Social Media When Searching for New Customers

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Bachelor Thesis

Social Media When Searching for

New Customers

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Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to identify and describe how B2B salespeople utilize social media when prospecting for new customers based on a sequential sales process.

Design/methodology/approach - The study employs an interpretive approach as it attempts to convey a phenomenon through the eyes of the participants. The data is derived from six participants collected through semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis aids to decipher patterns in the data and display these descriptive and narratively.

Findings - The study identified four themes of social media use when prospecting for new customers. Further, the study suggests that salespeople are using social media to identify and qualify the prospects and their competencies in a networking manner and consequently follow the key targets of interest in order to initiate possibilities for offering customized solutions or adapt their approach accordingly.

Research limitations/implications - The findings describes prospecting on social media through identified themes and points to new techniques to obtain information regarding prospects. This study opens up for future research in order to strengthen the newly discovered themes and its underlying forces.

Managerial implications - The study reveals that prospecting techniques on social media are exercised and fueled by a salesperson's own intuition. This should be considered by the management as the employees’ intuition may depart from a company’s core strategy and values.

Originality/value - No studies has examined how prospecting is carried out in practice on social media. The empirical findings in this study provide a new suggestion of how social media is used by salespeople and accordingly contributes to current sales literature by adding four descriptive themes of prospecting on social media.

Keywords B2B, Prospecting, Personal selling, Social media, Identifying, Qualifying, Due

diligence newsfeed, Digital footprints

Paper type_{Bachelor thesis}

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Acknowledgments

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will find new and exciting insights into a relatively unexplored world of social media prospecting. Again, thanks to all who have made this dissertation possible. We hope you find our paper interesting. Best regards.

Gothenburg, 28 May 2020

____________________________ ____________________________

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List of Tables

Table 1._{Techniques when prospecting} 10

Table 2._{From theory to interview questions} 20

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1. Introduction

1.1 The sequential sales process

The Seven Steps of Selling is one of the most widely accepted selling processes in academic research. The model originates from the 1920s and has served as a backbone to be developed by several researchers, yet holding its characteristics of being sequential. The paradigms of selling normally include; (1) a search for customer phase, (2) a presentation phase, (3) a closure phase, followed by (4) maintenance of the customer (Futrell, 2002; Manning & Reece, 2001; Weitz, Castleberry & Tanner, 2001; Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). In other words, the structure of the selling process has remained relatively intact for the last four decades.

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While online technology has provided new opportunities for selling companies, studies have shown an increase of diligence within the buying companies (Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019). B2B products or services are normally purchased by professionals who are considered to utilize a more thorough evaluation process compared to Business-to-Consumer (B2C) environments. There are normally more complex purchasing criterias that derive from higher purchasing risks, therefore, the need for a knowledge-based decision is necessary (Jussila, Kärkkäinen & Aramo-Immonen, 2014). Buyers today have a completely different opportunity to obtain the information they need online and can thus provide a higher knowledge to their company on their own and compare alternative suppliers (Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019). Due to new customer behaviors, the seller has been forced to change its sales strategy to a more knowledge-focused approach in order to compete on the market. The seller is no longer solely expected to offer a product or service (Leeflang et al., 2014; Salo, 2017) but to act as a source of knowledge including an understanding of their customer's needs on a more profound level than before (Minsky & Quesenberry, 2016). The changing environment should, however, be recognized as an opportunity for the individual salesperson as well as its selling organization. The use of social media in sales is found to be positively related to customer knowledge, sales behaviors, and sales performance (Itani, Agnihotri & Dingus, 2017; Rodriguez, Ajjan & Peterson, 2016; Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019).

Today, researchers have seen a change in the salesperson’s toolbox by applying certain instruments that are traditionally considered a marketer’s tool. These 'tools' involve social media that allow the salesperson to entice and interact with potential customers (Minsky & Quesenberry, 2016; Ancillai et al., 2019). A general understanding is that B2B sellers and marketers now have overlapping functions and that sales representatives are a branch of the broader digital marketing domain but performed by the individual seller (Leeflang et al., 2014; Salo, 2017). This is clarified by a recent definition of the modern salesperson who utilizes social media in its selling process: _{"a selling approach, which leverages social and digital channels for}

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relevant customer purchasing journey touchpoints for building valuable business relationships"

(Ancillai et al., 2019 p.297).

As the new online environment has changed the traditional activities performed by a salesperson, Moore, Hopkins and Raymond (2013) as well as Andersson and Wikström (2017) have shown that certain steps in the sales processes are more often conducted online e.g., seeking for information, relationship building, and sales support. Other research has also implied an overall shift from analog interactions to digital interactions between sellers and buyers (Itani, Agnihotri & Dingus, 2017; Rodriguez, Ajjan & Peterson, 2016). In summary, recent studies indicate that traditional sales are declining, while digital-based sales are increasing in B2B environments (Moore, Hopkins & Raymond, 2013; Moore, Raymond & Hopkins, 2015; Schuldt & Totten, 2015; Itani, Agnihotri & Dingus, 2017; Rodriguez, Ajjan & Peterson, 2016, Ancillai et al., 2019).

More current research has therefore challenged the traditional view of the sequential selling process by implying an increasing presence of social media use in industrial business environments. Social media blurs the line between the different phases i.e., between lead generation and prospecting. Salespeople are today utilizing social media in several steps of the sales process to perform tasks including searching for, qualifying and maintaining customers (Moncrief, Marshall & Rudd, 2015; Itani, Agnihotri & Dingus, 2017; Rodriguez, Ajjan & Peterson, 2016, Ancillai et al., 2019).

