Did you leave something?

5 Ways Sales Professionals Leave Money on the Table by Not Using Linkedin by Martin Brossman

For years I have been coaching sales professionals, discovering that they used to pay for similar information with less quality than the data that Linkedin is providing now at the free level. More importantly, all sales professionals that I have personally coached have gained clear value and closed more sales when they began using Linkedin correctly. However, I realize that there are many sales executives who are obviously not using Linkedin effectively, i.e., potentially leaving money on the table. I hope this list of 5 Linkedin omissions gets the attention of all honest hardworking sales pros and spurs you into action.

1. Their profile is so poorly filled out that when I ask them if they would buy from or trust “this person” (looking at their own profile) they say, “I really need to spend some time and clean up my profile.” Which translates to “no, I wouldn’t trust this person.” Some examples of items that might need clean-up are: outdated information, no business phone number, inappropriate photo for what they do, and using terms understandable to their peers and competition but not their customer. Their profile is not optimized for their customer to find them. Some don’t even have a picture and don’t realize how important it is for their professional presence.

2. They don’t even look up prospects and their company before meeting. In coaching sessions I will take several key current prospects that a client is pursuing and look them up, using the correct search tools. I will say, “Would it have been useful to know X,Y and Z about your client before you called?” The reply is, “I didn’t know X,Y or Z about their X,Y or Z. Of course that would have been of value.”

3. Their recommendations are none to poor. Often they just give buddies recommendations to get reciprocal ones, which are usually so transparent they could hurt their reputation. One company with 9 employees had everyone in the company give each other recommendations; there were no other recommendations, with the exception of one employee who had one additional valid recommendation.. That was over a year ago, and the one employee with the real recommendation is the only one who still works for thecompany −all others were laid off. Of course not just because of that, but I can tell you from my experience that this individual was the most productive, competent and loyal employee of all of the staff.

4. They don’t realize how bad they look to Google. They don’t know that their profile can be fully visible to Google, and that it just looks poor, as though they have little experience and qualifications. Sometimes they spend a lot of time on their profile, but do not even have their public profile set up so they can be found outside ofLinkedin. This creates a bad reflection on them and their company. They don’t understand how, with Google, sites like Linkedin are becoming as important, if not more than, their company web site for building a positive image and reputation.

5. They are not building a network that is relevant to the contacts they need. They don’t understand that the more relevant and trusted allies they connect to, the greater their reach in Linkedin. They haven’t figured out that people they know and trust are often connected to more people who could help them than they realize. By being onLinkedin you can discover who your contacts are connected to and how you can help each other. For example, there are referral groups who meet every single week whose members are not connected onLinkedin. They are missing out on the hundreds of connections that may already exist which could be accessed through the Linkedin network.

If you find yourself in any of the 5 points, stop and either do something yourself or get help to get this handled. Better yet, call me! If you find this useful, pass it on to someone in Sales that you care about.

Martin Brossman – 919 847-4757 – www.ProNetworkingOnline.com Martin@CoachingSupport.com

See Linking Into Sales :  www.linkingintosales.com with Martin Brossman and Greg Hyer

Free info you can use

I have been coaching high-quota Sales Professionals for many years and believe LinkedIn is one of the most important free sales tools available today.

Remember, LinkedIn is a professional tool for solving tasks.  It is not a cold calling list or directory of your target clients.  It IS a first place to check for current and future contacts and business, due to the high quality of the data when it is present. Since each profile is about an individual, automatic self-interest is generated for being well-represented on the web.

If you look at a person’s profile, you will get all the information they choose to make available, and also you can get a sense of how much they use LinkedIn.  For example, you can note whether their Public Profile consists of their name vs. the pre-assigned random numbers and letters.  If they have personalized it they are likely using LinkedIn frequently.  Next, notice how many recommendations they have, how many connections they have, if they have a picture, and whether they filled out their profile. These factors all point to how comfortable they are with using LinkedIn, and possibly how receptive they will be in accepting your introduction.
Know your target clients and businesses and observe how close you are to them through LinkedIn connections.   Who do you your ideal clients trust and how well connected are they to you?  You want to keep building your connections closer to your clients and that is done by relating to them and building their trust, not just by sending them an invite to connect.   Are there a few people that seem to be more connected to your ideal clients than others?  If so, these people need to be a higher priority for building and maintaining relationships.

