So how many LinkedIn recommendations do you have on your profile? If you don’t have at least 10, you’re selling yourself short – and here’s why. Your prospects are checking you out. They want to know what kind of person you are.
Imagine if they go to your profile and see one or 2 recommendations – and they’re from your peers or former co-workers. Not too impressive.
Today I got this LinkedIn connect message from someone who's in a group with me. He's offering to help me -- or at least, I think he says he is.
Are you connected to all your customers on LinkedIn? Why not? When I asked most sellers that questions, I often get a blank stare – like they never thought of it. But there are a bazillion reasons why you should be networking on LinkedIn.
Are you using your LinkedIn headline to your best advantage? When your prospects check you out, that’s the first thing they see besides your name. And, if you’re like most sellers, you most likely have your job title listed. That is sooo boring. You need to make it memorable – so you standout in your prospect’s mind as an interesting person, an invaluable resource, or both.
Let me give you some examples.
You don’t exist to your prospects. You’re nobody. They’ve never heard of you. If they went to your company’s website, could they get a sense of your personal expertise and the value you could bring them?
Probably not. And, that’s a real issue! Recent research by CEB shows that YOU are more important than your products/services in getting the business.
What prospects really care about today is working with a knowledgeable person who can help them achieve their business objectives.
LinkedIn provides one of the best ways for you to show prospects that you can be an invaluable asset.
If you’re doing email prospecting and not concerned about your subject line, you should be. It’s the single biggest determinant if somebody opens your email - or not.
A lot of people don’t even think about email subject lines. They just put something like “Company overview” or “Update on what’s happening with our company.” And of course, the person who gets this in their email box thinks, “Why do I care about that?”
How do you find decision makers' names? That’s pretty important if you want to get your foot in the door of a new company. Let me tell you where to start.
The first thing to do is identify the position titles of the various people that you might want to talk to. Perhaps it’s the Head of Corporate Communications. Maybe it’s the Trade Show Director. Or, maybe it’s the VP of Marketing. Your job is to first identify the positions. That's where it all starts.
Is it a good idea to contact multiple decision makers in an organization at the same time? A lot of salespeople are afraid that means they’re going behind somebody’s back, and they certainly don’t want to to do that.
The answer is - it’s absolutely OK and you should be doing it!
Want to know how to get more customers without cold calling? Then I think you'll be interested in my interview today with Kendra Lee, author of The Sales Magnet. In this excellent new book, she shares tons of strategies you can use to fill your pipeline with new prospects. (Click here to download two free chapters.)
Are you wondering how much prospect research you should be doing before you contact a potential prospect? The answer depends on the value of the opportunity.