1.2 Entering the 21st century

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media, the professional utilization of online platforms has significantly increased since. This phenomenon is explained as a direct consequence of the increasing private social activities on the internet (Keinänen & Kuivalainen, 2015). Along with the increasing use of social media within business contexts, companies also started realizing other benefits. Research in the industrial use of social media has provided new benefits such as content marketing tools (Wang et al., 2019), online identity building (Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019) and virtual relationship building (Marshall et al., 2012; Agnihotri et al., 2016). While early studies suggest that selling companies can benefit by applying marketing functions through social media (Rodiguez, Peterson & Krishnan, 2012; Michaelidou, Siamagka & Christodoulides, 2011; Rapp et al., 2013), researchers indicate the absence of studies within the field of social media use from the perspective of a salesperson and have continuously called for further research on this topic (Michaelidou, Siamagka & Christodoulides, 2011; Moncrief, 2017; Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019).

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whether digital environmental changes have made the prospecting phase to depart from the traditional theories of prospecting. Studies of prospecting are becoming old (e.g., Jolson & Wotruba, 1992; Jaramillo & Marshall, 2004) and in some parts outdated as some was conducted before the introduction of social media. Since social media enables easier cross-border interaction, the authors have chosen to investigate sellers that operate in the international market.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe how B2B salespeople utilize social media when prospecting for new customers based on a sequential sales process.

1.4 Outline of thesis

As discussed above, the phenomenon prospecting has been covered in the literature for centuries. However the current literature can only account for that prospecting on social media occurs, not how it is being performed through these platforms. Therefore, the literature included in _{section 2}

was added to get a basic understanding of the phenomenon prospecting and also the sequential sales process in which prospecting is a part of. In _{section 3 the authors introduce the abductive}

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2. Theoretical framework

2.1 Seven steps of selling

Two world views of B2B selling is prominent in current literature. For example, Håkansson (1982) suggests that B2B selling is not done in a vacuum, but is a dynamic dyad between a buyer and a seller which, in turn, is influenced by environmental forces. However, the majority of B2B sales literature is mainly based on a linear model of selling where the seller proceeds through different stages (Dubinsky, 1981; Åge, 2011; Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). The most accepted model is the 'seven steps of selling' consisting of the following sequential stages: (1) Prospecting; (2) Pre-approach; (3) Approach; (4) Presentation; (5) Overcoming objections; (6) Close; and (7) Follow-up (Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). These 'seven steps' originates from the 1920s and have continuously been revised as the selling and buying behaviours have changed. For example, Shapiro and Posner (1976) focused on nurturing the relationship by adding an eight step; ‘nurturing the account relationship’. Moncrief and Marshall (2005 p.16) suggested that “_sales

organizations and salespeople have moved beyond mere applications of sequential traditional selling steps to a process that is largely nonsequential”. Others have included perceptual

determinants along the sales process such as trust and building long-term relationships (e.g., Ingram et al., 2007; Persson, 1999) with an emphasis that the given steps are not sequential as suggested by traditional views (Ingram et al., 2007).

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2.2 Prospecting

Prospecting is one of the most vital selling steps in industrial sales (Jolson & Wotruba, 1992; Richmond, 2010). According to Richmond, the prospecting phase is the fundamental step for sales professionals when offering complex products or services in B2B contexts (Richmond, 2010). Essentially, prospecting is when a salesperson or company identifies and qualifies a potential customer (Dubinsky, 1981; Hite & Belizzi, 1985; Jolson & Wotruba, 1992; Jaramillo & Marshall, 2004; Richmond, 2010).

The prospecting step is frequently present in traditional selling approaches made by industrial sales organizations. In theory, the more complex a product or service is, the more necessary it is to seek the customer with sales activities (Dubinsky, 1981; Anyadighibe et al., 2014; Moncrief & Marshall, 2005; Weitz et al., 1998; Jamarillo & Marshall, 2004; Jobber, 2012). However, even if academics and practitioners have a common understanding of the phenomenon’s core meaning, there are some substantial disagreements in what elements it covers. One example is that it may or may not include the acquiring of leads. Jobber defines prospecting as " _{the searching for and}

calling upon customers who, hitherto, have not purchased from the company_{" (Jobber, 2012}

p.228). This definition includes the actual collection of leads while Jolson and Wotruba (1992) separate the first step of the selling process into suspects (leads) and prospects. Another attempt to describe the prospecting phase by Moncrief and Marshall (2005 p.15) includes an internal screening template in order to qualify the prospect: " _{Prospecting is the method by which} salespeople search for new customers and potential customers. [...] Prospecting usually includes a discussion of qualifying the prospect and thus developing some type of screening procedure _".

This study will use the collected theoretical understanding of prospecting and define prospecting as:

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2.2.1 Collection of leads

The collection of leads can be performed in a variety of ways. The most common method is to use different pull strategies by the selling organization to collect the lead's contact information. This is done through, for example, content marketing by utilizing the company's website or trade fairs (Richmond, 2010). Further, leads can likewise be obtained through reading news, be sensitive to rumors, and/or obtain information via word-of-mouth (Jolson & Wotruba, 1992). The idea is to collect as many relevant leads as possible to increase the possibilities of a higher potential customer output (Richmond, 2010). Darr describes how salespeople within the industrial sales market largely have a direct approach where salespeople reach out to unfamiliar companies to determine ‘on the spot’ whether they could be potential customers. In his study, he exemplifies how a salesperson walks directly into a company that is unknown to him but 'looks interesting' and asks at the reception if they use a certain component in their production. If the answer is 'yes' he asks for contact information to the purchasing manager. Another approach Darr emphasizes is that front sellers let visitors leave their business cards in a fishbowl during various trade shows. These business cards are later handled by inside sellers as leads where a quality process is initiated to determine its quality (Darr, 2006).

