Increasingly, businesses that engage in sales have been using social media to recruit new customers, develop networks of prospective customers, solidify existing business relationships, increase their visibility within key groups, promote their businesses to vendors, suppliers and community stakeholders, and grow existing and new business.
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are just some examples of social media websites that might be used by salespersons to promote the services or products that they are selling. Depending on the circumstances, a “contacts” list on a social media site could encompass the entire customer list of a business. Or salespersons might create their own customer lists on their personal social media accounts. The salesperson’s customer list might be developed by the salesperson or it might expand on the customer list that was created and provided by the employer. Who owns the “contacts” or customer list on a social media site when the salesperson’s employment ends is not always clear, but this issue is particularly important among businesses that utilize social media for developing relationships with customers. The question of what communications on social media constitute impermissible solicitation of customers is equally important, and uncertain.
