 7 Minutes with Leslie Venetz

Resources/Links:

• Want more FREE tips and tricks on how to build better sales? Click here: insidesalesteambuilder.com

Summary

Have you been stuck in the old ways of selling that it just doesn’t do you good nowadays? Do you want to learn how to switch from seller-centric selling to social selling– a new way of getting more clients without the fuss?

With new technological innovations, people heavily rely on social media for what they need. Ditch the telephone and the seller-centric sales talk and switch to online! Are you ready to learn how to increase your sales without the fuss and stress?

Leslie Venetz is a 3x Head of Sales with 15 years of B2B experience. She is an expert in building elite sales teams. Leslie is the Founder of Sales Team Builder and works with sales professionals and founders who need to create repeatable processes that work. When she is not talking about sales, Leslie enjoys traveling, reading, and riding her SoulCycle.

In this episode, Leslie gives us an amazing glimpse into how to increase your sales without the stress. She also shares more on how you can ethically influence your market through social selling and dark social.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:38 – Leslie’s ideal client: The ideal client is going to be a sales leader or founder but it’s a mentality thing, somebody that understands old ways of selling doesn’t serve them and don’t serve our buyers anymore.
• 01:55- The problem she helps solve: What is the problem? Helping them create those meaningful connections with their prospects and with their customers.
• 02:48 – The symptoms of the problem: In their life really made me chuckle because I do work with a lot of early-stage companies. So, they’re trying to come out of the “founder leg”. So, in their life you know, they’re the image of a person with the sticks.
• 04:00 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Leslie: Common mistakes, I think one of them is that they jumped straight to scaling. Like it’s such a buzzword, right? “We’re going to scale to the moon!” And they forget that it’s essential to build those foundations of repeatable processes first.
• 06:32 – Leslie’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): Every single salesperson should be creating content. So that is my tip is to go out there and do it. And while it’s going to help you today in this job, that is something that you take with you for your entire career.
• 07:10 – Leslie’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Want more FREE tips and tricks on how to build better sales? Click here: insidesalesteambuilder.com
• 07:34 – Q: What is your number one tip for people who want to be successful on social? A: And it’s consistency over frequency. Don’t get so caught up that I have to post every single day that it makes it feel daunting. If once a week is what you can do, make that your goal but be consistent.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Consistency over frequency. If once a week is what you can do, make that your goal but be consistent.” -Leslie Venetz Share on X

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland joined today by Leslie Venetz. Leslie, where are you hanging out today?

Leslie Venetz 00:18
Today I am in Chicago, fresh off of six weeks of living the digital nomad life in South America.

Tom Poland 00:24
Holy Dooley! Six weeks in South America, wow! You rock and you missed your SoulCycle, I bet.

Leslie Venetz 00:32
I did. I like deeply missed it. I came back and I biked for like every day since I’ve gotten back here. You’re spot on there, Tom!

Tom Poland 00:40
Folks, if you don’t know what a SoulCycle is, go Google it. But it’s a pretty extraordinary experience. And getting off the SoulCycle, pardon the pun. Leslie is a 3x Head of Sales with 15 years on business-to-business experience, B2B. She’s an expert in building elite sales teams, which really is the potential powerhouse of any organization. She’s the Founder of Sales Team Builder and works with sales professionals and founders who need to create, and this is the word I love, repeatable processes that work. Because with repeatability, you get relentlessness. When she’s not talking about sales or being interviewed, she enjoys traveling to South America for six weeks reading, and riding her SoulCycle. All right, Leslie, our title is “Social Selling and Dark Social for B2B”. Our seven minutes is going to start as soon as I find the “go” button on the app. Here we go! It’s going to start now. Question number one, who’s your ideal client?

Leslie Venetz 01:38
Okay, I’m on the clock. The ideal client is going to be a sales leader or founder but it’s a mentality thing, somebody that understands old ways of selling doesn’t serve them and don’t serve our buyers anymore.

Tom Poland 01:49
Interesting! Old ways of selling. Question two, over six and a half months left. What’s the problem you solve for them?

Leslie Venetz 01:55
What is the problem? Helping them create those meaningful connections with their prospects and with their customers.

Tom Poland 02:01
Meaningful connections. Is that part of what was missing in the old?

Leslie Venetz 02:05
I think so. Absolutely! What was the old-school way? It was, “I’m the account manager. I need this.” It was so seller centric. And now we have this amazing opportunity to use things like social to be a part of the conversations that our customers are having. And to really lead with more value and more relevance. And you know, I think just start the relationship from a place that’s a lot more about them, and a lot less about us.

Tom Poland 02:33
Perfect! Thank you for that. Question three, six minutes left. Let’s talk about some of the typical symptoms. Someone who really needs you and your services and what you do, what’s going to be going on in their business or their life where they go, “Yeah, I’m manifesting those symptoms. I need to find out more about what Leslie does.”