2.2.2 Identify the potential customer

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2.2.3 Qualifying the potential customer

Researchers stress the importance of qualifying the right lead that “ _{offer a high probability of} profitable sales_{” (p.10) by considering the prospect’s volume of business and financial resources} (Long, Tellefsen & Lichtenthal, 2007). Prospecting includes qualifying the potential customer. In order to qualify a potential buyer from a lead, the lead must pass three qualification criteria: (1) a need or want to buy; (2) an ability to buy; and (3) have the authority to buy (Hite & Belizzi, 1985; Dubinsky, 1981; Dwyer, Hill & Martin, 2000). This type of screening of potential prospects is portrayed by Jolson and Wotruba (1992) as suspects and prospects. The prior (suspects) explained as a high-quality customer, although based on the notion from the salesperson. The latter (prospects) having a confirmed high quality of potentially becoming a customer. A qualified prospect needs to:

1. Have a recognized need that will be fulfilled with the product or services the particular salesperson is offering.

2. Meet the requirements of buying power, both in terms of fundings and the authority to make the actual decision.

3. Be receptive to a salesperson’s attempt to establish a connection, further the salesperson needs to be available to continue the process.

2.2.4 Collecting information

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prospecting for new customers as well as gathering detailed background data about a particular prospect (Marshall et al., 2012).

Techniques Description

Personal observation General business intelligence from personal observations.

Cold canvassing Cold calling to various probable prospects.

Inquiries to advertising Reply to customers' queries derived from advertising.

Cultivate visible accounts Make use of influential and noticeable customers to influence buyers.

Examine records Use internal directories of different kinds to discover new opportunities.

Hold/attend trade shows Arrange or attend a trade show with possible prospects.

Phone/mail inquiries Answer the calls and the emails coming from probable prospects.

Referral approach Use current customers to name other probable prospects.

Introduction approach Get introduced by current prospects to new ones through phone, letter or in

person.

Community contact Use a personal network to find new possible prospects.

Non competing salespeople Seek leads from salespeople whom you do not compete against.

Bird dogs Inexperienced sales personnel puts down a prospecting groundwork for the more

experienced salespeople.

Contact organizations Find potential prospects through e.g., industry clubs or chambers of commerce.

Table 1:_{Techniques when prospecting. Adopted from Dubinsky (1981).}

2.3 Defining social media

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the literature to be the effect of digitalization and has altered the way companies execute their marketing activities online (e.g., Deeter-Schmelz and Kennedy, 2002; Foster, 2006; Järvinen et al., 2012; Michaelidou, Siamagka, & Christodoulides 2011). On that note, others mean that the rise of social media has transformed the traditional interactions between buyers and sellers (Panagopoulos & Avlonitis, 2010; Agnihotri et al., 2016). Retrospectively, this has led business researchers to cover social media topics for the last decade, although mostly focused on the B2C scene (e.g., Akar & Topçu, 2011; Iankova et al., 2019).

Discrepancies can be spotted among academics regarding ‘social media’ and ‘social media network sites’. The prior to be a platform in which the primary purpose is to share information while the latter to function as a platform for communication between users (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010; Schultz, Schwepker & Good, 2012). These two terms have later been converged by Kaplan and Heinlein (2010) whose definition is the most widespread and accepted among researchers (e.g., Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019; Nunan et al., 2018; Iankova et al., 2019). Kaplan and Heinlein crafted their definition of social media to act as an umbrella of communication and content creation online: _{“Social Media is a group of Internet-based} applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content” (Kaplan & Heinlein, 2010 p.61) As this is the most accepted definition that converges both the elements of sharing information and user communication, this research will hereinafter use the aforementioned definition of the term social media.

3.2.1 Downsides of social media

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devices (Marshall et al., 2012). Further, an increasing usage not only ventures employees' mental health in regards to burnouts but also addictive behaviours (Baccarella, Wagner, Kietzmann & McCarthy, 2018).

3. Methodology

The abductive and interpretive nature of the study with an aim to identify and describe, made the authors to identify themes based on patterns of associations and present these in a narrative manner, yet in a theoretical framework. In order to create this theoretical framework, relevant studies were used to create questions for the semi-structured interviews. In this way the questions are based on the latest theory and the answers will start there and take off as the questions are open and encourage long answers derived from the participants' professional life. While conducting interpretive research it is paramount to withhold the possibility of getting ‘surprised’ by the data (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2007). These ‘surprises’ helped to identify certain themes that, from the authors’ knowledge, have never been covered in literature and therefore act as this study's contribution.

3.1 Research design

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empirical data collection. The weakness of deductive reasoning is to strictly stick to one type of logic and deny hypotheses based on those theories; _{what is the adequate theory when there is a} gap? Furthermore, the flaws of inductive reasoning lie within the fact that no amount of empirical data can be sufficient to establish a theory-building (Bell, Bryman & Harley, 2018) With these arguments, the third alternative of an abductive reasoning will guide the course of actions of this study. It is alternating between the most suitable theory and empirical data back and forth with an objective to identify and describe themes that have not yet been covered in literature. Abductive reasoning is suitable when empirical phenomenons cannot be explained by theories, this is something referred to as puzzles. The puzzles can only be deciphered with the help of identifying the conditions related to the occurrence of the phenomenon, this will turn a surprising finding into matter of course (Mantere & Ketokivi, 2013).

3.2 Data collection

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This study examined salespeople who were already known by the authors to use social media in their sales process. However, the participants were expected to have different routines and approaches when performing each step of the sales process. As this study was focused on the prospecting phase of a sales process, the interviewers, therefore, guided the participants through the subject, avoiding to lock them into closed questions. As a result, the data collection type took form as semi-structured interviews where the interviewer had the possibility to let the participants develop their answers through follow-up questions (Bell, Bryman & Harley, 2018). The interviews were primarily held in person i.e., face-to-face. In cases where the personal meetings were not possible, interviews were held via video call or telephone. Fowler and Mangione (1990) highlight the risk of distorting the responses of the participants if the interviewer fails to record the exact same terms and wordings used by the participant. To facilitate proper data collection, the interviews were taped and then transcribed by the authors (Bell, Bryman & Harley, 2018). The data collection stopped after a thematic saturation had been reached.

