What is the LinkedIn Social Selling Index and Why It Matters to Your Business?

What is the LinkedIn Social Selling Index and Why It Matters to Your Business

There is not a single social media platform that is more important for business than LinkedIn. 

The professional networking site has over 750 million users, and it's estimated that around half of those are outside the US.

Companies like HubSpot have already seen results from focusing on LinkedIn as a social media channel, and now they're sharing their insights with us to help you see just how powerful this tool can be for your business.

This article will explore the LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI), its impact on your marketing strategy, and why you need to start paying attention right now!

Definition of LinkedIn Social Selling Index

According to LinkedIn Sales Solution, LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) is a measure of a salesperson's social selling skills and execution.

LinkedIn basically measures your performance on each of the 4 Pillars of Social Selling based on a scale from 0 to 25, then sums the four scores into SSI.

Actually, the social selling index score used to be only available to those who subscribed to the LinkedIn Sales Navigator tool. But LinkedIn decided to make the SSI score available to anyone with a LinkedIn account.

If you have a LinkedIn account, you can see your Social Selling Index score and an overview of your scores in the 4 pillars of Social Selling.

First of all... What is Social Selling anyway?

The term "social selling" is a new buzzword in the marketing industry. The idea that social media can be leveraged to generate leads and sales has been around for years, but it's only recently that this concept has come into vogue.

The term Social Selling is often misunderstood by marketers, business owners, and entrepreneurs. It's important to know what social selling really entails before you start implementing it in your marketing strategy.

Social Selling is a way of marketing your products or services that leverages social networks and the habits people have when they engage with these platforms.

Mike Derezin (Vice President of Sales at LinkedIn) says that social selling increases win rates because it is quicker to build a relationship through a warm introduction than cold outreach.

Social Selling is a long-term investment in your company's outreach network.

Cold mailings and emails to potential clients are attention-grabbing, but social selling engages the buyer personally to find it more appealing as time goes by.

Where did Social Selling come from?

It's no secret that social media has been transforming the way we do business.

Gone are the days when a customer would have to walk into your store or give you a call to inquire about your product. The internet and its benefits make it possible for customers to reach out anytime, anywhere, but while this makes things easier for them, how does it affect our jobs as marketers?

The idea behind Social Selling is that instead of waiting around for people to find you online, you should be strategically connecting with potential clients first-hand through Facebook and Twitter. It's not enough anymore to post ads or send out newsletters--you need a personal touch!

The University of British Columbia conducted research about the relationship between buyer and seller. They found that a sale is more likely to happen when there are similarities between them. Hence, "Sales 2.0" was coined by Nigel Edelshain.

This was discovered at the same time as online social connections were starting to gain popularity.

Nigel was the first to put this into practice and named it sales 2.0 after the rise of web 2.0. It soon became known as social selling. 

The term Social Selling is relatively new. It was not until the advent of social media that this phenomenon became a part of business practices. The first company to use social selling was Dell, which used it to extend its marketing strategy. In 2010, they started using Twitter and Facebook to supplement their traditional advertising campaigns for laptops and desktops.

What are the 4 Pillars of Social Selling?

Social selling seems to be a collection of tactics that enable sales professionals to succeed in this changing environment.

The 4 Pillars of Social Selling are the four ways to create an authentic and engaging presence on social media. It's a strategy that can be used by anyone who wants to grow their business with authenticity, transparency, and consistency combined with creativity.

Social selling revolves around 4 pillars.

• Establish a professional brand
• Find the right people
• Engage with Insights
• Building relationships

Why are these 4 Pillars so important on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for professionals. It's also a great place to network and showcase your expertise.

It also allows you to connect with your professional connections and potential clients. It's essential to follow the 4 pillars of social selling.

Each pillar builds off of one another and is all essential for success in LinkedIn.

Establishing a professional brand online. 

It's crucial to establish a professional brand online if you want your business to stand out. It's easy for people to get lost in the shuffle with millions of other companies, and it can be challenging to retain customers without an established following.

A brand is a promise. It's the sum of all interactions with customers, and it determines how they feel about your company. The most valuable thing you own as a business owner is your reputation - so it's essential to protect that at all costs.

We live in a society where everything is about branding. Whether you're an individual or a company, you need to brand yourself professionally so that people know who you are and what your skill sets are.

If you have a strong brand, more and more buyers want to engage with you.

