Jill Konrath

Let me guess. Your company doesn't have any metrics for your value proposition and you're wondering if it's possible to be successful. Absolutely.

1. Go talk to Your Clients

If they don't have exact metrics, perhaps you can suggest a range. You might say, "Gut level – do you think it helped cut costs somewhere between 8 – 10%?" They'll either say, "That's about right," or tell you if it's too high or too low. Either way, you now have some metrics you can use.

This is one topic I never thought I'd write about. For many years, I wasn't at all grateful. I was too busy busting my butt, trying to make my own success at the same time I was raising an active, growing family.

I never gave even one little thought to the people who made it possible. Nor did I stop to appreciate the beauty of nature, the fortuitous life I was born into or how good a cup of coffee could really taste.

Then, a few years back, I had a couple of terrible years. Both personally and professionally. You might say it was a disaster.

Feeling slammed? Let me guess. You’re under intense pressure to meet your monthly numbers. It’s impossible to keep up with all the reports. You’ve got an open territory, your new hire is struggling and all this new technology is overwhelming.

Your customers are changing too. Getting on their calendar is increasingly difficult. They sometimes
disappear into black holes for months on end. They’ve upped their expectations, yet seem fixated
on the bottom line.

Have you ever tried to figure out what might go wrong before a meeting? That might be one of the smartest things you could do to win more sales.

Rather than waiting till the end to find out that you lost – and why – you can think about it way ahead of time when you can still make a difference.

When I think about all the business I've lost over the years, 3 main themes come to mind.

What would it take for you to double or even triple your win rates? According to LinkedIn research, you have a significantly better chance of closing sales when you have multiple connections within a single account.

Can it really be that simple?

Not exactly ... Winning isn't simply a function of having lots of LinkedIn connections. It requires a well-thought-out strategy. If you're only well connected to one or two people at a company, you're vulnerable if something happens to them.

Also, since most decisions today involve 4+ people, it's essential to establish relationships with all of them. That way you have a greater likelihood of getting buy-in, working through obstacles and keeping the decision process moving forward.

Last Wednesday, I spoke at Dreamforce, the big SalesForce.com event that draws 130,000+ people globally. I talked about today’s #1 competitive edge. (It’s what my new book, Agile Selling, is all about.) I also lead a panel discussion on this topic, featuring this extraordinary brain trust.

Left to right: Joanne Black (author of No More Cold Calling & Pick Up the Damn Phone), Debra Walton (Chief Content Officer of Thomson Reuters, HuffPo blogger & women’s advocate), Trish Bertuzzi (CEO of The Bridge Group inside sales consultancy), Josiane Feigon (author, speaker, sales futurist and CEO of Tele-Smart sales training) and me.

At Dreamforce last week, Bob Perkins of the AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) interviewed me and Trish Bertuzzi on key learnings and takeaways. (Trish is the CEO & Chief Strategist of The Bridge Group, a leading inside sales consultancy.)

In it, I share a key question every sales manager should ask their interviewees. It's a topic I'll be speaking more about at the INSIDE SALES 2014 Conference November 6th in Minneapolis.

I have a confession to make. I haven't updated my LinkedIn profile* for 18 months. I know. Shame on me. I'm supposed be a leader on things like that, but I'm human too.

If you looked at my profile, you'd probably think it's fine. It doesn't read like a boring resume or make me look like a hungry, job-hunting sales vulture. It doesn't sound like a self-serving company brochure.

It's customer focused, showcases my expertise and establishes my credibility. It's my professional presence online. Even LinkedIn says it's well done.

But here's the truth. My LinkedIn profile doesn't reflect changes I've made in the past year and a half. Worse yet, it's no longer meeting my objectives.

(FYI: It still says that I have a new book coming out in May, 2014 when it's already a bestseller. I didn't change anything because I want you to see what's wrong with it.)

Time to get some help! So I called in Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success to scour through it with a fine-tooth comb. He recommended the following 5 actions to help me leverage LinkedIn more effectively. Some really surprised me!

Before we dig in, here's a quick look at the top section of my profile:

Every time I do a sales acceleration workshop with a new client, I go to LinkedIn to check out the profiles of people who will be attending. Invariably, I see Summary sections that read like this:

• Big Deal's innovative solutions are blah, blah, blah. Our extensive client list includes these well-known organizations. We specialize in all this stuff.

• Quota-busting sales professional with 15 years experience in technology sales. Doggedly persistent, tough negotiator and fearless competitor.

Yes, that's a bit of hyperbole. But I think you get what I mean. And, my guess is that 85% of you who are reading this have a way-too-similar profile.

Two weeks ago I spoke at LinkedIn's SalesConnect Conference in San Francisco. Over 500 sales leaders came to learn more about leveraging LinkedIn to drive revenue.

Mike Derezin, VP of Sales at LinkedIn, shared one statistic that was mind-boggling:

Sales professionals who use social selling are 51% more likely to exceed their quota.

Got your attention yet? I sure hope so. At this point, you're probably asking, "So what exactly is this 'social selling' thing?" According to LinkedIn, the primary components are in the graph below.