3.2.1 Data analysis

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inspecting the data and identify words such as ‘because’ or ‘since’. These words indicate ‘casual connections’ cognitively among the participants (Ryan & Bernard, 2003).

Aforementioned discoveries guided the course of actions ought to be more inclined towards a qualitative, abductive and interpretive nature in order to uncover how social media was being utilized in the prospecting phase by B2B salespeople. Furthermore, the study was built on the basis of a theoretical framework that functioned as backbone in the analysis phase of the research. The themes were identified through the described thematic analysis.

3.3 Sampling

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3.4 Measure of research quality

The measure of research quality was evaluated through Le Compte and Goetz (1982) ideas regarding reliability and validity from a qualitative point of view. Additionally, the study took into consideration Lincoln and Guba (1985) methods regarding measures of quality. Finally the study also used Bryman and Bell’s (2013) method of ‘respondent validity’ to ensure that the authors acted in good faith.

3.4.1 External reliability

External reliability refers to how this study can be used by future researchers or more specifically how the same methods could be used to justify the results of this study (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). In general, qualitative research with interviews are hard to replicate. This study is by its nature impossible to replicate as it were social settings with qualitative interviews. The spoken language during the interviews was Swedish or English which also narrows these possibilities. On the other hand this study did not have a purpose of being replicated, although, it would be possible for future researchers within this field to use the description of prospecting on social media.

3.4.2 Internal reliability

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3.4.3 Internal validity

Internal validity is an indicator of quality of whether the conclusions are reasonable in relation to the collected data (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). The most influencing factor in regards to internal validity is the author's perception of the participants reality. The authors of this study have a background of several years within sales and have been studying sales and marketing for the past two years. Furthermore, the author who conducted the interview did not have any earlier relationship with the participants. This was a strategy deliberately made to avoid the interviewer to be affected by prior experiences with the participant.

3.4.4 External validity

External validity is described as to which extent this study can be stretched to a broader population. (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). As the aforementioned method of sampling explains, this study has applied a nonprobability sample method which resulted in this paper having a low external validity. The samples of participants will on the other hand have to meet aforementioned requirements which could potentially be beneficial for future research beyond the salespeople included in this study.

3.4.5 Credibility

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3.4.6 Dependability

The decisions regarding the course of actions of the research was partially guided by peer groups consisting of bachelor students and also tutoring sessions with a university teacher. Occasional tutoring sessions and seminars gave the authors input on potential enhancements. This ensured that independent audits were a part of the research period until the final paper.

3.5 Ethical considerations

Diener and Crandall (1978) stress the importance of taking precautions regarding ethical considerations while conducting research. They highlight four different areas to consider in the study but most importantly when collecting empirical data. This study will address all four areas, more specifically; harm to participants; lack of informed consent; invasion of privacy; and deception.

Harm to participants - According to Diener and Crandall (1978) when conducting a study, there is a risk of harming the participants. This study could have inflicted psychological harm such as stress or fear of risking future employment. Preventive actions were taken in this matter and more specifically reflected in the formulation of questions and presentation of the authors’ intentions.

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Invasion of privacy - Bryman and Bell (2013) describes that the invasion of privacy is connected to the lack of informed consent as it is connected to how well the participant is informed regarding what type of privacy he or she has while contributing to the study. In this study, every participant was fully anonymous and the collected data was used to identify and interpret the participants perception of the phenomenon prospecting on social media. The authors also informed the participants that they will not publish any company name. The participants' names were also kept fully anonymous and presented as fictional names. During the interviews the authors made it clear that answering the questions was fully optional. All these precautions were necessary to keep both the participant and their respective company protected.

Deception - The authors of this paper did not deceive the participants in any way. More specifically, the authors explained in detail the background of the study sincerely. This was also solidified with the aforementioned measure of quality respondent validity. A summary of the report was sent to the participant before submitting the paper to ensure the authors had been acting in good faith.

3.6 Interview questions

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relation to the purpose of this paper which serves to describe how salespeople utilize social media when prospecting.

Q Topics Author(s) Interview Questions

Q1 Social media use by salespeople

Schultz, Schwepker and Good (2012) What social media are you using in your profession?

Q1.1 Industrial use of social media Wang et al. (2019) What is your main goal and aim when using social media?

Q1.2 Social media use in the selling process

Ancillai et al. (2019) When is social media used in your selling process?

Q1.3 Selling steps Marshall et al. (2012) Do you perceive social media to be more prominent in a particular step of the selling process?

Q2 Prospecting Dubinsky (1981)

Jolson and Wotruba (1992)

How would you describe the prospecting phase?

Q2.1 Outsourcing of the prospecting phase

Moncrief and Marshall (2005) Who is prospecting for your customers?

Q3 Customers need to buy Hite and Bellizzi (1985) Dubinsky (1981)

Dwyer, Hill and Martin (2000)

How do you recognize a customer’s need that can be fulfilled by your offerings?

Q3.1 Customers ability to buy How do you check if the potential customer has the ability to buy your product or service, both in terms of fundings and the authority to make a decision? Q3.2 Maintaining contact with a

prospect

Jolson and Wotruba (1992) How do you maintain a connection with a potential customer?

Q3.3 Salespersons availability for potential customers

Jolson and Wotruba (1992) How are you available for the potential customer during the sales process?

