(This is the third post in our series on sales organizations’ emerging use of social media as a channel for shaping demand.) . Although many people agree that social media can be an incredibly helpful tool for sales prospecting and due diligence, the question we hear over and over is “But is it scalable? The challenge facing many organizations is the best way to roll out social media use and ensure that it doesn’t negatively impact other initiatives, or backfire entirely. The Buzz Sales Operations Sales Tools Social Media MORE >>

But, here’s the twist—not the geographic proximity that most companies typically use to assign leads, but the social proximity of the lead to the salesperson. The importance of social media in B2B sales was one of the most surprising findings in our research last year. In fact, we found that the best salespeople don’t rely on Marketing at all for leads, instead use their own social networks and personal brands for lead generation. It’s all about positioning oneself as a key influencer within your customer’s social networks. But, that’s only half the story. MORE >>

(This is the second post in our series on sales organizations’ emerging use of social media as a channel for shaping demand.). Social media is a key ingredient for reps to be able to  get in earlier and help shape demand. Even without a full social media strategy you can still support individual reps entering the landscape. In the second of our social media blog series we look at some simple things your organization can do to start making your reps’ online presence more professional. The Buzz Demand Shaping Social Media MORE >>

Like it or not, social media is here to stay. Nowadays, if you want to learn something, you turn on your iPad, grab your smart phone, or turn on your computer, and ask your social network or search for relevant blog posts or discussion groups. If Given the massive amount of information available today, learning in the social world is less about what to read and more about what not to read. As In the social world, organizations are almost inevitably and automatically filtered out, as they’re perceived to have an agenda. A And I’m not talking about Facebook. MORE >>

If they can rely on social networks and third party consultants to force us into a price war, they’d be foolish not to do that. It’s likely some mix of social media, other peer networks, consultants, salespeople and vendors, maybe professional conferences or trade shows. Admittedly social selling has become all the rage, and having devoted a significant amount of time and energy to the topic through 2011 and early 2012, we’d like to think we help accelerate this trend. Social media provides a hugely powerful platform for accessing customers as they learn. MORE >>