[UK] A-B-C. Always. Be. Closing. That’s about as far as my sales knowledge goes and it’s lifted directly from a Hollywood movie. But now London-based WeCanDo.BIZ offers a different approach. “Always. Be. Tweeting.” – my words not their’s – with the launch of a Twitter-based sales tool that lets small businesses generate leads through the microblogging service.
At its most basic, Twitter Sales Leads is a Twitter-based search engine that enables users to search Twitter for keywords describing specific products or services. However, where things get a little more interesting is that the service claims to be able to filter results to include only those tweets that indicate intent: “an expressed need, request for a product or service recommendation.” This potentially pits it against search engines like Google.
It’s this ability to pick up on intent that makes Twitter Sales Leads an intriguing proposition and Twitter as a whole an exciting sales opportunity. Right now, search is the king of identifying intent, making Google the most efficient advertising platform out there. When users Google for a product or service, perhaps looking for a review, it’s a safe bet that they intend on making a purchase. Twitter, says WeCanDo.BIZ founder and Chief Executive Ian Hendry, has the potential to one-up Google because not only can it be used to identify intent but it also taps into the user’s social graph.
“Go and ask Google for a business that can get you a pop-up exhibition stand in time for a conference on Monday, for example, and it’s like having a conversation with Rain Man,” says Hendry in a canned statement. “You get hundreds of thousands of results which touch upon what you’re asking for without really providing the answer you need. Crowd sourcing by asking Twitter users the same thing is likely to bring up fewer responses, but one solid reply with a link to supplier is all you need.”
I think he definitely has a point. I’ve on more than one occasion asked my Twitter followers to recommend or answer a product query. Although I’ve also been unwelcomely spammed on Twitter a few times because of the keywords that have appeared in one of my tweets. Twitter Sales Leads obviously has this potential too.