Here are some statistics from LinkedIn Research that proves how important having a strong, professional brand is:

• 81% of the buyers are more likely to engage with a professional and robust brand.
• Sales representatives that exceed quota get 35% more page views than their peers.
• 92% of B2B buyers engage with sales professionals that are known as industry thought leaders.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, you must have a solid professional brand.

People are more likely to hire and buy from someone they know, like, or trust. It's time for you to start thinking about how others perceive your business and what they can expect when working with or buying your products.

Find the right prospects and customers.

With the use of social media, we are constantly being bombarded with ads. The truth is that you cannot just advertise to anyone and expect them to buy your product or service. That's why marketers and business owners need to find the right prospects and customers.

The business owner needs to find the right prospects and customers for their products or services to keep making a profit. Knowing how to find your target audience is vital for the success of any business.

If we don't find the right people, then we won't be successful as sales professionals.

If you're not finding the right people to connect with, it's a lot harder for them to see you. You never want to be one of those spam messages in their inbox or get lost behind a message that just came through from someone else they know. Start by looking at your connections.

LinkedIn Research shows that:

• Sales representatives who exceed quota are 39% more likely to engage with their prospects on LinkedIn
• Sales Representatives who exceed quota also save 45% more leads than those who don't exceed quota.
• Sales Representatives who viewed at least 10 profiles at each of their accounts were 69% more likely to hit quota.

These statistics show that having constant activity on LinkedIn and engaging with prospects and leads in the platform effectively bring success to people.

It can be challenging to make sure you're always on LinkedIn and engaging with prospects and leads. You might find yourself spending hours a day looking for new clients, sending messages, or responding to notices that came in throughout the day.

But if you're not engaging with people, it will be hard to get them interested in what you do or sell. It's time to stop being so passive on the world's largest professional networking site and start taking an active approach to growing your business with LinkedIn.

Engage with insights.

Many marketers tend to use clickbait tactics or spamming their followers with lots of links back to their site. Still, this approach doesn't work anymore because more and more people are becoming savvier about these marketing techniques.

It is crucial for us as business owners and marketers to offer helpful information to help those around us succeed in their endeavors.

The more valuable your content is, the more engaged your audience will be.

Sales professionals must understand their prospects and customers so that they can provide the right solution in order not only to make the first sale but also to establish long-term relationships, which will lead them to more opportunities down the road.

Statistics from LinkedIn Research says:

• Nearly 64% of B2B buyers report that they appreciate hearing from a salesperson who provides knowledge or insight about their business.
• People are 70% more likely to get an appointment or unexpected sale if you are a member of LinkedIn groups
• Sales representatives that exceed quota get 74% more engagement on their posts.

Content marketing is an important way for businesses to share their expertise and insights with customers. Giving valuable content means that the company or individual will be seen as more trustworthy, leading to more engagement.

People enjoy reading high-quality posts as they give them new insights and information they didn't know before. They want information that they can use to apply in their own lives, making them feel accomplished.

Build trusted, professional relationships.

"Relationships are key to business success. Entrepreneurs, consultants, and marketers need to build relationships with their clients to maintain a healthy and long-lasting business relationship."

In marketing, it is vital to building solid relationships with clients to build a successful business. 

The old way of doing things may have been influential in the past, but it's not going to cut it anymore.

With social media becoming one of the most popular ways for people and businesses to interact with each other, you need a social media strategy if you want your company or name out there.

Trusted relationships are increasingly more valuable. 

Relationships can be used to grow your business, gain new clients, and even find a job.

If you want to build trust with someone, then you need to make sure that you never lie or mislead them in any way. You also need to make sure that the information that they receive from you is factual and accurate, so they don't feel like they have been misled or lied to at all.

So, sales professionals need to make sure that every engagement we have will leave a positive experience. We have to make sure that our previous clients or customers are willing to refer us to their network.

The more trustworthy a company is perceived, the higher its conversion rates.

Here are some statistics that prove how important it is to contact more people and build more relationships.

• 73% of B2B buyers prefer sales professionals who have been referred by someone they know
• 87% of B2B buyers have a favorable impression of a salesperson who was introduced to them through their network
• Buying decisions now typically contact around 7 decision-makers.

In today's world, the only way to grow your business is by building relationships and connecting with more people. You may have a good product or service that offers value, but if you don't get out there and connect with people, no one will know it exists.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, consultant, or marketer, your ability to build and maintain relationships is critical for success.

It's not enough to have a great product or service anymore. To be successful in today's world, you need a vast network of people to advocate for your business and help get the word out about what you do.

If you want to grow your customer base, you must constantly reach out and network with potential customers and influencers in your industry.