Table 2: From theory to interview questions

3.7 Limitations

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2014). However if the findings of this paper are to be proven, future studies need to be conducted with the generated hypotheses. The interview questions were based on earlier studies within prospecting which could have altered the preconceptions and outcomes of the interviews.

The authors stress that the contemporary landscape of Covid-19 might affect the result of this study. The arguments for this is the fact that all the participants in this study explained that they are currently working from home and not attending any client meetings in person or traveling to other countries to visit them locally. This could presumably affect the participants view on social media prospecting and its role in their current professional situation as it might be more convenient and/or the only tool in this ongoing pandemic.

3.8 Division of labor

The authors of this paper have been physically working together throughout the whole thesis period. By living in the same city they had the privilege to meet in person, both while writing this paper, but also while conducting the interviews. The ambition has always been to divide the labor equally. There is not a section in the paper that solely has been written by one of the authors. The thesis methodological approach has dictated some minor differences in the workload. For example one of the authors contacted and arranged the interviews to avoid interference caused by earlier relationships with the participant, the other conducted the interviews. An attempt to divide the work accordingly was made and the passive author took notes from the interviews. Altogether, the authors both agree that no irregularities have occurred in relation to the division of labor.

4. Prospecting on Social Media

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study are Twitter and Facebook. The data suggest a prominent use of social media during the first step of the sales process. Furthermore, the fundamental aim for utilizing social media was to identify and qualify potential customers.

Benny:_{I use LinkedIn for prospecting, marketing, and sales. [...] We use it mostly for}

prospecting and follow-ups [on customers].

Peter:_{[LinkedIn] [...] to see partly if new job ads are published from the company but}

also for prospecting purposes.

Anna:_{Well, it must be to network and maintain a connection I would say. [thinks] That's}

the biggest focus if it's not concerning, once again, prospecting.

Elias:_{My main goal is always to sell.}

Simon:_{*[Rephrased] To find specific key people based on keywords.}

*rephrased by the authors and confirmed by the participant

Arnold:_{[... ] To build a network for [my employer] to [thinks] fifty-one percent [my}

employer's] sake and forty-nine percent for my own sake.

The six participants (see table 3) derive from four different B2B industries and share the characteristics of working with international sales together with a sequential sales process. Additionally, they all use social media in their profession.

Benny works with management headhunting recruitment. Benny scouts social media,

attends events and uses its network to find suitable candidates that he introduces to his clients. Benny has four years of experience and has been working in this line of work since graduating business school. He uses social media with a focus on LinkedIn to find the candidates which are presented to the client. Benny explained LinkedIn to be the hub of business professionals and a very effective place to search for management candidates.

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makes it easier for him to find decision makers but also to keep track of when people shift employers.

Anna works in the media and commercial industry as a sales executive. The company she works for sells marketing solutions and functions as a vital component in their client’s marketing campaigns. Anna’s job tasks stretch from nurturing current clients to closing deals with new customers. Anna did not use social media to the same extent as the other participants yet realized the potential benefits. The main usage areas were liking, commenting and adding prospects to get the conversation started.

Elias is a sales manager for a market-leading IT company within its industry in the Nordic market. Elias has more than 13 years of experience and his duties include finding and selling to new customers. The participant primarily uses LinkedIn together with mail and telephone to communicate with his customers. Elias means that there is a difference between sellers and marketers where the marketing department is more focused on content creation.

Simon works as an international sales manager and more specifically has a responsibility of the DACH region. The company sells softwares within IT-security and has a worldwide customer base. The primary customers are large corporations and the sales cycle can be up to 18 months. Simon uses several social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Xing. He uses LinkedIn to identify key positions with certain titles and twitter to receive updates from prospects. Xing was described as the DACH regions counterpart to LinkedIn and the participant used this platform alternately, in the same manner as LinkedIn.

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exercises on social media are mainly to find the right people through titles and then being active by liking and commenting posts and sharing relevant content.

Partici-pant

Title B2B Industry Years in

B2B business Interview form Date (yy-mm-dd) Durat ion (min) Benny Management recruitment Staffing and recruiting 4 In person 20-04-20 60

Peter Account manager Staffing and recruiting 2 In person 20-04-20 50

Anna Sales Manager Advertising 6 In person 20-04-21 50

Elias Head of Sales IT 13 Telephone 20-04-23 55

Simon International sales manager IT 7 In person 20-04-23 57

Arnold International sales manager IT 6 Video call 20-05-05 55

Table 3: Participants

4.1 Enablers

This study showed that salespeople tend to seek potential buyers with the authority to make a decision or have the responsibility within a specific area when searching on social media. The aim is to either establish a connection with the top management as they are seen as decision-makers. Alternatively, top managers are expected to know which person is responsible in a specific area and can, therefore, guide the salesperson in the right direction. Another approach is to directly seek a worker at a potential buying company that owns the best knowledge in a specific area.

Elias: _{I always try to get in contact with the CEO when I'm processing a company. And} then it becomes that... either are they taking the decision on their own or direct me further to 'this’ person with 'this' title who takes care of 'these' things.

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Titles are often viewed as an important determinant when filtering their targets on social media. Relevant titles combined with additional keywords are likely used by salespeople to delimitate their search for prospects. The findings indicate that salespeople use LinkedIn (or Xing on the DACH market) to manually identify and qualify 'the right person' and in turn establishing a connection on that specific media. Accordingly, the enablers _{theme seeks to interpret and} describe the participants' process of identifying and qualifying their targeted prospects that meet the criterion of desired customers in regard to the ability to buy and take the purchase decision.

4.1.1 Titles

Social media generally allows business professionals to include merits and titles on their online profiles. The information is normally available for any person online, however, it can be delimited to only involve network members which excludes people without a social media account. The findings suggest three perceived benefits of using titles as an initial determinant of prospect qualification. First, Job titles may indicate what unit or field a worker is operating in. The title guides the salesperson while choosing an appropriate strategy when approaching a prospect.

