LinkedIn 101: How To Unlock The Power Of This New Online Tool (Part II)
By Jill Konrath, Contributing Editor for Rain Today
I chose this post today because Social Networking Sites are very popular and Jill Konrath sheds light on how we can tap into the 17 million professionals in LinkedIn.
This is Part II of “LinkedIn 101″ provides a number of true stories for how professionals used LinkedIn to accomplish different goals. Members can read the first part of this series on RainToday.com.
LinkedIn, the online business networking site, connects over 17 million experienced professionals from over 150 countries. Yikes! That’s so many that it makes my head spin. I’d love to fantasize that a few of these people would stumble onto my profile, be suitably impressed and initiate contact. But so far, it hasn’t turned out that way.
Yet many sellers have learned how to leverage LinkedIn to drive more sales. They’re not sitting around waiting for their phone to ring. Instead, they’re using it as an additional resource that supports their prospecting efforts.
Here’s how your peers are using LinkedIn to grow their business. True stories. Real results.
Launching Account Entry Campaigns
Kent Speakman of Suitcase Interactive says: We’re very deliberate in pursuing certain targeted accounts. LinkedIn is a tool that allows our business development department to look for connections or contacts within their network they already know.
For example, when creating an account entry campaign for larger organizations, my team generates a list of people within the organization to be contacted to discuss our value proposition. By spending a short time span looking at the contacts they have, and who their contacts know, we can then ask for introductions to people at the target account. We usually have a much warmer response if we do it this way.
Connecting With CxOs
Stu Garrow, Managing Director of Software Traction Pty, Ltd. adds: I’ve used Linked-In a few times to discover that the CxO who I was trying to meet with was a contact of one of my direct contacts. It certainly opened some doors when I needed it, but it isn’t a replacement for proper research. Accessing second level contacts works, but 3rd, 4th and 5th level contacts would be a very long shot at success.
Inside Information
From the director of new business development at a marketing firm: I always look everyone up. You can glean all sorts of info this way. You can learn where someone has worked, where they went to school, hobbies and more. You can also find out who they’re linked to. Knowing “who knows who” is powerful. Plus, the idea is to become a subject matter expert, right? Well, LinkedIn is a cool tool to help that along.
Replacing Cold Calling
John-Erich Mantius, Director of Business Development at Arvato Digital Services, offers this advice: While not everyone you’d like to know is in LinkedIn, and the database is only as reliable as those users who keep their profiles updated, I find that it’s an indispensable part of my sales tool kit.
I’m pretty methodical about using it regularly to determine if anyone in my network “knows somebody who knows somebody.” I’d prefer not to cold call. Even if my network comes up empty, I’m sure to find someone at the company I was going to cold call who can help me navigate into an organization.
An example: At a conference last month, I was looking for the head of supply chain at one of the leading headset manufacturers in the US. I got the name, but the person was not sure of the spelling. Back in the office, I tried a few different ways of spelling his name on LinkedIn and voila … confirmed I had the right person. Alas, his profile was out of date. A quick Google search eliminated any doubt who I needed to call as a press release confirmed he’d left and where he was working now.
Sure, a Google search could have eliminated LinkedIn altogether, but what it could not do is tell me who within my network could connect me to my targeted contact. Continuing my search within LinkedIn, I found additional relevant contacts at this manufacturer. Once I had the e-mail protocol, I could add their names to my contact manager and begin strategizing my sales approach.