Where can we find the Social Selling Index?

LinkedIn's Social Selling Index is connected to Sales Navigator. In fact, checking your SSI score used to be available only to those who use Sales Navigator. But a remarkable change LinkedIn applied is that they allowed the SSI score available for anyone who has a LinkedIn account.

To check your social selling index on LinkedIn, all you need to do is to log in to your LinkedIn account and go to this website: https://www.dhirubhai.net/sales/ssi

How can you use LinkedIn's Social Selling Index for your business?

If you're looking to make a LinkedIn profile that will truly stand out, then it's time to understand your Social Selling Index score. The SSI is calculated by analyzing a person's connections and engagement on Linkedin. It helps rank someone in the professional world according to how they use social media for their business.

The best way to figure out your SSI is to look at what you have done so far with LinkedIn. And take note of all the people who have liked or commented on your posts.

It's crucial for all entrepreneurs, marketers, consultants, and business owners to know their Social Selling Index score to decide if it would be best for them to build up their personal brand or work on growing their company's brand.

The SSI Score is a good indicator as it measures how well you're doing on social media, but there's so much more than just this one number. You need to understand what type of content will resonate with your audience and what times they'll be most responsive.

Your LinkedIn Social Selling Index says a lot about you as a brand. You can use your score as a metric to measure how you are doing on LinkedIn as a brand.

You can also use your LinkedIn Social Selling Index to set goals for the future.

What should you keep in mind?

The higher the score, the better. You want to have a high social selling index to reflect well on you as an individual and help improve your business opportunities with others on LinkedIn.

How can you read and understand your Social Selling Index Score?

Your social selling index score is a measure of your "LinkedIn engagement."

Your target must be to hit 25 in each pillar if you really want to boost your sales. The higher your SSI score is, the higher the chance you have to increase your sales.

To understand your SSI score, you have to look into each pillar.

Establish your professional brand

If your score in this pillar is in the range of 20-25, you are doing great in communicating your brand to your connections and establishing it to be something well-known to your network.

It means that you've been sharing great information on LinkedIn for a while now. And you've been sharing pieces that speak directly to those who may be interested in your company or services.

A strong brand is more than just a logo and color scheme. It's how you interact with your customers and prospects, the way you speak to them, and how you make them feel about themselves when they're in your presence.

The best brands are emotional connections that people make with each other.

They connect because of what they do for their clients, but also who they are as individuals.

Having a high score in this pillar means that you have established a brand that is more than just logos or slogans. Your brand has become something that resonates with people and becomes 'part of their lives.' You can establish your core values, purpose, and personality in a way that your audience feels connected enough to invest in who you are.

Find the right people.

Prospects are the lifeblood of any business. Without prospects, we would have no leads to convert into customers or clients. However, finding the right prospects is not always an easy task. How do you know if you've found the right ones?

If your score range is 20-25, it means that you already have a great understanding of who your target audience is. 

You have a clear idea of what your potential clients want and need. You understand their language, culture, geographic location, social media channels that are most popular with them, the content style they prefer to consume on these platforms, etc.

You already know where to find them and what keywords you should choose to find them on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn connections are only limited. A LinkedIn user can only have 30,000 1st degree connections on the platform.

So having a high score in this pillar also means that you are doing a great job with spending your limited connections on the right people for you, your brand, and your career.

Engage with Insights

Engaging on social media is the best way to grow your following and get new followers.

It's essential to give valuable insights in your posts and articles and in your engagements with other content on LinkedIn.

Many marketers and business owners believe that giving valuable insights to their audience is a waste of time.

The truth is, you have to give your audience something for them to be interested in what you're selling or offering. If your audience doesn't feel like they are gaining anything from the blog post, then it's unlikely they will read on.

If your score is in the range of 20-25 in this pillar, you are contributing a lot of valuable insights to your connections. You are leaving comments on their posts and replying to comments left on your posts.

Having a high score in this pillar means creating conversations that can make customers feel like they're part of something bigger than just themselves.

It also means that you are engaging enough to start building relationships and giving your audience a personal experience.

Have you ever wondered why some people are successful, and others aren't? It's because they embrace their audience.

The more time you spend engaging with your audience, the more time they will spend with you.

If you're a business owner or marketer, it is essential to know that your customers have choices regarding who they spend money on.

Build relationships

Your audience is your business. It's as simple as that.

Your customers are the reason for your success, and you need to make sure they have a good experience with your brand or product so they'll come back again and refer their friends to you.