Elias: _{It is interesting what kind of title they have, it tells a lot about the role. [...] we} process the different titles, the different roles in different ways, with different content. Whereas you have a CEO that might be more interested in profitable growth and want to see more ‘High-level’ or you have the user of the [solution] that may be more interested in how the [solution] makes their everyday life easier.

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Arnold: _{The titles are important, they tell a lot about what kind of responsibility that a} person has. [...] We have a very niche product, so for us, it is important to create a need and make an initial qualification, if they are not managing this part of their IT-infrastructure, our services have a small chance to make it.

Anna: _{One thing I can fetch from LinkedIn or Facebook or that kind of social media, is} what title the person has within the company. If I see that they are marketing managers or marketing coordinators, then I can take that issue with them.

Third, the title may give the salesperson an indication of the prospect's ability to make a decision.

Peter: _{Especially LinkedIn is good because it is possible to search for specific job titles...} you can search for [City], Title, Production Manager and then you get all the production managers in [City] [...] from there just see which company they work at... is it relevant? Is it not relevant?

Although titles are considered helpful during the prospecting phase, simple search results based on job titles are not considered sufficient enough to delimit the search range. As previously mentioned, the findings of this study indicates that salespeople use additional keywords related to their business to filter the prospects.

4.1.2 Manual qualification

The study implies that salespeople individually search for and qualify new potential customers. When a target is identified, salespeople tend to perform activities aimed to establish a communication bridge between seller and prospect through social media. Activities include sending friend requests or private messages to the prospect.

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The initial connection enables the salesperson to manually verify the quality of the prospect. Results indicate that salespeople need more information beyond what is publicly available about the prospect before moving into the next step of the sales process. Related to the aforementioned finding in 4.2.1 _{"[...] if they are not managing this part of their IT-infrastructure, our services} have a small chance to make it" (Arnold), _{salespeople tend to, in an early stage, confirm the} prospect's ability to buy.

Arnold: _{One needs to figure out if a customer has the budget, so I have to ask them} about it.

Elias: _{It may be that they [the prospects] seem very good 'on the paper' but for some} reason, they do not want to work with [our type of service], or that for some reason they have made a decision to 'this is something we do not want to invest in'. But it can also be the other way around... a company that does not seem too interesting on the paper... [not visible] that they have brought in a new investor or that they are planning to make a new investment. Which you only find out if you actually talk to them.

The findings address potential drawbacks if the initial qualification fails to recognize a prospect's inability to proceed with the sales process.

Benny: _{I must honestly say that it is quite difficult to know [without asking] if someone} has the purchasing power as well as the authority to sign agreements. We have spent many hours with useless leads and wasted our time on the wrong type of customer.

4.2 Nurture connection

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engaging in posts made by the prospect. This approach is suggested to make the prospect aware of the salesperson which in turn may increase the probabilities of future sales.

4.2.1 Footprint

The findings indicate that salespeople utilize shared content on social media to interact and generate fragments of presence. Salespeople may react to posts created or shared by the prospect. Although, the actions do not necessarily have to aim at a specific potential buyer. As the reaction is created openly, anyone with access to the specific content is therefore able to see it.

Anna: _{One of the few things I actually do via social media to maintain contact is to like} some of my clients' posts to constantly remind them that I exist. It is easier for them to recognize my name when we hear from each other next time.

Simon: _{When I'm using Sales Navigator I am not sure if they see that I have visited their} profile, and sometimes I want that. Sometimes I want them to know I've been there.

4.2.2 Wigwagging

The collected data suggested a separate method for nurturing a connection with potential customers. Spontaneous 'hellos' related to nonlinear occasions may be done by salespeople to keep the prospect aware of the seller. These were characterized by a given opportunity and directed to a specific potential buyer (i.e., private messages) on social media. The findings suggest two signals in which the salesperson may take action. One signal is derived from when a prospect is posting content on social media, the prospect's organizational changes, or special occasions connected to the prospect.

Peter: _{Depending on what social media the customer uses, that's where I try to be active} [...] I Congratulate them on their birthdays [...] I am not ashamed to say “Hi” whether it is a private or corporate profile.

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Simon: [Personal message] _{I ask ‘ah, are you updated on our latest release’ and if they} have read our latest documents and news.

4.3 Due diligence newsfeed

Social media users choose which employees or organizations they want to follow. This allows them to tailor their personal incoming feed of information shared by preferred sources of interest. This study implies that salespeople chose to follow their prospects with the intention to continuously receive valuable news about their prospect’s current situation. These include changes in their organizational settings, problems, and weaknesses.

Benny: _{When you have followed a company for a certain amount of time, you will get a} pretty clear picture of that company after a while. This is after you have done research on for example their projects. [...] We can see indications if the company is in the middle of an expansion phase by follow job ads on LinkedIn [...] or, the job ads can also indicate that the company is in need of something particular.

Simon: _{If I follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn, he will appear in my feed, ah, absolutely,} then I am updated if he tweets something 'damn, now I have to puzzle with that bad software I bought for three months ago', then I know 'aha', which makes me updated [about the prospect].

Peter: _{As an extra task I usually read the news and keep myself updated on LinkedIn. I} use LinkedIn to see when people change employers. In my industry [staffing and recruiting] it is very simple, the company has to publish their job ads themselves [...], I see a need when they publish a job ad.

Elias: LinkedIn has its sales navigator where you can choose to follow specific

companies that are of interest to us... our key customers, what they do, and what's going on there.

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4.3.1 Adaptive approach

The _{due diligence newsfeed may give valuable information to prepare the salesperson before} approaching the prospect with sales activities. The findings suggest that salespeople may choose their approach towards the prospect based on the information obtained from the _{due diligence}

newsfeed_.

