Is LinkedIn becoming the salesperson’s playground?

I do not want to have conversations, I want to sell

There is more and more criticism by business owners and directors of LinkedIn’s level of spam messages received from salespeople. This is leading to the perception that LinkedIn is becoming primarily a prospecting platform: the place where salespeople go to find and stalk prospects. However, these salespeople are not thinking “conversation” but rather “selling”. The old school re-applied to the new world. How true is this perception? Despite its networking potential, is LinkedIn really a conversation platform? 

LinkedIn as a prospecting tool

There are two ways to approach this question. Firstly it is important to state that LinkedIn is not only a tool for sales. This is an unfair assessment as LinkedIn used to be considered as a recruitment tool and to a lesser degree a marketing tool. However, LinkedIn is proving to be a very effective sales tool when used correctly (aka Social Selling)

If you have a LinkedIn profile as a business owner, chances are you may have been approached by salespeople and sometimes that is not spam. The social selling professional will have been using LinkedIn’s excellent search facility to seek out business owners and decision-makers in their chosen industry. For salespeople this is a cost effective way to find new prospects and makes LinkedIn shine.

Why salespeople use LinkedIn?

This brings me to my second point: The important question for business is why LinkedIn is such a fertile market for sales. The answer lies in the true value and potential of LinkedIn. There are three factors to consider: 

1) ‘Everybody’ Uses LinkedIn

With over 500 million users of which 40% (according to LinkedIn) are active daily, it is probably the 2nd busiest place after Facebook. The numbers do tell and clearly make LinkedIn a force to be reckoned with. These users do include both salespeople and business decision-makers. 

2) LinkedIn is the best business networking tool in the world

The great challenge in business has always been how to link up with relevant decision-makers. Sure, salespeople and decision makers all go to business lunches and expensive conferences. Heck salespeople even try their hand at telephone cold calling, but they run eventually into two problems: ROI (or costs compared with return), and the issue of getting past gatekeepers, such as secretaries and PAs. 

LinkedIn (but Twitter even more) has been solving both of these problems. First, there are the LinkedIn’s basic features which are absolutely free, eliminating the cost factor. Premium versions are available on a monthly subscription basis and as well as paid advertising which is extremely reasonable. It beats going to conferences and networking meetings when it comes to cost.

Secondly, LinkedIn provides easy access to any decision maker and director you can imagine, allowing you to bypass the dreaded gatekeepers and build relationships directly. If used properly and thoughtfully, this makes LinkedIn the most cost-effective business networking tool in the world. And still salespeople get it wrong. It is not just about making a connection but about starting conversations.

3) LinkedIn’s “search” function is world-class

LinkedIn’s search function is fantastic. It is enough to make any salesperson drool. At the top of every LinkedIn page is a search bar that lets you seek out people, businesses, posts, jobs, groups and schools (including universities, colleges etc.) 

If you know the name of the person or business you are looking for, you can search directly. If you know the name of the business but not the person you are looking for, you can search by job title, e.g. “Purchasing Manager, XYZ company”. You can also search for multiple people this way. 

Individual or multiple companies can also be searched for by typing in a combination of keywords, which will bring up all company pages or individual profiles associated with those terms. 

LinkedIn gives you plenty of variables to use to narrow your search down to only the most relevant results or people to target for your sales approach.

But where it all goes wrong

Salespeople struggle with 2 elements when using LinkedIn as their prospecting tool: Connecting and having conversations.

While most salespeople are still using generic connection requests, more and more of them are learning the hard way they need to personalize and/or connect offline first. Keep in mind that LinkedIn is your electronic business card to make it look sharp.

The biggest challenge for salespeople is to start and maintain a conversation with your decision-makers on LinkedIn. And this my friends is where it really falls apart for most salespeople. They think “selling” and not “conversing”.

Social Selling professionals understand the art of starting conversations both online and offline. They continue their offline conversations online and work with their decision-makers by being visible, providing value and keeping the conversation alive on LinkedIn.  And yes this requires effort but look on the bright side:

·        you do not have to get another face to face meeting to speak to your buyer

·        you do not have to spend several hours traveling back and forth

·        you do not have to keep playing telephone tag

The power of LinkedIn goes far beyond networking for both parties. It is all about exchanging information in a time efficient way and goal oriented. So how much time are you spending having conversations with your prospects?