So if your score in this pillar is ranging from 20-25, then you are successful in building relationships with them through blogging, social media engagement, valuable interactions, etc.

When people know who you are and what makes you different from other brands in your industry, it becomes easier for them to choose to buy from YOU instead of someone else because another company was more convenient or had better prices.

Having a high score in this pillar means that you can gain an audience who follows your company's page and genuinely wants to hear from you every day.

You can stay in contact with them and keep up-to-date with what's going on in their lives.

You can show that you care about them and want to hear from them often.

What can you do to improve your Social Selling Index Score?

The Social Selling Index is one of the best ways for any business to gauge its social selling efforts. It's a simple way to measure how well you're doing, and it can be improved with just a few tweaks.

There are many things you can do on LinkedIn to increase your social selling index score:

Establish Your Professional Brand

It's not enough to just have a great product. You need to establish your brand with customers and potential clients to recognize you as the expert in your field.

Here are ways you can establish your brand on LinkedIn:

• Profile completeness

You want your LinkedIn profile to be complete to come up at the top when you are Googling yourself. And if not, they're likely going to find a blog entry about beer pong instead of a professional one!

A completed profile is better for both customers and potential employers - especially since social media profiles rank highly on search engines like Google.

A LinkedIn study has revealed that the more work you put into your professional networking, the greater your potential for success. More offers? Check. More contacts and leads? Ditto.

With a complete LinkedIn profile, you can drive traffic to your business through inbound marketing.

In the age of digital media and data collection, any company needs to target potential clients with ease.

Having a complete LinkedIn profile makes it that much easier to leverage all the tools available on this site.

Having a full-fledged profile is more likely to make people want to discuss with you because they know everything there is to know about whom you are as individuals when creating one at first glance.

You'll be surprised how much your professional standing can improve with a complete LinkedIn profile. It's essential to update it regularly and make sure you answer recruiters' questions thoroughly so that they know the most qualified people are applying for their jobs!

• Multimedia on profile

Have you considered adding a little multimedia to your LinkedIn profile? Multimedia can make it more exciting and add essential details that just can't be included in the Experience section without causing too many long descriptions.

Multimedia transforms your LinkedIn profile from a bland, static text-only page to an interactive and engaging hub where you can offer viewers first-hand insight into what it's like working with you.

The critical thing you want people to see when they visit your page on this site should be YOU, not someone else's screenshot of some random webpage or photo album.

Multimedia increases engagement as readers stay longer on your LinkedIn profile and, in the process, get to know you better and imagine how they can work with you.

The best multimedia is when it creates an experience for them that feels like a good old-fashioned conversation, but without ever having spoken to each other before.

With all of the various multimedia platforms out there, you have multiple ways to present your brand. You can use video snippets on YouTube or full-length videos for Facebook Live or Instagram stories.

If pictures are more your style, you may use pictures you created specifically for your LinkedIn profile or pictures you got from your other social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Because not everyone likes reading text!

• Banner photo

The banner photo of your LinkedIn profile should not go unnoticed.

The first thing people see when they visit your page is an integral part of how you present yourself to the world, so make sure it's something that reflects who you are and what matters most to you professionally.

It is a great way to show off who you are, what you do and make your professional thoughts visible.

You want people visiting your site for the first time to know precisely where they stand when looking at it- so use something that really represents all aspects of yourself.

You often hear people say that "you can't judge a book by its cover," well, in the case of LinkedIn, you sure as heck can.

Think about your background and what it says about you. If the answer is "The same ole tired background many LinkedIn members are using," then think of ways in which to create a unique identity for yourself.

• Endorsements

You know what they say - the more, the merrier. If you're looking to get in front of as many people as possible, your LinkedIn profile is a great place to start.

In fact, according to research by LinkedIn themselves (yes, that's right), those who list at least five skills on their profiles receive up to 17x more views than those without any listed!

Sure there might be some competition for top spots, but it's worth fighting over, and don't forget: with every new employer or industry contact comes another opportunity.

So make sure you have all your bases covered from keywords through titles and descriptions because this will only help both yourself, AND potential employers find each other faster when searching online.

Adding skills to your resume is an excellent way of signaling that you're proficient at what you do and makes it more likely for potential employers, customers, or clients to reach out.

But how do you get endorsements on LinkedIn?

The easiest way to get endorsements is by asking for them!

Don't be shy and request people who may know of your skills endorse you on LinkedIn. It will take some time, but people on LinkedIn will eventually see your skills and endorse you.

But what is the best way to ask?

