You heard me!

Don’t give me that “you talkin to me” look either. Can’t hear me, let me say it louder

SALES 2.0 IS VIRTUALLY USELESS that is . . .

Until you move it to Real Time!

This is perhaps one of the biggest disconnects I see with many of us Sales 2.0 enthusiasts. We have all these contacts, all these followers and some have even reached the God like level of “Internet Famous” and then leave it to forever linger in the virtual world! And it hurts the wallet big time. Think I’m kidding, then you just go right ahead and try to pay your mortgage with your 20,000 followers. It’s “virtually” impossible!

You need to transition the virtual to real time. And for God’s sake, do it in a manner that doesn’t resemble a bad pick up line. Anyone else ever fall prey to the old “I accepted your friend request now let me try and sell you my wares” vibe?

Here are two quick things you can do immediately.

1)    Challenge yourself each week (before the week starts) to find 3-5 people from your virtual network that you will get to know. The rule is that you must do it in real time. None of this “safe” email, or IM crap either. Real time as in (get this) a phone conversation, a cup of coffee, lunch, inviting them to a tweet up or networking event.

Note: Rule #2 : It aint about you . . . it’s about them! Resist your urge to name drop and engage in foolish “Oneuppery” Ask questions, show genuine interest. And just for the heck of it, dust off that copy of How To Win Friends And Influence People. I have a feeling we need it more today than when the book was first written. Me thinks those human relations muscles have gotten weaker these days due to our virtual obsession.

2)    Find 5-6 people and host a conference call discussion with them. You can pick a topic. Can’t think of one? Go to Linkedin, visit the groups and rip off a topic (I won’t tell) Or simply make it a “getting to know you” call. The brilliant part of this simple (perhaps painfully simple) strategy, is that YOU are at the center of it. YOU are the facilitator, YOU are the matchmaker. Way to position yourself girlfriend!

Sales 2.0 is virtually useless if you are a Virtual Ass!

You know, you don’t return emails, you don’t follow back, your tweets are all about this pompous dude called “me”, you openly criticize and attack in the Linkedin groups and you do things that position your brand as one of shallowness . . . then through the miracle of modern technology you have gotten that message out to more people, faster! Technology is cool like that!

I do believe there is a portion of our Sales 2.0 toolkit that experts call “Social” Networking. Now for that to work, you should probably be, well, social. That means . . .

You find ways to interact. Doing so, makes you real. It’s the first step on the way to trust. Sales simply won’t happen without it!

Ways to interact:

Status Updates: I really believe that we all have a story and want to be heard. Hunt those opportunities gang. When you find them, acknowledge the other person. Validation in a world moving at the speed of light is no commodity. Don’t ever forget that!

You can also use your status updates to inspire interaction. You can use a thought provoking question, cool quote (not the typical ones), etc.

Give An “AMEN” publicly! When someone says something you like, whether it be in a group discussion, in a blog, twitter . . . let them know it. Sounds like those crazy step sisters “Acknowledgement” and “Validation” popping in for a visit again.

Give an “AMEN” offline too.

Be gracious and say “Thank You” on and offline. Such a basic thing that’ lacking these days. Let’s all get over ourselves and remember our manners.  Come join me in a chorus of Barney’s Please and Thank You song.

Respond to people when they reach out to you. You know, I used to get really annoyed when someone couldn’t take a minute to respond, then my blog exploded, my Linkedin group went nuts with new members etc . . . then I realized how difficult it is to keep up. Now I look at it as an opportunity to shine in a world that is starting to find it acceptable to embrace “the blow off”. When I see studs like Bob Burg (The Go Giver) Chris Brogan, Hank Trisler, Kelley Robertson etc interacting and responding timely . . . well then, lesson learned, I need to get my act together.

How about you?

Here’s something cool that will blow your mind. To add impact, I will once again take on the form of an ancient, balding Zen dude:

The key to your rock stardom, rests in your ability to maketh the other dude look like a rock star

You’re welcome!

So, here’s the deal folks, if you are embracing Sales 2.0 because it’s a “shiny new object” and you don’t interact, you make it all about “me” and you keep it all Virtual . . .

You virtually have no chance of real time success!

Today, we are cordially invited to make all this stuff “real”

I better let you go, I believe you have some people you need to invite to connect live with you next week.

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