Part I: Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?
Part I: Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?
About 2 years ago, I set up my profile on LinkedIn. It was sterile & boring, conveying only enough to be able to say I had an online presence. Then last year I read entrepreneurial guru Guy Kawasaki's LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover and felt compelled to redo mine based on what I learned.
Since then, I've accepted numerous invitations to connect, yet fretted over if I should since many came from total strangers. I wrote a few recommendations and received a few.
Mostly I was a passive observer – waiting for some sales miracles to happen. Of course, they never emerged and I began to doubt LinkedIn's ability to deliver real tangible results.
Not wanting to quit too soon, I began answering sales and business development questions on LinkedIn. Why would I help total strangers? To demonstrate my expertise, as well as to get exposure with potential prospects for my services.
Nothing happened, but still I suspected that I'd barely tapped into the power of LinkedIn. So when I discovered I'm on LinkedIn. Now What? by Jason Alba, the CEO of JibberJobber, I was ready for help:
Immediately I discovered that I was a "promiscuous linker", willing to hook up with anyone who approached me. (Please don't tell my mother; she didn't raise me to be like that.) But I also learned it was okay.
In his book, Alba shares a whole slew of uses I'd never even thought of – including why & how to ask a question on LinkedIn. That intrigued me. And, since I was still trying to discover how to best leverage this social media, here's the question I posed:
Question: As a seller, how do you use LinkedIn to increase your sales?
Explanation: I'm writing an article for my Selling to Big Companies newsletter on this topic. I'd like to include specific examples to help my readers learn how they can leverage this tool. Since I'm a bit of a technophobe, my experience with Linked In is rather limited. If you can tell me how you've used LinkedIn to open doors, create opportunities and grow your business, I'd really appreciate it.
Social media guru Scott Allen, coauthor of The Virtual Handshake and managing director at Link to Your World, was the first to respond. Here are his invaluable suggestions:
---
LinkedIn can be used to support the entire sales lifecycle: lead generation, sales acceleration and solution delivery. Let's look at each of these pieces:
Lead Generation
• Find and be found. Search by title and industry for the ideal contacts at your ideal customers. Search by title and company name for specific target customers.
• Be sure your profile is complete and contains the appropriate keywords for your business so that people looking for your solution will find you.
• Endorsements/recommendations count for a lot -- get them from people who have actually been your clients if at all possible.
Sales Acceleration
• Search for people at your prospect who are not closely involved in your deal - preferably 2nd degree contacts, not 3rd degree. Ask for an informational interview. This is where strong, trusted relationships count for a lot - "light linking" breaks down here.
• Ask your interview subject about the priorities that are going on at the company -- what are the high-level factors that might be influencing the buying process. Be completely open/transparent.
• If you have a good solution and a really good referral to a true "friend of a friend", you will very likely find an internal champion in that person. This is the #1 technique that LinkedIn supports better than any other tool.
Solution Delivery
Quite often, especially for small businesses, you can't do it all yourself. LinkedIn is invaluable for finding partners with particular skill sets who can help you deliver the total solution. In addition to searching, you can post questions asking about the solution area you need expertise in and use that as a way to attract potential partners.
----
That was just the start of my learning. Numerous LinkedIn users responded to my question. I'll be sharing their success stories in my upcoming series of four articles articles on this topic.
In the meantime, if you don't have your profile up on LinkedIn, get going. If your profile is mundane and skeletal, flush it out and inject some personality in it.
Social media can have a significant impact on sales. You don't want to let these opportunities slip through your fingers.
Part I Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Jill Konrath's Website.
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As a self-professed technophobe, using social media such as LinkedIn is not second nature to me. I force myself to experiment with these new mediums knowing that ultimately they'll have an impact on the selling profession, but unsure what it might be.
About 2 years ago, I set up my profile on LinkedIn. It was sterile & boring, conveying only enough to be able to say I had an online presence. Then last year I read entrepreneurial guru Guy Kawasaki's LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover and felt compelled to redo mine based on what I learned.
Since then, I've accepted numerous invitations to connect, yet fretted over if I should since many came from total strangers. I wrote a few recommendations and received a few.
Mostly I was a passive observer – waiting for some sales miracles to happen. Of course, they never emerged and I began to doubt LinkedIn's ability to deliver real tangible results.
Not wanting to quit too soon, I began answering sales and business development questions on LinkedIn. Why would I help total strangers? To demonstrate my expertise, as well as to get exposure with potential prospects for my services.
Nothing happened, but still I suspected that I'd barely tapped into the power of LinkedIn. So when I discovered I'm on LinkedIn. Now What? by Jason Alba, the CEO of JibberJobber, I was ready for help:
Immediately I discovered that I was a "promiscuous linker", willing to hook up with anyone who approached me. (Please don't tell my mother; she didn't raise me to be like that.) But I also learned it was okay.
In his book, Alba shares a whole slew of uses I'd never even thought of – including why & how to ask a question on LinkedIn. That intrigued me. And, since I was still trying to discover how to best leverage this social media, here's the question I posed:
Question: As a seller, how do you use LinkedIn to increase your sales?
Explanation: I'm writing an article for my Selling to Big Companies newsletter on this topic. I'd like to include specific examples to help my readers learn how they can leverage this tool. Since I'm a bit of a technophobe, my experience with Linked In is rather limited. If you can tell me how you've used LinkedIn to open doors, create opportunities and grow your business, I'd really appreciate it.
Social media guru Scott Allen, coauthor of The Virtual Handshake and managing director at Link to Your World, was the first to respond. Here are his invaluable suggestions:
---
LinkedIn can be used to support the entire sales lifecycle: lead generation, sales acceleration and solution delivery. Let's look at each of these pieces:
Lead Generation
• Find and be found. Search by title and industry for the ideal contacts at your ideal customers. Search by title and company name for specific target customers.
• Be sure your profile is complete and contains the appropriate keywords for your business so that people looking for your solution will find you.
• Endorsements/recommendations count for a lot -- get them from people who have actually been your clients if at all possible.
Sales Acceleration
• Search for people at your prospect who are not closely involved in your deal - preferably 2nd degree contacts, not 3rd degree. Ask for an informational interview. This is where strong, trusted relationships count for a lot - "light linking" breaks down here.
• Ask your interview subject about the priorities that are going on at the company -- what are the high-level factors that might be influencing the buying process. Be completely open/transparent.
• If you have a good solution and a really good referral to a true "friend of a friend", you will very likely find an internal champion in that person. This is the #1 technique that LinkedIn supports better than any other tool.
Solution Delivery
Quite often, especially for small businesses, you can't do it all yourself. LinkedIn is invaluable for finding partners with particular skill sets who can help you deliver the total solution. In addition to searching, you can post questions asking about the solution area you need expertise in and use that as a way to attract potential partners.
----
That was just the start of my learning. Numerous LinkedIn users responded to my question. I'll be sharing their success stories in my upcoming series of four articles articles on this topic.
In the meantime, if you don't have your profile up on LinkedIn, get going. If your profile is mundane and skeletal, flush it out and inject some personality in it.
Social media can have a significant impact on sales. You don't want to let these opportunities slip through your fingers.
Part I Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Jill Konrath's Website.
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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