I am a Salesperson Get Me Out of Here!

I have been through three recessions in my career but nothing like this.

For many B2B salespeople, orders are evaporating, pipelines are shrinking, diaries are emptying. So many things out of our control. What to do?

Take a deep breath. Keep calm.

Do you remember Stephen Covey's seminal book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?" He advocated focusing on what you have some control over - in Covey's words "your circle of influence". Based on that I suggest we should be focusing on these three things:

1. Customers and your close network. People who know you or know of you. Find out what's happening for your customers, let them know what you can still do for them.
2. A medium-term time scale. Many buyers are unwilling or unable to place orders right now.
3. Relationships. People have more time, they are open to talking. This is a great opportunity to really get to know your customers and connections. To deepen that relationship.

If your role involves sales or business development your LinkedIn network is your most valuable asset and the greatest source of opportunity both now and in the future. That is if you use it smartly......

Time to revisit your profile

Many businesses are adapting and reinventing themselves if that's true for you it needs to be reflected in your profile headline and summary sections. (See how I have a changed my profile headline to highlight how I now offer live online training)

If your LinkedIn profile is your professional shopwindow, the new "featured" section is your shop window's shop window. You can use this to highlight your most valuable content including special offers.

Fig 1: LinkedIn's new featured section

Now so many people are remote working and a little less pressurized this is a great time to boost your profiles' credibility by asking your connections for recommendations and endorsements. Don't forget to recommend and endorse others too.

Show your customers and network some love

So maybe right now, you don't have much to offer your customers. But consider this, what message does it give if you are not reaching out to them at this extraordinary time?

In my experience, people are really open to conversation now. LinkedIn's research shows that conversations between first-degree connections have increased by a massive 55%. This is a real opportunity to get to know our customers and connections and deepen those relationships. Investing in these relationships will give you a better guarantee of a return than playing the stock market.

What about those valuable people in your network that you haven't spoken to for a while? You have even forgotten their names. How about exporting your LinkedIn connections to a spreadsheet and scanning down the list? You will be surprised how many names leap out at you.

Don't be invisible

Now is not the time to disappear from LinkedIn, keep posting keep commenting, maintain some visibility even if you are not in a position to deliver what you normally can. What should you post about? Think about what your audience wants or needs to know about, content that resonates with them and the situation they find themselves in. In the examples below, the Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive is sharing content that is relevant to the local business community his organization serves, and the Sales Director is promoting non-medical masks for company employees.

Fig 2: Post about topics that are meaningful to your audience

Be ready to jump into relevant conversations too. Commenting thoughtfully on other peoples' post adds value to the conversation and gives you extra visibility.

Making new connections

The key message of this post is to keep in touch with your customers and close network and to take the opportunity to deepen those relationships. It's not a time for pitching to cold prospects. However, this is a good time to grow your network, to make new connections with an eye on future opportunities. As long as you approach prospects in a friendly and respectful way, taking the time to send a personal message you will get a good response.

Is it time to upgrade your account?

Recently I have upgraded my subscriptions to several products because they give me valuable extra benefits. At the moment anything that can give you an edge is worth considering. In my opinion, if you are in sales and you have a free account then you should seriously be considering upgrading. This article explains the options and benefits.

It's about time

Throughout my business career, one thing I have never had enough of is time. It's the one commodity that you can't buy more of but suddenly we find our diaries have emptied. Let's use this unplanned for extra time to invest in our business relationships so that when things pick up, we are front of mind and on the front foot.

I hope you found this article useful, please let me know in comments and I would love to hear your ideas on how businesses and salespeople, in particular, can make the best use of their time in the current lockdown.

More about Greg

Greg Cooper is an independent LinkedIn consultant and trainer based in Bristol, UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing. For over twenty years Greg ran an award-winning direct marketing agency working with leading technology companies like IBM, SAP, and Siemens. 

Today he helps SMEs to use LinkedIn more effectively to find, win and keep customers. He runs public and in-house courses including the LinkedIn Essentials Master Class, Sales Navigator, and Social Selling workshops. All workshops are delivered as live online small group sessions.