3 Tips For Using Social Media as Your Secret Sales Tool

Patrick McFadden • August 27, 2013

Social media is fundamentally changing how we conduct business, but especially for sales professionals. In 2006 with the advent of social platforms and social networking sites, it totally changed the way sales professionals connect with potentially prospects, research competitors, become informed, and network.

Now they’re only two kinds of sales professionals in the world. The first uses interruption-based selling and marketing which is dead—cold calling, cold emailing, mass messaging, etc. They do real damage to their identity and to someones day by interrupting them.

The second has figured out that combing traditional efforts with social platforms and social networking sites makes for a higher degree of success. It’s all about the new selling and marketing which is about generosity and relevance. These forward-thinking salespeople are embracing a new approach to break down these old communication barriers: social media. It involves telling stories, adding value, and sharing resources. It also involves getting out into the marketplace where your prospects are congregating.

They use social media on the job to:

  • monitor potential clients,
  • monitor competitors,
  • gather intelligence,
  • network and more.

It’s gives these tech-savvy sales professionals an edge over the competition .  A recent study found  that salespeople using social media on the job outperformed peers not using it by a whopping 73 percent. They also exceeded their quotas 23 percent more often than their counterparts who were not using social media.

Here are 3 tips for using social media as your secret sales tool :

#1. Social Media is an Ice Breaker

Social media is a great resource for gaining unique insights into leads that can help you make for a warm first contact. This year, for example, I landed a new client thanks in large part to LinkedIn Feeds. After connecting and following a decision maker on LinkedIn for 2 months, I noticed that the lead always shared an update passionately about her love of Starbucks coffee. So when I eventually decided it was time to reach out and make contact, I used her passion for Starbucks as an icebreaker in an email. Talk of her favorite coffee really grabbed the her attention. She responded, leading to more exchanges and eventually a great sale.

# 2. Social Networks are Crockpots They Make Warmer Referrals

Social media can be a major asset in getting people to be more receptive to you. For instance, I recently fused old and new techniques to land a meeting with a huge potential client. I came across an article on a Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon where this potential client would be speaking about a new initiative being launched and the economic impact of these efforts. After a quick search on LinkedIn, I ask to connect with him while also congratulating him on this opportunity. During this speech I took great notes about pain points, potential solutions and the overall theme. After that speech I quickly ran over mention that we just connected on LinkedIn and regurgitated one point I liked back to him from his speech. I then followed that with an email listing the points from his speech and requesting a meeting. Initiative payed off because I have that meeting.

Had I tried the traditional route of calling or emailing, it’s unlikely I would have received such an immediate response—or any response at all, for that matter. None of this, of course, is rocket science. A warm referral is known to  increase the odds  of sales success by 200 to 400 percent. What’s new and powerful here is leveraging social media to transform a cold referral into a warm one.

#3. Use Social Media as a Fishing Net to  Catch New Opportunities

The most tragic scene in sales is a lost opportunity. I have found one easy way to avoid them—when I’m consulting with clients that have multiple departments it’s better to work with those other departments to gain valuable insight.

For example, I recently took to Twitter to complain about my mobile service interruption. About 10 minutes later someone from another carrier’s social media team spotted it on Twitter. I assumed he or she immediately blasted the message over to the customer support team because I received a tweet saying:

I did stay with my current provider, but this all could have ended up becoming a promising new opportunity worth thousands dollars (lifetime value) for Virgin Mobile .

Social media-assisted selling isn’t just happening at large companies. More and more salespeople in both midsize and small businesses are adopting social media. Last year for example, IBM reported that they saw a stunning 400% surge in their sales after implementing a social selling program.

The salespeople of today can empower themselves with useful information and data that gives them a truly competitive edge. All they have to do is tap into networks like LinkedIn, Facebook company pages, and Twitter.

Social media won’t replace the phone or email, but combined together it’s creating a new and revolutionary tool that sales departments can add to their arsenal.

Question: What do you think? Are you a sales professional or business owner using these tools to your advantage?

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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