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Go Ahead, Google Me

Kurt J. Bilafer - January 27, 2017 - Sales, Social Media

I was talking to a colleague the other day, telling him everything I’ve been up to on social media. He was looking at me a little funny. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t believe me or just thought I was nuts, so I said, “Go ahead, Google me.”

He laughed, but I was serious. I’ve made it my business to make it easy for people to find me and learn about me.

You can find about 10 pages of pretty high-quality results, including my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter feed, dozens of blog posts I’ve written, videos and podcasts I’ve participated in, interviews I’ve given and some of my presentation decks that I’ve posted to SlideShare.

The Intangible Benefits of Social Media

Kurt J. Bilafer - April 17, 2014 - Social Media

Toward the end of last year, I was named to Analytics Week’s list of the Top 200 thought leaders in big data and analytics.

Let’s put it in perspective–compared to the Justins (Bieber and Timberlake, with 50M followers each) or Bill Gates with over 15M followers, I’m a guppy on social channels. In fact at SAP, I barely make it to the Top 50 most followed employees. Still, it felt good to be recognized because I’ve invested a lot of time and effort in being an active contributor in social media over the last several years.

From terror to top of the heap: My Twitter journey

Kurt J. Bilafer - March 20, 2014 - Social Media

Over the past three years, Twitter has become an indispensible selling tool for me. So, when I recently took on a new global sales role, I looked around to see what my new team was up to on Twitter. Not much. In fact, when we did a quick inventory of everyone’s Twitter presence, I landed at the top of the heap.

That surprised me. I only have about 2,900 followers, which seems like a small following to me relative to some of the people I admire and follow on Twitter. But, that’s enough of a following to make an impact on my effectiveness as a salesperson. And, it’s apparently enough to intimidate anyone who’s just starting out.

The 3 Biggest Obstacles to Being Social, and How to Overcome Them

Kurt J. Bilafer - March 18, 2014 - Social Media

I’m a big believer in using social media for sales, and I’m always encouraging people to ramp up their social presence. I get a lot of push back, and it usually has to do with one or more of these: time, what to say, and skepticism. These are the three biggest hurdles people seem to struggle with. Here’s how to overcome them.

Save time with technology

Technology is your friend when it comes to doing social media efficiently. I’m constantly trying out new tools, and a few have really proven their value. I’m a big fan of Buffer, a scheduling tool that allows me to maintain a steady social presence even when I’m on a plane or in a different time zone.

The social sales imperative

Kurt J. Bilafer - March 4, 2014 - Sales, Social Media

Most of us in sales know that one of the keys to success in our profession is to always be selling. This doesn’t mean that we have to come across like the Wolf of Wall Street, constantly pitching the customer what they want to hear whether it’s true or not, but it does mean that we have to have an ongoing dialogue with our customers and prospects.

Social media makes this possible in ways we never imagined. What I find amazing is that so many salespeople still seem reluctant to leverage these new platforms and tools to help them stay relevant in the modern buying process.