What do you do if your existing network isn't generating new business opportunities in social selling?

When your current network isn't delivering new business opportunities in social selling, it's time to broaden your reach. Expand strategically by engaging with industry leaders, joining online communities, and proactively connecting with potential prospects. By nurturing new relationships, you can unlock fresh opportunities and drive business growth.

Typically, the objective of social selling is simple: To close more sales with more ideal clients - with more ease. Core questions to ask yourself if your existing network isn't generating new business opportunities are: - Am I actively reaching out to and engaging with my ideal clients? - Is my content centred around my ideal clients' needs, and positioned in a way that will resonate with them? - Is my network filled with ideal clients? - Am I posting often enough? - Am I positioning my products/services with my ideal client in mind?

Connect, connect, connect: use LinkedIn for its greatest power, namely the global business network. Get attention through valuable content and optimize your profile, so its easy for clients to get in touch with you!

If your existing network isn't generating you leads, you've probably created a network that isn't your ideal customer in the first place. Figure out what persona your trying to sell to and start building a network around them. (In my experience, my priorities have changed over time across multiple sales roles. I have 100s of contacts from previous roles in health and education. They're not useful anymore. You need to start again)

Unless you're maxed out on LI connections, expanding your network is the quickest, easiest and most powerful way of ensuring your network will generate new business opportunities for you through social selling. Be sure to approach this strategically - that is, expand your network with ideal clients, with professionals who could potentially serve as partners or audience-expanders, and with thought leaders you can engage with (thus increasing your reach and visibility). There's no point expanding your network for increased business opportunities unless the expansion is targeted and thought-through.

To revitalize a stagnant network, I have usually adopted a two-pronged approach: 1. Strategically expand into emerging industry segments or untapped regions that align with your offerings. Immerse yourself in those ecosystems and share valuable insights to cultivate relationships primed for mutual value. 2. Simultaneously, deepen engagement with existing connections. Revisit past interactions, identify needs, and provide personalized value to strengthen relationships. Spotlight others' achievements. The key is to offer authentic value first, allowing opportunities to organically emerge. By expanding reach and enhancing connection quality, you'll transform your network into a dynamic asset that continuously generates new business.

Content may be king - but conversation rules the world. There is a myth going around LinkedIn that if you keep showing up with killer content, business will show up at your door. While this may be the case for accounts with five-figure follower numbers or more, smaller accounts are better off focusing on sharing value when building connections one-to-one or one-to-few as part of their social selling efforts. This will enable you to keep the momentum up - and generate way more business opportunities for you in the short- to medium-term than simply posting and hoping for the best.

Prioritize relationship-building over broadcasting. Engage with comments, join discussions, and position yourself as a helpful resource. Building trust is key to unlocking organic opportunities. Remember, social selling is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay consistent in providing value and nurturing connections. The business will follow naturally from the genuine relationships you cultivate. Keep at it!

Personalisation can't just make a significant difference in social selling - it is THE differentiator of the ones who succeed and the ones who don't. Social selling is, by definition, social and connection-based, which means the only way to do well is to take time and really get to know your people. Empathise, listen, offer genuine and thought-through solutions. A strong relationship is sales' most underrated value-add.