Nonprofit Performance 360 Magazine Vol 5 No 1

DOUG BROWN Strategy

The 12 Steps of Social Selling

Muricella (not her real name) was lucky to get out of Venezuela alive. She is the beautiful dark haired, green-eyed 23-year-old only daughter of a doctor who is a local politician in their barrio in Caracas. Her father, and Muricella by association, is a member of Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, or MUD. MUD is a broad coalition of parties and ideologies opposed to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and President Maduro is not fond of his opposition. Muricella left Venezuela on a crowded bus bound for Columbia with her shoes stuffed full of what she thought were thousands of dollars’ worth of Venezuelan Bolívars, all the cash her formerly- affluent family could put together. When she got to Cali, she tried to buy an airplane ticket to Salt Lake City. She quickly found out that all of her Bolívars were not quite enough for a one-way ticket to find refuge with her aunt in the United States. But with the help of some kind strangers, she was able to get her ticket, and be on her way. Two days later, 6 days from the time she left the care of her father in Caracas, Muricella was tired and weak, barely able to walk. She had blurry vision, and was unable to hold food down. That is how we found her when she arrived on a cold Tuesday in January at the door of the Hope Clinic. Let me back up a bit.

The Hope Clinic The Hope Clinic (www.utahhopeclinic.org) provides basic healthcare to the uninsured and under served in Salt Lake City. I volunteer there a day or two each a week. Since I have no medical training, I do what I can: I translate for Spanish speakers and do filing. The Hope Clinic runs on donations of time, money, medicine, and facilities. But it is really like any other business. It has to find new resources every month to continue in its mission. I am currently connected with 24,571 people through my various social media accounts. Virtually all of my business comes from this pool of people. When I need goods or services, I source it from my connection pool. When I need to sell something, I find my customers in that same pool. If I need to raise money for a cause, or find volunteers to fill a pressing need, I find those resources there in my connections pool. Although my wife and I run every aspect of our own business, and I am responsible for sales, I don’t remember the last time I made a cold call. Instead, both of our businesses, as well as the Hope Clinic, are funded and run on the concept of Social Selling. Social Selling Social selling is about building and leveraging your social networks to find the right prospects, build trusted relationships and, ultimately, achieve your sales or fundraising goals. This social selling

10 I Nonprofit Performance Magazine