8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team . by Brynne Tillman and Peter Strid, PeopleLinx
Contents
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About the Authors
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Profile: From Resume to Resource
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Checking LinkedIn’s Caller ID
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Respond to Connection Requests
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Create Advanced & Saved Searches
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Pro-actively Get Client Referrals
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Network with Strategic Alliances
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Gain Access Targeted Companies
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Leverage Content for Employee Advocacy
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How PeopleLinx Activates Social Selling
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10 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team
About the Authors Brynne Tillman is the Chief Learning Officer of PeopleLinx, a guided social selling platform. Brynne is internationally recognized for her training courses that teach innovative strategies and tactics for leveraging LinkedIn for Sales and Business Development. As the best selling author of LinkedIn and Social Selling for Business Development, Brynne brings sales
@BrynneTillman | CallBrynne.com btillman@peoplelinx.com
leaders and their teams the essential activities that they should expect from their team in this comprehensive eBook.
Peter is the Vice President of Sales at PeopleLinx and helps sales leaders master #SocialSelling. Peter is a renowned keynote speaker and is sought-after for his motivational and educational program on how to integrate social into the selling process. Peter is listed as the #38 Top Social Influencer and is an accomplished sales executive and social selling practitioner.
@PeterStrid | @PeopleLinx pstrid@peoplelinx.com
8 LinkedIn Activities 10 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
8 LinkedIn Activities
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Profile: From Resume to Resource A sales professional’s profile is their landing page. It shouldn’t simply be a resume. It is the opportunity to attract, teach and engage a targeted audience and get the right people to raise their hand and say, "Let's Talk." Here are 10 very important areas of your profile that you should ensure is done correctly: Banner/Background – this is an important area to brand your business. Be sure to use your logo and view how it looks by clicking the “View Profile As” button. Headshot – make this professional and engaging. Make eye contact with the camera and your audience. Headline – this should not simply be your job title and company name but a value proposition. The goal of the Headline is to attract your reader and get them to want to scroll down and read more of your profile. Contact Info Box – Make the professional email primary, add a phone number and take advantage of the 3 website links. Summary – This is your reps’ opportunity to teach and engage their audience. Start my bringing the issues and challenges their clients face to the surface. Then offer some commercial insights that can have a direct impact on the way they are currently thinking about their situation, company or industry. Once you have them curious, ask for the call. Projects – This is an ideal section to highlight case studies and success stories that add credibility and allow your buyers to see what you can achieve. Publications – Add collateral or link to press releases or product information. Skills – Add keywords and phrases that buyers use when looking for your products and services. Volunteer and Organizations – Add the places where you make a difference outside of your business life. Advice for Contacting – Make it easy for any of your profile visitors to connect with you. Add your email and phone number to this section that is visible to all LinkedIn members.
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Checking LinkedIn’s Caller ID LinkedIn has Caller ID? Yes… it is “Who’s Viewed Your Profile!”
Who’s Viewed Your Profile Should Be Checked Every Day. If your rep would return a phone call from someone that viewed their profile, then they should engage. If they are already a first degree connection, send a message: Name, thanks for visiting my profile. It made me think that it has been some time since we connected, it might make sense to schedule a call to catch up. If they are not a connection yet, send a request to connect with a personal note: Name, thanks for visiting my profile. I had a chance to look at yours and thought it might make sense for us to connect and maybe set up an introductory call.
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Respond to Connection Requests It is vital that your sales reps respond to outstanding connection requests in a timely manner. Often they won’t know the person sending the invitation, but they shouldn’t ignore them completely, because you never know what opportunity they may be missing. There are 3 options when responding to a connection request: Accept: This is an easy one. Click the check mark and you are now connected. Make sure you send a welcome message. Ignore: A little X will go a long way. Although I have ignored my fair share of connection requests, I make it a habit to do number three… Reply without accepting: When in your invitation requests you will see a reply arrow or a message bubble with a reply arrow. By clicking that reply arrow, you are able to have a conversation with them before you accept them into your network. Consider sending: Thank you for your LinkedIn invitation. Typically I only connect with people I know. May I ask how you found me? Have two welcome templates written: the first when you want a phone call, the second when you just want to offer insights and value. Here are my examples: Number one: Thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn. I had a chance to review your profile and I think it might make sense for us to set up an introductory call so we can explore ways we may be able to work together now or in the future. To make scheduling easier, here is a link to my calendar http://ScheduleaCallwithBrynne.com, please pick a time that works best for you. Number two: Thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn. I am not sure if you are using LinkedIn for sales, but if you are I want to share with you some of our LinkedIn messaging templates that can have a big impact on your business development efforts http://sslink.co/PeopleLinxLinkedInTemplates.
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Create Advanced & Saved Searches Get LinkedIn to Send Your Sales Reps Targeted Buyers Every Week c
LinkedIn’s Database is what sets it apart. Learn how to leverage it. Creating and saving LinkedIn searches of your sales reps’ ideal buyers is one of the most effective ways to identify new decision makers and shared connections that can help them gain access. Begin with buyer mapping using Boolean and LinkedIn search criteria. When running a search, consider choosing 2nd degree relationship so that everyone who comes up in your search has a shared connection to leverage for warm introductions. By saving that search, LinkedIn will email your reps new people in their network that meet that criteria, weekly.
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Pro-actively Get Client Referrals A Referral from a Client is Worth Two in a Bush! Referrals from clients have higher close ratios than then prospects that come through other channels. Your sales reps have built a network. You may have even hired them because of their reach in the industry. But often your reps don’t leverage those relationships to gain access to decision makers and influencers. From a client’s profile: 1. Click on their 500+ 2. Click on the magnify glass 3. Type in the titles of the people they want to meet (Boolean search) 4. Hit enter 5. Click “Advanced” on the top left of the search box 6. Complete the filters on the left 7. Make a list and ask for introductions Have the conversation: “Mr. Client, I am not sure if you know that I have grown my business from referrals from my happy clients. I have noticed you are connected to a few people I’d like to meet. Can I run these names by you?”