The key here is to be humble, honest, and precise.

Be very specific about which skill you are looking for an endorsement on without making it sound like a requirement that they do so or else!

Keep in mind, too, that people want something in return. So, make sure to endorse them on their top skills first before they can actually endorse you on your top skills.

• Long-form posts and followers from posts

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs. It can help you grow your business, make connections with potential customers, and find job opportunities that are perfect for your skillset.

The more content you create on the site - whether it's blog posts or presentations from events like this one- the easier it will be to get discovered by people on LinkedIn.

Every piece of quality content you share can make your profile appear in more search results, making it easier for hiring managers or industry leaders to find you!

Short-form posts are an easy place to start, as you can comment on third-party content or create your own original pieces of work in the form of text, video, audio recordings, etc.!

But if you really want to rank high in search engines and social sharing, you may wish to explore long-form posts.

Google is a search engine that relies heavily on the length of content, and it's not just for long-tail keywords.

A study by Moz found that posts with more than 1,000 words tend to rank higher in specific searches because Google considers them authoritative pieces worthy of indexing.

Longer articles also have better odds when it comes to ranking. They're typically longer tail keyword rich - meaning their text includes specific terms or phrases related to the topic at hand rather than general overviews about any given subject (e.g., "What are some tips for writing a great blog post?" vs. "How do I write a good first sentence").

You might not think about it this way, but you're a content creator. While writing for LinkedIn is very different from other forms of social media like Facebook or Twitter, your goal should be the same: to provide value to others by giving them insights that will help their careers and businesses grow.

The best posts on LinkedIn are ones where someone has something valuable they want to say - not just "Hi!" So make sure what you post is well-researched and useful so people can learn from it too!

Find the right people.

Finding the right prospects and people is an integral part of your marketing strategy. As an entrepreneur, you have to find the right people who will grow with your company or buy from you.

In today's world, it's not enough to just target anyone who might potentially need what you're selling. You need a laser-like focus on finding the perfect person - someone who needs what you're offering and has money to spend. 

Having a good grasp of demographics can help narrow down where these prospects are contacted easily by email or phone call (don't forget about social media). Demographic data also helps tailor content for specific groups and understand their views on different topics like politics, religion, etc.

Here are some of the ways you can do on LinkedIn to improve this pillar:

• Advanced lead and account searches

LinkedIn is a place that professionals go to connect with other industry experts and learn new things.

So, in addition to being a great pool of potential customers, it's also an enormous ocean of motivated and educated business people looking for ways to take themselves and their businesses further.

There is an excellent chance that some of these people will be looking for someone who does what you do.

You don't want to wait around hoping they'll find you or rely on your friends and family to refer clients.

Instead, LinkedIn's powerful search tool allows users an array of filters, including location filters, so there's no need to spend hours searching through profiles!

The more you use these advanced search filters, the higher your score in this pillar will be.

• Prospecting profile views

Prospecting a profile means that you actually open a user's profile and see what they are all about.

LinkedIn prospecting is easy with the Advanced People Search.

Input search terms and filters in LinkedIn's Advanced People Search to find people interested in your product or service and then reach out using messages pulled from their profile information.

But why is it so crucial to LinkedIn?

When you view someone's profile, LinkedIn perceives that you are actually requesting and accepting connection requests with discretion.

It means that you are actually putting to filter people and find the right prospects and connections for you.

So do not just connect with random people!

Take time and effort to check out their profiles and analyze whether connecting with them would benefit you both.

• Inbound profile views

The more profile views you have, the higher your chance of getting leads.

When your profile is viewed, it's a good sign that people are interested in who you really are. 

Even if someone has already connected with you or not, they're still curious enough to check out what makes this person tick!

Profile views are definitely something to monitor.

And if you want to increase your chances of winning, make sure that LinkedIn is obvious and findable with a well-crafted personal brand strategy.

How can you keep your views up?

You must constantly update your profile and ALWAYS go back to the first pillar, establishing your professional brand.

• Leads saved

Keeping up with the latest business trends is hard enough!

But it's even harder when you're trying to keep track of six eight people in a decision-making process that doesn't stay stagnant.

That being said, if anyone decides they don't want something anymore or has moved onto another company, then half your job searching work could be lost - so remember everyone!

An excellent way to ensure ownership over each member on this list and their activity happening on LinkedIn is by saving them as leads and accounts for future reference.

I believe this ties up with prospecting profiles. LinkedIn sees this as you being smart with your leads and prospects.

