Making Sales Social Live Episode # 5 – Social Proximity
| July 21, 2021
In this episode…
In this episode, the Social Sales Link Team discussed “Social Proximity”.
Social Proximity is a pathway to your buyers. It is the best way to gain access to the stakeholders, decision-makers, and the people you’d like to meet.
Below is an infographic that explains how social proximity looks like.
Your first-degree decision-maker is the bullseye, the next ring out would be the person that is connected to that person, and each ring out represents the people connected to the people you wanted to be connected with. The definition here is very simple: the more people you’re connected to within the social proximity of your prospect or decision-maker, the better your chances of getting closer and being introduced to your prospect.
Here are the different ways of using your social proximity on LinkedIn:
Tip # 1: Take inventory of your existing connections – check who do we know that knows the person we want to know.
Tip # 2: Search your first-degree and second-degree connections – check who can help you get in front of the decision-maker you wanted to meet.
Tip # 3: Leverage your LinkedIn filters – you can visit a first-degree connection’s profile, check that person’s connections and filter according to your preference. You can filter according to their location, current company, and many more!
In conclusion, Social Proximity is your pathway to your decision-makers and influencers. Start with “Who am I first-degree connected with”, then move onto the second-degrees and see if there’s anyone who can help you with. Remember, if you can leverage social proximity in a way that’s powerful and will ultimately convert to opportunities, you will start to leverage and optimize LinkedIn for social selling.
Connect with Brynne, Bill, Bob, and Sally Jo on LinkedIn or you can also visit our LinkedIn page to watch this episode again and get daily tips from the Social Sales Link team!
Important points on this video
Things you will learn in this episode:
* With LinkedIn, you can use your social proximity to pinpoint exactly who you want to talk to via filters and your 1st-degree connections. One way is to use one of your connection’s profiles and LinkedIn’s filters to see who they know. From there, you can ask your connection to introduce you or you can ask them if it’s okay to drop your name in a conversation.
* Leveraging social proximity into targeted accounts is the best way to gain access to stakeholders with the highest level of credibility. Social proximity, at its core, is mapping out pathways into decision-makers and influencers based on our existing network. Once we determine who we know that knows who we want to know… we can get introductions or permission to name-drop leading to meaningful conversations on a consistent basis.
* Social proximity is a pathway to our buyers and one of the best ways to gain access to them. It’s also a great way to ensure that we’re connected with all of the decision-makers in an account. Remember that on average, there are 6.8 decision-makers in an average sale. So, you want to make sure that you’re not only connected with the person who is your main contact, but also their boss, their peers, and their team members. Why? Because we also know that, on average, there is about a 20% turnover in an account in a given year. By practicing social proximity and socially surrounding your account, you will ensure that you have an open communication channel with all of the decision-makers.
