Replicate How I became Top 1% in less than 5 Months

Did you know LinkedIn says…

• 78% of social sellers outperform those who don’t use social media platforms.
• Social selling professionals are 50% more likely to meet or exceed sales quotas.
• B2B sellers create 45% more opportunities than peers with lower social selling index scores.

Last year December I decided to take LinkedIn seriously, Upon getting my Global talent Visa, I wanted to venture into Entrepreneurship and I was preparing the ground, I showed up daily, joined audio rooms, created mine, started Newsletters and took a coaching programme by my friend Cory Warfield . Couple of days ago I realised I was Top 1% on LinkedIn Uk and top 1% in my industry.

In this article, you will understanding your LinkedIn social selling index and why it is important for social selling.

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Favikon though not updated to most recent placed me at top 2% in UK and Top 1% in the industry with an influencer score of 179.

Here we’ll talk about what it is, why it’s crucial for value-based selling and how to improve it.

TL;DR

• The LinkedIn social selling index (SSI) measures four activities on your LinkedIn or Sales Navigator account.

• LinkedIn calculates your SSI based on various points within the four activities.
• Improving your SSI isn’t a tick-box exercise but part of a wider value-based selling approach.

What is a LinkedIn social selling index (SSI)?

Your social selling index measures four activities as they take place on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator.

?Four components of your score, each a 25% Maximum

The activities are:

1. Establish your professional brand - 22.5%
2. Build strong relationships - 25%
3. Find the right people - 11.202%
4. Engage with insights - 9.15%

How to find out your LinkedIn SSI score?

The SSI score used to only be available to people with a Sales Navigator account. But, LinkedIn decided to make it available to anyone with a LinkedIn account.

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To view it, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you’re logged into your LinkedIn account.
2. Visit: www.dhirubhai.net/sales/ssi .
3. Voila! You’ll see your score benchmarked against leaders in your industry.

How is the LinkedIn SSI calculated?

The four pillars we mentioned earlier calculate your LinkedIn SSI. ??

These are each measured on the following points:

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Establish your professional brand:

• Become a thought-leader by publishing meaningful posts.
• Long-form posts and the followers you get from them.
• Having a complete profile with the customer in mind (including cover photo, banner, about etc.).
• How many endorsements you have.
• Multimedia is used on your profile.

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Build strong relationships:

• Connection acceptance rate.
• How many connections you have.
• Business leaders and internal connections in your network.
• Strengthen your network by finding and establishing trust with decision makers.

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Find the right people:

• Days you’re active.
• Advanced searches you make.
• The number of profiles you view.
• How many prospects view your profile.
• The number of potential leads you save.
• Identify better prospects in less time using efficient search and research tools.

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Engage with insights:

• Discover and share conversation-worthy updates to create and grow relationships.
• How many engagements you give and receive.
• Engagement on your long-form posts.
• Shares of your content.
• InMail response rate.
• Saved accounts.
• Groups you join.
• Research views.

How to improve your social selling index

Improving your SSI isn’t a tick-box exercise. ?

Why take my word for it. I have over 2million impression in 24 days, 3,800+ likes and over 400,000 views on just one post. The Proof is in the Pudding: Viral Post Last 2 Weeks

Instead, it needs to be about making value based selling the norm. Here are 3 Tips for Value based selling?

• ?Prospecting is just another channel, not the only one. A value-based selling approach recognizes that sellers need to make human-to-human relationships.
• Sales professionals need to be subject matter experts (SMEs). You’ve got to become a master of your product and talk to potential buyers on their level.

• You need to focus on the prospective client and their needs. Sales calls need to be taken from a nuisance to a value-add.?

Here are some things to focus on without fixating on what your score is. Start taking care of these activities in your daily prospecting; the score will take care of itself.

Create your personal brand

This ties into at least two of the measures for SSI. Creating a personal brand is a new priority for salespeople and recruiters. ??

Here are 11 ways to create a personal brand:

1. Try using different content types like video.
2. Make your LinkedIn profile enticing.
3. Engage with your target audience.
4. Optimise your profile for SEO.
5. Share valuable content.
6. Join LinkedIn Groups.
7. Add new connections.
8. Write LinkedIn articles.
9. Speak at LinkedIn Events.
10. Reply to your direct messages.
11. Seek endorsements and recommendations.