So, the more you save leads, the more your score gets higher!

• Days active

Being active on LinkedIn can help you stay top of mind with your professional network.

And by doing so, it also shows others that they are essential to you.

Posting updates about what's happening in your life or commenting on other people's posts will keep them thinking about how much they care for interaction with you. It only takes 15 minutes a day!

Being active online has many benefits;

One being the ability to show our networks we still think highly of them even when not face-to-face through social media platforms such as LinkedIn.

If I'm aiming for three-five status updates daily from my personal account—just including those shared ones-this means engaging in discussions every few hours at most (which is just about 15 minutes a day).

We all want to be successful in today's business world, and being social on LinkedIn is one way of showing that you are still around. This may help people see the value in working with you again or referring potential clients your way.

Engage with Insights

You need to give value before you receive value. That's just how it goes on LinkedIn.

So, here are ways you can try out to improve your score:

• Give and receive more engagements
• Receive more engagements on long-form posts
• Get more shares of your content
• Send more messages and use InMail frequently
• Join more groups
• Save searched accounts
• Be more researchable

You may have heard that LinkedIn isn't a popular social media site because it's got so many inactive members. But in 2017, when they hit 500 million people, only 50% of them were active at least monthly (which was actually an improvement from past years). So what changed?

In 2018, LinkedIn made significant changes to both the user experience and its algorithm. As of November 13th, it had reached 590 million members - an 18% increase from last year! It's growing at a rate of more than two new members per second as well.

LinkedIn is a platform that seems to be experiencing upward trends in both its user activity and content engagement.

Microsoft also reported that: "LinkedIn revenue increased 33% (up 33% in constant currency) with record levels of engagement highlighted by LinkedIn sessions growth of 34%."

In an October LinkedIn Engineering post, the platform also reported that engagement increased by more than 50% year over year.

So, how can you increase your engagement on LinkedIn?

There is honestly so much you can do. Posting valuable and targeted content regularly has been shown to help.

Additionally, you can comment on others' posts and start following more people and groups on LinkedIn, or reach out to individual members with connections in your industry for possible partnerships that might be mutually beneficial.

Your messages also play a massive role in your engagement. Commenting is one good thing. But taking the extra mile to message someone directly and joining groups plays a considerable role in increasing your engagement.

Whatever you decide to do- don't be afraid because engaging the platform is so important!

Build relationships

"A bigger following means more sales." It's a common idea in social media, but it can be an ineffective strategy on LinkedIn.

Let's face it, having a vast audience of thirsty followers sounds like a fantastic thing.

But the truth is that you should take your time to really connect with people who care about what you have to say and will be there for all the highs and lows in life.

Here is what you can do to build more relationships and increase your score:

• Don't waste your connections.

A user is only allowed to have 30,000 connections on LinkedIn. This means that you need to be selective and not try to connect with everyone.

Don't just ask for introductions.

Asking people you barely know for a connection can seem like an easy way out when the truth is they might not want to get introduced or feel obligated if you have a familiar acquaintance in your network.

• Target a powerful connection which means connecting with people whose positions are VP+

Imagine what your prospects would think when they visited your profile and saw that you are connected with people with high positions. Wouldn't they be more interested in who you are and what you offer?

These are industry leaders, and there is so much you can learn from them and their experience in the industry.

• Connect with your Internal Connections.

This means connecting with people you already know. This can be someone who went to the same university as you or someone who works in the same company.

You know you have a great network when it's made up of people from your past that already know and love you. These individuals will connect with you quickly, making them the perfect group to start building relationships to increase your connections!

• Make sure to have a high acceptance rate for connection requests you've sent.

It's not uncommon for people to need an adjustment period before they are willing to hear a sales pitch.

It is all about building a relationship with prospects and establishing trust in your company over time, which will ultimately lead them down that path of buying from you.

When it comes to LinkedIn, it's not enough to just send one message.

You need more than that for your career prospects to be sustainable and prosperous over time. 

To do so, you have to design a campaign or personalize each connection request which helps you stay consistently connected with the best of them!

Conclusion

You may not be aware of the power your LinkedIn account has over you and how it can work to your advantage.

With an SSI score, you can gauge where you stand regarding social selling skills and execution on this platform.

The 4 pillars of Social Seling are important for LinkedIn as they will help determine the performance of each user in their network and help them gain success with other professionals.

Your SSI is a way for people to see who you really are professionally (and if there's any chance that they should connect with you).

If you're curious about what yours looks like or want more information on how we can help maximize its potential, let us know!