Leslie Venetz 02:48
Okay, in their life really made me chuckle because I do work with a lot of early-stage companies. So, they’re trying to come out of the “founder leg”. So, in their life you know, they’re the image of a person with the sticks. And there are seven plates spinning all over them like they just need somebody who can come in and create consistency and take what maybe works for them as a founder and figure out what pieces of it are repeatable so that we can have repeatable. And yeah, I think more broadly than that’s like the hallmarks of a bad sales organization. Bad reply rates, people always asking for discounts, bad renewal rates, bad conversion– we can fix that with repeatable processes.

Tom Poland 03:25
So, they might be getting revenue, but there are a bunch of leaks in their bucket, so to speak. And it’s all a bit ad hoc. It’s all a bit random. I wonder what we’re going to do for this month’s sales. Okay. So, what would you say, I mean, we’re talking about generally founders and organizations that are moderately successful, if not very successful. So, they’re growth-oriented is what I’m saying, and they’re going to try stuff. And some of those things aren’t going to work. You know, maybe get the whip out on Monday morning to the sales team and drive them harder or whatever. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that people make when they’re trying to solve a sales problem? Four and a half minutes left.

Leslie Venetz 04:00
Common mistakes, I think one of them is that they jumped straight to scaling. Like it’s such a buzzword, right? “We’re going to scale to the moon!” And they forget that it’s essential to build those foundations of repeatable processes first. I think in the context of this conversation, Tom, one of the huge errors I see organizations make is either not wanting their sales reps on social or not believe that having a social presence is going to help them become a better salesperson or to generate more leads. They still have that very siloed view that marketing is social and sales just need to be on the phone. And that’s bad.

Tom Poland 04:41
Interesting. And there’s often a wall between sales and marketing, isn’t there? And the bigger the organization, normally the thicker the wall.

Leslie Venetz 04:48
Unfortunately, it is, but the leading organizations, folks that are just smashing revenue, beating their competitors, they’re taking down those walls and eliminating silos. We’re on the same team.

Tom Poland 04:58
So, we’ve got lots of time. Still, three and a half minutes left. What’s dark social? Pardon me. What’s dark social and where does come into the sales process?

Leslie Venetz 05:06
I think the dark social is different depending on who you ask. But it’s pretty much like everything that’s happening behind the scenes that aren’t the advertising, the branding, like the blatant, “Here are our company posts on LinkedIn. So, we are seeing a lot of intent being driven by folks just kind of being part of the broader conversations, we’re able to influence our buyers before they know they’re being influenced. And it’s a common stat that I mean, depending on who you ask, I saw a stat recently that we only get 7% of the buying process. So, it’s an opportunity to educate and maybe entice and inspire our buyers without actively selling to them.

Tom Poland 05:51
So, it’s more subtle. It’s COVID-like column. Were kind of ethically infiltrating and influencing.

Leslie Venetz 05:58
Yes, I like the word “ethical”, and they’re too, Tom, because it is. We’re not trying to manipulate. We are trying to educate, inspire, and do those pieces. Yeah.

Tom Poland 06:08
Right. And if anyone’s wondering about the difference between influence and manipulation, you draw a line somewhere, I don’t know where exactly you draw, but you do draw a line. And mostly it’s to do with your intention to help people and if it’s ethical to walk away if you just don’t think they’re a fit. So, let’s go with question five, two minutes left, one valuable free action. It’s like a quick top tip, not going to solve the whole problem, but it might help people to take a step in the right direction.

Leslie Venetz 06:32
You know, I think that every single salesperson should be creating content. So that is my tip is to go out there and do it. And while it’s going to help you today in this job, that is something that you take with you for your entire career. So that might not be whatever like company or sales leader or founder listening wants to hear, but inspire your reps to create their own brand. It will help them at the moment, but it is something important that they can take with them forever.

Tom Poland 06:58
Very interesting! Thank you. And question six is a valuable free resource. I think you’ve got a newsletter, which, as I understand it, is packed full of valuable information. Where can people go to sign up for that? One minute left?

Leslie Venetz 07:10
Yes, pop onto my website. It’s the first thing that comes up at insidesalesteambuilder.com. I also create daily on LinkedIn and on TikTok and sales TikTok. So, tons of free content that I’m just out there trying to help us all level up a bit.

Tom Poland 07:24
So, LinkedIn, TikTok and insidesalesteambuilder.com. Thank you for that! Question seven, 45 seconds left. Plenty of time. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t?

Leslie Venetz 07:34
Plenty of time? I don’t know. I felt like we’ve been on the clock here! You know, I would say a lot of the questions I get asked about social is like about frequency and I would say maybe like what is your number one tip for people who want to be successful on social? And it’s consistency over frequency. Don’t get so caught up that I have to post every single day that it makes it feel daunting. If once a week is what you can do, make that your goal but be consistent.

Tom Poland 08:04
Leslie, thanks so much for your insights and your time. Cheers!

Leslie Venetz 08:08
Thanks, Tom.

Tom Poland 08:10
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.