In this episode of Thought Leader Life, Michael and I share insights with #ThoughtLeader Kurt Shaver (@kurtshaver or @salesfoundry). Kurt spent 20 years in the corporate sales world before finally establishing his own company, The Sale Foundry, a professional consulting firm that helps social corporate clients learn social selling skills to grow their business. Since then, he has been working with organizations to help them sell the way that today’s buyers buy—through social.

Kurt believes that to be a #ThoughtLeader, you need to be in the game. A #ThoughtLeader cannot be standing apart, high up on the ivory tower and approaching everything academically. You must be in the trenches to actually experience whatever topic you’re are talking about. Commenting on the Thought Leadership Funnel, from a perspective of someone who has been in sales for years, Kurt considers the engagement part to be the most critical, because this is where a salesperson moves from brand awareness to an actual dialogue with the prospect, which indicates the beginning of the sales cycle. And because the engagement piece in the funnel can also be one-to-many-to-one, Kurt says it is important to always be conscious about response time and to make the response in a timely manner. The former depends on the kind of research you want to do before actually responding, so that the engagement will progress towards winning a future advocate and then onward to having an advocate. Michael notes that, with social media, having a one-to-one conversation has become entirely different, because now everybody gets to see what your response is to a person’s question.

In the interview, Kurt shares some of his techniques in teaching companies how to maximize the full potential of social media platforms like LinkedIn and build social selling skills, starting from the manager up to the sales agents. He also expounds on the four fundamental areas in social selling that companies nowadays need to learn and implement to achieve corporate success.

Kurt is also excited about his Aha Amplifier book, Kurt Shaver on #SocialSelling. He calls this a milestone and a big opportunity for him and his company.

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Here are some “‘aha’ moments” from the episode. See more in the Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life books available in the Aha Amplifier and watch the interview below!

It’s only in the social era that an individual can actually be a worldwide publisher. @kurtshaver

The difference ofa one-to-many-to-one conversation on social media is that everybody gets to read or see that conversation. @michaelprocopio

Always be conscious about delivering good service, because now, with social media, everybody’s watching. @kurtshaver

The multiplier, the amplification, and the scaling that social can offer is tremendous. @kurtshaver

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @kurtshaver. Tune into Thought Leader Life every Saturday for more thought-leader goodness!