“Twitter is great if you’re a rock band or a cupcake shop, but isn’t it kind of a waste of time for “real” businesspeople?”
This was not the first of our clients to express something like this. Most of our clients sell to businesspeople, not teenagers. They sell airplanes, parts, consulting services – expensive things that aren’t bought on a whim based on a 140 character “tweet.”
Or are they?
Gary Vaynerchuk’s book The Thank You Economy includes a reference to the sale of a $250k phone system based on a relationship that started with a response to a tweet by Avaya’s global managing director of Services and Social Marketing Paul Dunay.
On average, Avaya interacts with a couple of dozen customers through social media on a weekly basis. By listening, the team also comes across sales opportunities. In June of this year, 58 characters of a simple Tweet started the relationship with a potential customer.
“shoretel or avaya? Time for a new phone system very soon,” the Tweet read.
“In less than maybe 15 minutes, we had seen it and figured out what the heck to say to this guy,” Dunay said. “I wrote back, ‘We have some highly trained techs who can help you understand your needs best and help you make an objective decision. Give me a call.’”
Dunay referred the gentleman to a business partner, and 13 days later, they closed a $250,000 sale. At the same time, the new customer’s follow-up Tweet went out: “…we have selected AVAYA as our new phone system. Excited by the technology and benefits…”
“We were there. We were listening. It pays to listen,” Dunay said. “I can’t say we hit 100% of the conversations where we’ve wanted to be, although it’s probably 60–70%. But on our brand name, it is 117%. We’re on every one of those.”
When it comes down to it, Twitter is just another communication device. Does having a phone ensure you’ll make sales? Not at all. But most companies would find it difficult to close deals without one. Having a Twitter account does not ensure that you will make sales either. It all depends on how you use it.
But one thing we can assure you – you will make no sales on Twitter if you don’t have a Twitter account, or if you don’t use it well.
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