Getting sales from businesses without meeting them - possible?

Sales are made over the phone all the time. Just start making the phone calls.

The biggest hurdle is for you to know exactly what you are selling and be confident about it. Also, if you are going to be "reasonably expensive" then you better prove to me you are worth it. A lack luster Facebook page and a poorly designed Twitter page with only a couple of hundred followers isn't going to convince me to spend much money with you.

Absolutely yes!

Even when I was in the construction industry I would get sales for remodeling jobs all done via email and faxing. Many times the first time I met my clients it was to collect large deposit checks and pick colors!

So yes you can absolutely get clients without meeting them first!

Totally possible. Most of my business is from Australia and New Zealand which is not around the corner.

And because you concentrating on one method you'll become a star at closing on the phone. Eventually you'll be able to close in one call. Good luck.

You'll be fine getting clients you never meet face to face, I think there's a flaw in your method of profiling them though. The phone book isn't a great place to start for selling social media... social media is.

I've found that most businesses (especially restaurants and mom & pops) who have a social presence have no social strategy. It's easier to sell them something than someone who, in 2013, still isn't on Facebook. There's a reason they aren't there, and no "salesman" is going to convince them they should do it if they don't already see value.

So find businesses that do have a Facebook page already, but low follower counts and little to no engagement, and sell them a comprehensive strategy that integrates their business with the community. Show them what other companies in their market sector are doing - the businesses that are winning with social media are interacting with and entertaining their audience, not just posting coupons and discounts and crap. Be clear that social media is not a marketing platform - it's a consumer engagement platform, and that the reason they aren't doing well is (probably) because consumers aren't interested in being marketed to. Then, put a strategy together that's all about "brand essence" - I tell people flat out "I won't sell a single one of your products through social media - but what I will do is make people like you and remember you. And when they're ready to purchase the type of product you offer, they will think of you first.

You will probably be the first person to ever say this to them - and it will make them think. Then, move in for the close by showing examples of similar businesses that have successfully engaged their audience (comments and post likes are worth more than followers).

And for those who say "price isn't the problem", they are lying 100% of the time. Price is always the problem. Whenever someone says "It's not the money" I respond with "I'll tell you what, what if I could give you the whole package for free for a few months without taking your credit card and with no obligation to buy if you don't like it, would you be interested then?" - Then when they say "yes", say Then it's the money.. It catches them off guard, then you can start negotiating.

Ron,

That's a great way of looking at it, and it's honest. Will some people make sales or get leads directly from social media? Absolutely! It happens everyday. As you say though, what will benefit them most in the long-run is that brand recognition, and keeping them in the minds of customers as the go-to people in that business...but I'd take those leads, sales all day long too. Lol

Tracy