I am at the Digital Enterprise Fest in Birmingham today, listening to Paul Lewis at Pitney Bowes discuss social selling. Lewis sensibly states the importance of harnessing your firm's networks, as peer recommendations play a huge role in the B2B buying process. Adopting a social selling mindset doesn't replace telemarketing, but rather aids it, as Lewis says, "social selling turns cold calling into warm calling".

A few key points:

• 6.8 people are now involved in the average B2B buying decision
• By 2020, 50% of the global workforce will be millenials, and their preference for interaction is largely internet/webchat, followed by social media.
• Build a social selling army: share best practice, host regular team calls, and encourage them to reach higher.