The key to closing more business using social media is knowing HOW to close the business. What happens when your social media starts to work?

Social media opens the door and great skills close the sale!

Smart and savvy business owners are using social media strategically to build deeper relationships with prospects and referral partners and to find new prospects earlier in their buying process. When implemented correctly, it can be one of the best tools to open the door and close more sales.

Social media gets potential clients interested in you.

Sales skills get them to buy from you.

Social media does not close sales. It’s not a magic bullet for increasing deals. Generating leads from social media is wonderful, but if you can’t convert these leads into sales, you’re wasting your time, money and energy. The problem begins when business owners are missing the skill that will effectively convert those customers from a sales lead to a closed business transaction. The missing piece is sales skills. When this critical component is left out of the social media mix, businesses fail miserably.

Social media is essential and can help increase potential sales, but all the social media in the world won’t work if you can’t get people to say yes to your offer.

Sales are what keep a business in business.

Business owners who successfully manage their social media campaign and effectively convert leads into sales come out ahead. They realize the need to understand the engine of social media and the power of possessing great sales skills. Both efforts are what lead to bottom-​line enhancing results.

It's not uncommon for people to invest a lot of money on social media and not one penny on what the bottom line needs.

Sales skills!

They fool themselves into believing that heavy use of social media will translate into income. They believe social media will do the selling and they will be closing rock stars. What does lead to success is when professionals learn how to effectively engage and sell to today’s smart, savvy and internet-​empowered consumer. What used to work, no longer does.

I hear gurus tell professionals that no selling skills are required when it comes to using social media. They proclaim all you need to do is engage, connect, be helpful, serve, share and educate.

Then what?

Does money fall from the sky? Do checks magically show up in your mailbox? Does your phone ring with people saying, "I saw your Facebook post, I want to send you money and hire you without even talking to you."?

Sure it’s easy to connect with people on LinkedIn, post advertisements on Facebook, Tweet the “special of the day” or Instagram a photo of a new product; the hard part (and the part people resist the most) is updating their sales approach and process to successfully convert browsers to buyers and prospects into paying clients.

Don’t believe that increasing your presence in social media is enough to close a sale.

Don’t think that casting a wide social media net will be the magic bullet to grow a business and increase revenue.

Social media is just one part of a comprehensive sales strategy. These platforms will enhance a great sales strategy, but if your approach is stale and ineffective, it will be dollars and time wasted.

Sales skills are required if you wish to increase profits. People skills are necessary if you want to inspire someone to do business with you. Communication skills are necessary if you want to stand out.

You can no longer sell the “old” way to today’s “new” internet empowered consumer. It’s time to move beyond the outdated and tired sales techniques and successfully adopt a social selling solution that increases customer retention, referrals, and revenues.

All the social media in the world will not yield bottom-​line results if you lack the skills that generate sales. Great social media sales skills turn website visitors into paying customers. When the critical skill of selling is left out of the social media equation, businesses fail miserably.