What I Learned About Social Sales From Pokémon Go

4 minute read

Social selling and Pokemon Go.

How many of your employees are already on social?

Pokémon Go is all the rage these days. It was almost a matter of time before I saw the parallels between the game and social sales.

 

What do social sales and Pokémon Go have in common?

With stats claiming the augmented reality smartphone game attracts more daily users than Twitter, it has finally broken through what were once niche circles and is now considered mainstream. Just like social sales, otherwise known as ‘social selling.’

I hear all the time in the market that social selling is just a buzzword. Sales professionals and sales managers often don’t believe it will last more than a few years. They couldn’t be more wrong! Social sellers, like Pokémon Go, are here for good.

Take a look at business consumer trends. Take a look at what top performers are doing. The world has changed. The way people communicate has become so digitalized there is no way I can imagine the world ever going back.

A few months ago, I had no idea what Pokémon was. I was born in 1978! Around the end of July I started seeing kids gathering in my neighborhood, on the streets, glued to their phones trying to “catch Pokémon.” They were completely obsessed with it.

Tonight, I want you to sit and observe your kids and people in the neighborhood who are using their phones. You’ll notice they’re on them all day long, at every moment of every day. They’re texting, they’re on social media and now they’re playing Pokémon. This is the future.

 

Social sales is not a fad, it’s the new way to sell

Most senior leaders are most likely in their 40s, 50s or 60s and have children who are in their late-teens or in their 20s.

But I want you to think about the logic of digital and social communication. Ask yourself: is this something that is going to continue? Or is this something that is a fad?

If you’re still not convinced, let me tell you something: you’re acting like a luddite. You sound like my grandmother when my mom tried to get her on email. Stop acting like a dinosaur! The world has changed.

You might say to yourself, That’s fine. I don’t need to change, because I’m only going to be in my senior leadership role for a few more years. My industry won’t progress fast enough, and by the time I leave, somebody else will have to worry about this, this digital transformation.

However, if you have any intention of staying in or progressing in your senior leadership role in sales or marketing, you NEED TO think differently. If you don’t, you risk being left farther and farther behind.

And if you think this is just a Silicon Valley thing, it’s not. I can tell you from personal experience that I’m watching digital transformation (which social sales is a part of) happen in every industry: the manufacturing space, the financial services space, the healthcare space.

I’m watching it happen across every continent: in Southeast Asia, in Eastern Europe, In Latin America. Everywhere around the world, every industry, and all you need to do is watch people playing Pokémon to understand it.

 

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