MUMBAI: OgilvyOne Worldwide has launched a new offering, Social Selling, in the US to help companies drive topline growth through the use of social media. It will be led by OgilvyOne Consulting in partnership with a group of sales experts.

The marketing network company introduced the service following a research it conducted among 1,000 sales professionals in the US, UK, Brazil and China, which revealed that there is "social media adoption gap" existing between salespeople and sales organisations.

OgilvyOne Worldwide chairman and CEO Brian Fetherstonhaugh said, "Our research has shown that the people on the front-line, the salespeople themselves, recognise the power and potential of social media. They are hungry for education and empowerment, yet few companies are providing the access and training they need. Part of our new ‘Social Selling‘ offering has been designed to help companies overcome this discrepancy and drive sales growth."

The research says that social media has had an enormous impact on buying behavior with 49 per cent of sellers seeing social media as important to their success. Among the most successful salespeople, over two-thirds believed social media is integral to their sales success.

OgilvyOne Worldwide COO Gunther Schumacher added, "Selling must evolve in lockstep with the way people are buying today. The "21st Century Selling" offering maximizes sales potential through both Social Selling and Branded Selling, and draws upon the experience of our expert partners, such as John Callies, an IBM sales veteran. The offering consolidates assignments Ogilvy has been conducting for clients like IBM and Ford in the U.S. and Unilever in Asia. "

In the survey 68 per cent of sales professionals said that the selling process is changing faster than what their own organisations are adapting.

According to the research, companies were not providing solid training to sales professionals in social media. In fact many are actively discouraging the use of social media despite the fact that customers are buying that way. 48 per cent of salespeople believed their companies are afraid of letting employees use social media.

As per the research 25 per cent salespeople surveyed in Brazil said that they receive training on social media usage. 38 per cent of the salespeople surveyed in China use personal blogs in their selling process while only 3 per cent of US salespeople do the same.

The "Social Selling" offering is part of the company‘s broader initiative called "21st Century Selling" to help clients maximise sales.