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Network with Strategic Alliances Similar to clients, building strong referral relationships with noncompetitive vendors that sell into the same decision makers is vital to growing a referral based business. LinkedIn makes leveraging these relationships even more successful, and here is how: Prior to a one on one networking meeting send out this message: XXX, I am looking forward to our coffee meeting next week. Please feel free to look through my LinkedIn connections and make a list of some people that you might want to meet. I will do the same and we can review the list when we are together. Here are the steps to make it easier for you: 1. From my profile, click on the blue connections number (500+). 2. This takes you to my connections where you will see a search bar in the top right (click on the magnifying glass). 3. Enter the keywords or title of the people you would like to meet ie. "CIO" OR "CTO�. 4. Click advanced in the top left of the box. 5. Use the left hand side filters to drill down like location and/or industry. 6. Make a list of who your networking partner knows that you would like to meet. 7. We can review the names when we are together and whittle it down to a few introductions. 8. After our meeting I will copy you and each person we have agreed upon in a LinkedIn message, and maybe you can do the same. BONUS: Exchange introduction templates to make it really simple. Here is my example: I would like to introduce you to Brynne Tillman, Chief Learning Officer at PeopleLinx. I thought it might make sense for the two of you to connect and investigate how you might work together. Brynne helps sales professionals build their pipeline, reduce the sales cycle and close more business through leveraging the power of LinkedIn. Brynne really understands how to monetize LinkedIn and has created programs that have made a significant impact on the way professionals are growing their business. Brynne will be contacting you in the next couple of days, please take her call; I believe it will be well worth your time. If you would like to reach out to Brynne, her contact information is: btillman@peoplelinx.com | 215.499.0499 http://www.linkedin.com/in/brynnetillman
8 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx
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Gain Access to Targeted Companies Sales reps love this strategy! Leverage LinkedIn company pages to gain access to key decision makers and influencers to targeted accounts. Build a list of the titles of all the stakeholders involved in the sales process, find shared connections and request introductions. Here are the steps to mine a LinkedIn company page: 1. In the top search bar, choose companies from the drop-down menu, type in the company name and choose it from the list. 2. On the right hand side click on number of employees (BONUS: Click on 2nd degree connections to identify buyers with whom you share a connection(s) 3. Complete the filters on the left column and choose 2nd degree relationship 4. Identify decision makers and your shared connection 5. Ask for an introduction with this template: I hope this note finds you well. As you may know, I am leveraging LinkedIn to grow my network and noticed that you are connected to XXX at XXX. I was wondering if you would kindly provide an introduction for me. If you could copy us both in an email or LinkedIn message I can take it from there. To make it easier for you, I have included a short paragraph below that you are welcome to copy and paste. Also, please feel free to look through my connections, I am happy to make introductions for you as well. Thanks so much! Brynne I would like to introduce you to Brynne Tillman, Chief Learning Officer at PeopleLinx. I thought it might make sense for the two of you to connect and investigate how you might work together. Brynne helps sales professionals build their pipeline, reduce the sales cycle and close more business through leveraging the power of LinkedIn. Brynne really understands how to monetize LinkedIn and has created programs that have made a significant impact on the way professionals are growing their business. Brynne will be contacting you in the next couple of days, please take her call; I believe it will be well worth your time. If you would like to reach out to Brynne, her contact information is: btillman@peoplelinx.com | 215.499.0499 http://www.linkedin.com/in/brynnetillman
10 10 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx | PeopleLinx.com
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Leverage Content for Employee Advocacy The “Know, Like, Trust” Employee advocacy is word-of-mouth marketing in the digital age. Sharing relevant content that attracts, teaches and engages buyers is not a would-liketo-do it is a have-to-do. Enabling your sales team with content that offers vendor agnostic commercial insights that get your audience thinking differently about their situation, company or industry will have an impact on their credibility.
Mantra is Now “Attract, Teach and Engage.“
Here are 7 elements that make content work for sales reps: 1. The title should let your readers know what they are getting. 2. Deliver on the promise, do not bait and switch by pitching instead of educating. 3. Offer take-aways that they can implement even if they don’t hire your company. 4. Include search engine optimized key words and phrases so your content can be found. 5. Add a graphic that tells the story of the post. 6. Keep it under 500 words – they stop reading anyway. 7. Have a call-to-action, so in the moment when you have the attention of your buyer get them to take the next step. Get them to engage in the moment. Scheduling a call, downloading an eBook or inviting them to register for a webinar works well!
11 10 LinkedIn Activities Sales Leaders Should Expect from Their Team | @PeopleLinx | PeopleLinx.com
PeopleLinx A Guided Social Selling Platform That: •
Teaches sales reps how to leverage LinkedIn for business development
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Guides them to develop a value-centric profile that attracts, teaches and engages buyers and gets them excited to take their call
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Offers daily recommendations on best practices and how to gain access to decision makers along with messaging templates that work
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Serves the sales reps with content to share with their network through RSS
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feeds and collateral that your marketing creates on a consistent basis Gamifies the process
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Measures and reports on reps success
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Drives Sales Navigator and other sales tool adoption
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Integrates with CRM so recommended activities are deal specific
If you would like to explore how PeopleLinx can help your team succeed with their LinkedIn and Social Selling efforts, reach out to Peter Strid or Brynne Tillman on LinkedIn directly and ask them for a test drive!
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