Hearsay Social unveils new social selling platform

Sales professionals need social media tools just as much as marketers do

There’s no shortage of social marketing solutions for the enterprise and the SMB alike. In fact, a year or two ago it felt like we were in the midst of a social marketing baby boom of sorts. Everyone had a way for you to easily and quickly connect with your customers/users through social media. Hearsay Social has been pretty unique on that front for its method of turning employees into brand ambassadors. Now the company is pushing out a new solution for sales professionals.

Hearsay’s new social selling platform is designed for sales professionals who need an easier way to stay connected with customers throughout the customer life cycle, but who can’t necessarily use social marketing solutions. The software uses natural language processing to alert a sales professional to a new event—like a customer’s wedding or upcoming move—so that the sales professional can comment on the activity or send a message. The new platform allows those in sales to listen in on their customers’ conversations across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Social media is vitally important to sales professionals, as more than 80% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on information gathered from friends and family, while only 36% make decisions based on information from salespeople. But salespeople don’t use the same social channels that marketers do. And salespeople rely on more personal, customizable content than corporate marketers typically employ.

“The future of selling is social,” said Hearsay Social founder and CEO Clara Shih, in a statement. “There is an enormous opportunity for sales leaders to help reps sell in the new way that customers want to buy,  drive sales productivity through the roof, and help organizations stay relevant and competitive in the social era. Hearsay Social is excited to offer the only platform focused on social sales success for the enterprise.”

In addition to the new social selling platform, Hearsay also announced the launch of the Hearsay Social Brand Solution.

“The Brand Solution makes it possible for teams of marketers to collaborate on high-volume social media marketing activities across networks, including content generation and approval, publishing, robust analytics and compliance,” said Hearsay Social CTO Steve Garrity, in an email.

With over 55,000 users, Hearsay Social has experienced customer growth of more than 400%. Among the platform’s users are large, national corporations like 24 Hour Fitness, Farmers’ Insurance, Northwestern Mutual, and more.