We’re consuming all this content that talks about how SaaS companies’ genuine social selling is the future of selling, and how nobody ever has to do any cold calls anymore. Because we know we should find time in busy schedules – in-between making and keeping stakeholders happy – to educate ourselves and redefine our sales process to better help our contacts solve their challenges.

You continue to wonder how the exciting theory consultants talk about in articles is put into practice, and don’t really get to crack the nut. It’s like this giant jigsaw puzzle and as a result you feel like you’re missing some of the pieces.

Quickly, educating yourself becomes like an endless walk through a desert of dried-up wells, fata morganas, thirsty for those few – those very few – true gems of insight and learning.

Learning about social selling and sorting through the 10s of 1000s of articles out there in a constant search for the next tweak. If you’re a Sales Professional with an aim to continuously deliver value to your clients, and to the organizations you’re working for in whichever capacity, this search never stops.

But then, of course, something wonderful happens. As in my case. Several colleagues recently introduced me to Jeff Koll. We’ve frequented the same professional circles for years without getting acquainted. Jeff is a sales professional, always in search of excellence. Our first conversation quickly became a very healthy exchange of experience with various facets of sales. What typically happens is that such conversations lead to exchanges and possibly an referral of sorts. Sometimes business happens, most times not a whole lot comes out of the interaction.

A few weeks after the first meeting with Jeff something unexpected happened. Something that I haven’t experienced in a long time – not in this way anyway.

Going through the postal mail, I found a little letter from the US. Having studied the colorful stamp for a moment, I opened the letter and in it found a thank you note from Jeff. Nothing grand – just a simple thank you for my time and noting how great it was we connected. I don’t know about you, but I don’t reecive notes thanking me for this, that, and the other all the time. This letter created a connection. This unexpected gesture, came across as sincere, and it clearly had taken a genuine effort. That created a connection.

To me, this is what social selling is all about. It’s not about how to easily place your content on social media; it’s not about how to get a large twitter following by following-unfollowing-following and it’s not about tricking people.

Social selling is about investing in relationships. It’s about real connections between human beings, helping each other out!

Carried out with the right effort, intention, and care, social selling will elevate your relationships in ways you couldn’t possibly have dreamt. It will create and strengthen relationships, and, yes, it will foster sales too. Need more social selling pointers? Check out this post about things to consider.