It’s important to understand that this is a dynamic process which still involves building trust and connections, just like traditional networking has all along–which means investing in quality people who are on the path to where you want to be.
If you are a sales professional, LinkedIn is not only a big asset to your own career but also to the company you work for.  If you set up your web link back to the company web site (using the Other option) and use the right keywords in your profile that your customers use, you will enhance the web presence of your company and yourself. A true win-win.  This also makes it easier for your contacts to refer YOU to other members of their company by just referring people to your public profile.
That last tip I want to share today about your LinkedIn profile is: make sure to clearly have your contact information easy to find, especially your phone number. Make sure to first include it in the Contact Settings area at the bottom of your profile, but if you are in sales I would also add it at the top in your Summary area.

Last, when should you upgrade your LinkedIn profile to the paid version? When you keep running up against the notice that says you need to upgrade to get the information you need.  LinkedIn is very generous in giving a lot for the free service, so use all of it.
Since LinkedIn does such a great organic job of enhancing the brand of a business by having all their key people correctly listed on LinkedIn, you could add more value to your customers by offering resources for them to be on LinkedIn. That may be you or someone who provides LinkedIn training.
Martin Brossman can be reached at Martin@CoachingSupport.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (919) 847-4757 – ProNetworkingOnLine.com and see his LinkedIn resources http://usinglinkedin.wordpress.com/ or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Usinglinkedin

Reprinted from www.LinkingRaleighNC.com – Greg Hyer

First of all sign up if you have not, today! The basic service is free! And fill out the entire profile. Include as much information in your profile as you can. This includes simple hobbies, interest, and associations that are important to you. Those profiles show up in Google searches, so others will be able to view the information. If you understand “personal branding” of YOU, then you know the benefit of this. The more positive points of reference to you on the web the better (as long as they are real).

Take a few minutes and think about people of value from your past who you might link with. Search for their names and invite them to reconnect. Then take the time to write them an endorsement (even a sentence is good). Your name is tied to this so make sure it is authentic and also reflects well on you. If you keep doing this and helping people your own endorsements will grow over time and be well earned. Endorsements of you initiated by others are obviously best. You really don’t want to ask for an endorsement unless you are clear they would love to give you one and are simply looking for an opportunity.

Look for professional associations or groups such as your college on LinkedIn and if they are not listed encourage them to”register.” My own college St. Andrews is not listed and I am working on getting them to sign up. This “group” feature of LinkedIn is very important. It lets you gain contact with all the members of that group to build relationships if appropriate. As you set up for your own “LinkedIn” web link be sure it reflects your real name. When you sign up for an account, you are assigned a random number that designates your profile page on LinkedIn. You can then go into your profile settings and change that number so that instead of http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/712/a78, you would have a personal link like mine: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbrossman . You can and should add this to your website and email address.

Understand and use the questions area. People are wonderfully generous about helping other LinkedIn.com members. Ask questions of things you think the members may be able to help you with and answer some of the questions if you can. You may be known as an “expert” over time in that area.

Also, have some fun. I found a distant cousin in Australia of whom I was completely unaware of. I have looked up people who took training programs that turned out to be of great value to me and made some good friends that way. Remember to build your network and invest in it before you need it!

Let me know how YOU are using linkedin.com

You may enjoy the current article in the News & Observer about Linkedin.com. It is titled “Are You Linked?”

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/technology/story/630408.html

www.linkedin.com

Be well,
Martin Brossman
www.CoachingSupport.com
martin@coachingsupport.com
www.InquireOnLine.Info