Elias: _{You follow these targeted customers and key people and see changes, for example}

that the company hires a new executive chief, implements new investments or hires in a new CEO and that this becomes a trigger for me to begin processing the company more intensively. It is not that we adjust the actual offer or so, however we might choose to begin to work more intensively with a certain prospect.

Benny: _{It allows us to follow a firm we want to sell to. We can learn about the company} from the outside and find eventual pains in their ongoing projects that are good to know before any possible meetings with that firm.

Peter: _{It differs severely. It depends on what the company [the prospect] approach is. Is} it a more traditional company, then you approach them more traditionally. Then you have to adjust it [the approach] to the customer you are contacting.

4.4 Independent prospecting

The findings suggest a sales environment where the sellers may independently search for potential customers on social media. An independent search for potential customers seems important for salespeople since it is suggested to allow salespeople to obtain a deeper understanding of the potential customer.

Peter: Earlier, I had sales support, but they [the company] have withdrawn it. But I conduct the prospecting, then I have a person at the office who books the meetings.

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The findings points to that independent prospecting may increase the overall knowledge in regards to the industry. The keywords and search criterias the salesperson uses iterates overtime and becomes more specific and pinpointed towards the desirable prospect.

Simon: _{*[Rephrased] I do it myself, we have had help from interns or an office manager} that helps a little. However if you want to come into the industry and make a good imprint you have to do it [yourself]. In regards to prospecting in the industry, you must understand much more than I do. Maybe it will take me two years or so, thereafter I can perform really good prospecting.

*rephrased by the authors and confirmed by the participant

4.4.1 Available salespeople

Social media allows the salesperson to build personal relationships with their prospects. The study implied that social media makes salespeople more available. Private time and office hours are intertwined and the salesperson acts as a face for the company they are representing. The study indicates that connecting and the exchange of information occurs between a salesperson and the prospect which both may be available outside office hours.

Elias: Even if I am home right now on parental leave, I have had several conversations with potential customers and such, so I am always available... always available.

Arnold: I am a little bit impaired by my work, or whatever you say, as in like sitting and working in the evenings even if I don't get paid I sit on LinkedIn and searching for [to connect with], through the networks I have.

Following the occurrence of salespeoples’ availability, the data suggest that prospects are more accessible on social media in regards to other online communication tools.

Arnold:_{No one becomes angry if you send them an email, but there are people that}

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5. Old needs in a new socio-digital environment

Decades of research concerning the sequential sales process have concluded that prospecting is one of the most essential elements to succeed in sales (Richmond, 2010). In an increasingly changing business environment, technology has taken a significant part of the offline information exchange. Communicating, finding, and exchanging knowledge on the internet is now a natural part of the general business environment (Diba, Vella & Abratt, 2019). Since Dubinsky (1981), researchers have stressed that successful salespeople verify three levels of information with their potential customers before they proceed with the sales process. The three levels: Need or want to buy, Ability to buy, and Authority to make the decision (Hite & Belizzi, 1985; Dubinsky, 1981; Dwyer, Hill & Martin, 2000), have therefore influenced the authors' preconceptions in regards to prospecting. This study has been guided by the purpose of _{"how B2B salespeople utilize social}

media when prospecting for new customers based on a sequential sales process" _{. It was} noticeable in the findings that the techniques differed from the old prospecting techniques, still, the information being sought after seems to be the same. This study attempted to identify and describe this by breaking down prospecting activities on social media into four themes; _Enablers,

Nurture connection, due diligence newsfeed, _{and independent prospecting.}

5.1 Enablers

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company’s front desk and through the receptionist attempted to gain access to contact information. This is no longer necessary as the information is mostly available on social media. The identified subtheme _{titles illustrate a landscape more effective than before, the salesperson} can now bypass the receptionist or other gatekeepers and instead connect directly with the enabler. Further, once the salesperson had identified the prospect it was prominent that information regarding budgets and the ability to buy often required a manual qualification. The findings discovered that salespeople use several sources of information from social media in their qualifying process, therefore, this study supports evidence from previous observations (Marshall et al., 2012). The more complex offerings a seller has, _{titles become more important as} the job titles can describe in detail what competences the prospect has. It is no longer a matter of solely qualifying the customers need, ability and authority to purchase (Dubinsky, 1981) but also to qualify the stated competencies on the prospect’s profile. This adds to earlier research by (Richmond, 2010) who emphasize that prospecting is essential while selling complex products.

Enablers describes how salespeople seek specific employees and managers in a potential buying company. Social media allows the salesperson to filter prospects on relevant job titles to either seek employees with the authority to buy or have the influencing power on decision-makers. This aids the salesperson when qualifying their prospects by a manual qualification.

5.2 Nurture connection

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particular prospect. Further, the _{wigwagging approach is characterized by a given opportunity} and directed to a specific potential buyer. Instead of leaving traces that can be seen by any social media user, the findings unveiled that salespeople use social media to directly contact their prospects with friendly reminders and birthday gratulations. This finding is contrary to previous studies which have suggested that an initial qualification should include or exclude a prospect (Hite & Belizzi, 1985; Dubinsky, 1981; Dwyer, Hill & Martin, 2000). By nurturing connections on social media, a salesperson may instead build an even stronger foundation for future sales attempts on their prospects than ever before. _{Wigwagging actions are tied to the salesperson’s} own intuition and no clear strategy was visible in the data, it was simply interpreted as an attempt to signal benevolence to a potential buyer to build trust. This theme therefore adds to earlier theories as trust building activities are seen as vital in industrial sales (Hunter & Perreault, 2007; DelVecchio et al., 2004; Keillor et al., 2000).

