The use of social media in sales

To find answers, we conducted a study drawing on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) Theory.

With data provided by 345 salespeople who use 13 social networking platforms, we aimed to investigate the potential of these technologies in terms of quality of sales communication, continuity of customer relationships and concrete support of customer satisfaction. We collected the data for our research via an online questionnaire, which we sent to 1,800 people who work in sales, asking respondents to report their sales performance from the previous year, the number of hours they work in a typical day, and the time (in minutes) they spent in the last few months working on various types of social media. What we find is that when social media is used in synergy with traditional sales tools, this actually helps boosts sales performance.

From the responses to the questionnaire, we discovered that on average, every interviewee divides up their work day as follows: spending 34.8% of their time on the phone, 30.1% meeting with customers, and 13.7% on social media. The remainder of their their time (21.4% of the total) is dedicated to activities involving no interpersonal communication. Most salespeople in our sample only use one or two platforms, and 69% prefer professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

The MOA Theory we applied to analyze answers is based on the premise that one action (in this case, the use of digital platforms for sales activities) is more likely to happen under three conditions: 1) if people have the right Motivation, in other words, if they truly perceive that social media will help grow their performance because these tools can actually enhance their relationships with current and future customers; a powerful motivation also comes from the fact that many competitors and colleagues are already using social media; 2) if the corporate context gives salespeople the Opportunity to utilize social media appropriately in their daily work, for example by encouraging them with proper training or technical support, and if the market context pushes them to use these technologies. 3) if salespeople have the Ability and knowledge they need, that is, if they choose the right communication tools and they know how to use them and integrate them correctly into their daily routine.

Motivation and ability are individual variables that in part can be influenced by exogenous elements that are to some extent determined by company management. The perceived usefulness of certain tools is one of the best motivations for utilizing them. So salespeople will do more to integrate social media into their work when, on the one hand, the more positive the attitude of the market and their company, and on the other, the more their peers make a habit of using these technologies for work too. The social influence of peers not only drives the motivation to use social networking tools, but also enhances leaning as far as how to use social media on the job. And as salespeople get better at using social media, they actually apply these tools more effectively, so greater ability fuels the motivation to leverage social media even more. Our study also demonstrates that by exploiting technology, salespeople can enhance the quality of their interactions with their customers, improve the service they offer and optimize their productivity.

Our study offers several takeaways for managers. First, our findings suggest that sales managers should periodically monitor the professional use of social media by customers and major competitors, and then share and discuss these observations with their sales staff, underscoring the importance of adopting digital platforms as sales tools, and urging their people to utilize them, especially in the B2B sector. Second, the use of social media can be encouraged not only through coaching and mentoring initiatives, but also by training sales managers on how to use these tools and offering incentives to do so (for instance, rewarding the manager of the sales team that made the most and best use of social media). What emerges once again is that specific training and support from the company’s IT team are decisive for improving the abilities of salespeople in the proper use of digital platforms. This means that managers should seriously consider investing in these activities, and they should pay special attention to older employees, who typically find new technologies more challenging.

In addition, companies should establish clear rules on the use of social media, while giving employees the autonomy they need to manage these tools effectively. Opening forums to share best practices is a possible way to make it easier to come up with winning policies to adopt and replicate. With regard to this aspect, companies should also identify and monitor the possible negative side effects from the use of social media for individuals and for the company. For instance, there’s a risk that employees will be more easily distracted from their jobs, or they won’t pay proper attention to privacy issues. Lastly, in light of the fact that young people find social media so easy to use, and with markets evolving so rapidly, managers should get ahead of the curve by putting more emphasis on a working knowledge of new technologies in job descriptions for new hires.

One final consideration ties into the acceleration of the digital transformation that companies – and sales departments – have experienced due to Covid-19. Beyond a doubt, it has become more critical and urgent to figure out how to encourage the use of social media by employees to maximize performance.