How your company sales team should "not" embrace social media ?

My trip to Bangalore a few weeks back was actually very eventful. It would not have been so , had I not met some wonderful people in social media there. I wanted to talk about the one I had with Lakshmi Sharath. Till then, I have known Lakshmi , more from the angle of a travel consultant who happens to get a chance to visit some awesome places and envy us by her travel updates on twitter. :)

But when I met her , I was surprised to know her deep background in the Media (TV & Radio to be more specific). Of all that we discussed , the major topics were Travel 2.0 &  Social Media Industry in general. Thanks to her. But the most interesting point of discussion was her perspective on social media with a focus on content & media. I wanted to discuss one key takeaway during that discussion.




We realized that both of us have had an equal share of bad experiences with a few clients. Most of them have been because of a lack of understanding of social media clearly from the client's side. One thing which the clients never seem to get is

"You cannot think and expect that Social Media is going to do all your sales on your behalf. Period"

It is very important for companies to figure out and see how their traditional marketing route functions before they even think about social media. If they expect they could sell only on social media , thats sure fire way to fail at it. Social Media complements and enhances your already existing sales but it never sells your product on your behalf.This is a classic case with small and medium enterprises. I am pretty sure they successful SME's would have discovered where they sell best. But you also have to see what kind of value social media adds to your sales. One reason could be that an SME might not have money to have a dedicated work force on sales but this does not mean that they get into social media just because it is at no cost or low cost.

Yes, sales is possible but what also should be understood is it takes time to build your community, engage them and earn loyalty. The loyalty earned may turn into ROI or sales.

Much to my disdain, one thing which also adds fire to this whole topic is the way most of the social media folks pitch for their clients. If they (Social Media marketers) have included some global successful case studies , then it is a big "NO". I think it is time they stop luring their clients with a case study from the US which would be of very little relevance to an Indian company. I think it is time ,our folks start using some relevant Indian case study depending on who the client is. That would save the social media industry some credibility.

Which side of the coin do you represent?  Are you the social media guy or the sales guy at the receiving end? Would love to hear experiences in the comments from both sides of the coin. :)