Nurture connection is characterized by keeping a close presence to future potential customers. Salespeople use social media to interact with their prospects with an ambition to be recognized in the future. This is done by leaving digital footprints or performing wigwagging on social media where it can be spotted by the prospect.

5.3 Due diligence newsfeed

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newsfeed was to spot pains in the targeted prospect. With the identified pains a reasonable offer could be crafted towards that specific company. Richmond (2010) describes that with a given profile, sellers are able to spot problems (pains) that specific offerings can solve. So, if a seller has a prospect profile the _{due diligence newsfeed may assist in spotting the problems, given that} the seller has the ability to decipher pains within published content. Social media enables salespeople with a whole new opportunity to obtain information about their customers. This should be recognized as an advantage as researchers suggest that the modern buyer expects their sellers to offer knowledge that stretches beyond the actual product or service (Leeflang et al., 2014; Salo, 2017). _{Due diligence newsfeed can provide vital information about the buyer to help} the seller understand the customer on a deeper level. Therefore, the finding assists the salesperson to meet the increasing buyers’ demand on industrial suppliers (Minsky & Quesenberry's, 2016).

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Due diligence newsfeed describes the functions enabled by social media to allow the salesperson to create a personal inflow of customer information. Salespeople follow prospects on social media which yields a customized newsflow from designated prospects. This information is used by salespeople to prepare an adaptive approach towards a specific target.

5.4 Independent prospecting

The findings suggest that social media has revolutionized prospecting by providing tools for salespeople to individually perform prospecting activities. As a consequence of the current theory, the authors' had a preconception that prospecting and cold calling was usually outsourced to telemarketers (Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). However, this study surprisingly indicates that salespeople are doing the groundwork themselves. Arguably, it also shows that the information received from navigating on social media yields insights to the salespeople more effectively than traditional cold callings. As a consequence of the _{independent prospecting as well as constant} access to social media, the buyer's access to the seller and vice versa has increased, this in accordance with earlier observations of Kaplan and Haenlein (2010). The subtheme _available

salespeople put emphasis on personal interactions which is described by Neu and Brown (2005) to be an important component while selling complex products. Sellers today can access information about their customers outside their working hours. The opportunities may come with benefits such as faster response rates, rapid approaches, and a constant flow of updates from their prospects. However, constantly being online may need to be questioned from a work environment perspective.

Independent prospecting refers to how social media have enabled salespeople to

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6. Conclusion

In the world of industrial sales the flow of information is more vibrant than ever before, this new era requires salespeople to be sharp, innovative and find new ways to cope with their customers' demands. The phenomenon prospecting has throughout history of sales and marketing been characterized with identifying and qualifying potential customers regardless if performed offline or online. Technological breakthroughs have not changed these fundamentals of prospecting, they have countariwise been persistently retained. The emergence of social media has functioned as a catalyst for prospecting. It has brought new functions that assists salespeople to attain detailed and particular information concerning their prospects. This study contributes to the industrial sales literature as it sheds a new light on prospecting and how this phenomenon manifests on social media through the eyes of B2B salespeople.

This study set out to identify and describe how B2B salespeople utilize social media when prospecting for new customers based on a sequential sales process. In an attempt to realize the purpose, the authors of this study argue to have successfully identified and described four themes that define prospecting activities on social media; _{enablers, nurture connection, due diligence}

newsfeed, _{and independent prospecting. Even though the traditional sequential sales process has}

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competitors to partially be granted insights into a salesperson's activities on social media. This may encourage competitors to interfere with the salesperson.

The previous research regarding prospecting ultimately suggests that prospecting as a whole boils down to seeking information, this paper controversially suggests that the information seeking process is found to be available at every salespersons fingertip. The difficulties identified rather suggests that the salesperson's task in relation to prospecting lies within finding the right sources of fruitful target customer information. The identification of the ‘information transmitter’ has become more important than the information itself as it latently gives the salesperson a consistent _{due diligence newsfeed that conclusively yields potent business intelligence. This} means that the previous research is not enough to properly interpret the findings of this paper as it opens up a completely new landscape of sales. To conclude, the information salespeople seek when prospecting is the same as before but how the search is carried out differs. Salespeople are using social media to identify and qualify the prospects and their competencies in a networking manner and consequently follow the key targets of interest in order to initiate possibilities for offering customized solutions or adapt their approach accordingly.

7. Future research

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purposes. The authors of this study noted that there was a risk that some might perceive a salesperson's approach as offensive. Therefore, from a customer satisfaction perspective, the third hypothesis becomes interesting to investigate: _H₃ - Prospecting B2B salespeople are perceived as annoying by buyers on social media. _{Decades of research have shown several} methods for prospecting. However, no research within prospecting has previously shown such an easy and accessible source of information that social media brings. The fourth hypothesis, therefore, aims to verify the suspicion yielded from this study that social media helps the seller to create a better understanding of the potential customer: _H₄ - Social media along with its user profiles contains information that aids the salesperson to better understand its potential customers.

8. Managerial implications

Social media prospecting may be a cost effective way to identify and qualify potential customers and bring back the prospecting work inhouse. However, future studies are needed to be able to identify its efficiency. It was also prominent in this study that prospecting on social media and the procedures the salespeople were executing was self-taught. This should be considered by the management as the employees’ own intuition may depart from a company’s core strategy and values. Consequently, it may also come with risks that managers and companies have little insight into their salespeople's motives. Best practices might grow as time passes but for now the authors have the impression that the salespeople are simply trusting their intuition and operate in accordance to what has been successful in the past. Finally, if a salesperson quits there are risks involved with the transferring of customers interactions if the majority of prospecting has occured on social media.

8.1 Ethics, Tenure and Financial aspects

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Social Media When Searching for New Customers

Bachelor Thesis