Social media should mean you can go to your next customer meeting more prepared than ever before.
Being better prepared will nearly always translate into better sales.
Here’s my checklist of 3 social media actions you ‘must do’ before you walk into a customer meeting:
1. Find their profile on LinkedIn
Most people have a LinkedIn profile these days and are remarkably open about what they share. Get a clear idea of who you are meeting, exactly what business area they are in and what their responsibility is.
2. Read their last 3 updates
On LinkedIn next to the person’s connect button there is a small down arrow – click this to view their recent activity. You’ll see what they’ve publiclly posted and commented on. Now you know what’s hot on their mind.
3. Follow them on Twitter
If they’ve got a Twitter account then follow them. If they’ve only got a few hundred followers it’s likely they still get a thrill each time someone follows them – that’ll let them know you are interested in them. At worst it’ll remind them they are meeting with you soon.
This shouldn’t take more than a minute or two to do but it means you go into a meeting knowing what your customer looks like and what they care about.