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“I sell to salespeople. And I now have a large amount of credibility as I’m a big sales nerd, and I have a large network that’s really helped me.” - Jack Neicho

Does my strategy work? Show Don't tell

Finding the right people

I always say before moving to The advanced search functionality on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator is key to finding your target audience. Have you exhausted the free functionalities?

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With a free LinkedIn profile, you can use people search filters like:

• Connections of.
• Followers of.
• Location.
• Subjects they talk about.
• Current company.
• Past company.
• School.
• Industry.
• Open to.
• Service categories.
• Keywords (first name, last name, job title, company, school).

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This is great if you don’t have a LinkedIn Sales Navigator account.?

“With bottom-up selling, I’ll often know an account executive or sales rep in a company that I can reach out to. I can ask them about their tech stack and their challenges.”

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Most people pitch without engaging in social selling. I am sure you have seen many ways not to, if in doubt, just check your messages for sales messages you left unattended to. It is quite strange that when we get desperate, you tend to sound like that.

Here’s an example of an InMail you could send when bottom-up selling. ??

?This type of messages will always get a positive response. In less than 24 hours I got a positive feedback and a recommendation.?

Engage with what your ICP shares

You should incorporate LinkedIn-based sales efforts into your daily prospecting.

Aside from your posts and building your profile and outreach, you must engage with your professional network. After accepting your sent connection requests, consider what comes next. When do you start engaging with your audience’s content?

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Remember, you’ve got to have goals to keep your ICP engaged. Aim to like, share and comment if you can add value.

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Here are three rules to live by:

1. Always reply to your DMs.
2. Always personalise your connection requests.
3. Reply to every comment on your LinkedIn posts.

Nurture relationships

Success in Outbound Sales today is all about building relationships, However I focus more on Inbound. LinkedIn is the perfect platform to do this and create demand for your company.

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The goals mentioned above for engaging with your ICP will help. But what else can you do to measure how building your professional network nurtures relationships?

Here are what metrics to suggests:

• Increased engagement. The engagement you’re having with relevant people will be on the rise. This goes beyond meaningless comments like ‘I agree’.
• Increased followers. You won’t be attracting anyone and everyone but the people you want to do business with.
• Increased performance. The content you share will begin to perform better as you understand your audience more and more.
• Increased output. Posting content becomes part of your sales cadence. You start to post more.
• More opportunities. You’ll notice that you get invited onto podcasts and other side gigs. This is a good sign what you’re doing is working.

FAQ

Here are some asked questions about the LinkedIn SSI. ??

Does the LinkedIn social selling index affect my visibility on the platform?

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LinkedIn’s social selling index (SSI) measures how you use LinkedIn for social selling activities. The SSI does not affect your profile visibility. But it can impact your visibility based on your engagement with other users and LinkedIn presence.

What are the benefits of a high social selling index score on LinkedIn?

Having a high LinkedIn social selling index score can provide several benefits. And not just help you achieve your sales target.

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1. Increased visibility: A high SSI score indicates you are active on LinkedIn. This means the algorithm may focus on showing your content and profile to a wider audience.
2. Personal branding: You can present yourself as a thought leader by sharing valuable content and engaging with others. This can help boost your reputation and credibility.
3. Professional network reach: Using social media platforms helps to grow your network. You will engage with relevant people in your industry when you do activities that boost SSI. And not only potential prospects but also influencers and partners.
4. Improved relationship building: Social selling is about building meaningful relationships. A high SSI score indicates that you engage with your network, start conversations, and nurture relationships.
5. Access to insights and tools: LinkedIn provides more insights and tools to users with higher SSI scores. These resources may include access to advanced analytics, personalized recommendations, and training materials. Leveraging these resources can further enhance your social selling strategies and effectiveness.
6. Competitive advantage: A high SSI score can give you an edge in a competitive marketplace. It shows your dedication to using LinkedIn as a sales tool and differentiates you from others who don’t have a strong online presence.

Can I see my social selling index score on LinkedIn for free?

Yes! Although viewing your score used to be part of Sales Navigator licences, anyone can now view it for free.

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Follow these steps to view your LinkedIn social selling index for free:

1. Make sure you’re logged into your LinkedIn account.
2. Visit: www.dhirubhai.net/sales/ssi .
3. You’ll see your score benchmarked against other influencers in your industry.