Jill Konrath

Rapid Learning Mini-Course Video #2

Welcome back. Today we’re going to look at how to use agile selling strategies to quickly master LinkedIn. Now, we’re not going to turn you into an overnight expert. However, in just 30 days we can get you up-and-running, so that you’re getting some real value out of it.

Why did I choose to tackle LinkedIn? Because whenever I speak to a group or do a workshop, I discover that the majority of reps only use a small fraction of what’s available – and they don’t do it very well.

I believe that everyone needs to learn more about LinkedIn. It's a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how to use rapid learning skills.

Rapid Learning Mini-Course Video #1

Welcome to my new 7-part series on how to use agile selling strategies to master LinkedIn. This program is based on my newest book, AGILE SELLING – which is all about how to quickly get up to speed in today’s ever-changing sales world.

After writing SNAP Selling, which reveals how to sell to today’s crazy-busy prospects, tons of salespeople came up to me (or emailed me) and said, “I’m crazy-busy too, Jill. Can you help me?”

Initially, I didn’t have an answer for them. It sounded like they needed a time management course – which has never been my strength.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the issue went way beyond that. Everyone had too much to do – including me. We’re totally overwhelmed. Our work spills into our holidays, weekends and evenings.

One most challenging aspects of learning something new is feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what you don’t know. Your To-Do list is probably a mile long already.

And, if you’re like most people, you haven’t even made a dent in it. In fact, you’ve probably already added a few additional items. Every day you fall further and further behind.

In Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, authors Burmeister and Tierney state that a person typically has 150 different tasks on their To-Do list.

Learning something fast requires concentration. To make sense of it all requires you to really wrap your brain around it. So does coming up with a new strategy for a perplexing sales problem or figuring out how to enter a new market.

Distractions of any sort slow your absorption of new material. Every time you jump off-topic, you waste hours of time getting your head back into the task at hand.

Yet most sellers are totally oblivious to the
#1 distraction of all – checking email.

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.

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.

Constant change. As a seller, that's your life these days. New products and services. Changing market conditions. Evolving buyer expectations. New positions. Promotions.

To be successful, the new master skill for salespeople is rapid learning – of both skills and information. That's what I'm speaking about at lots of conferences these days.

Recently, I gave a talk at HubSpot's big INBOUND14 conference with over 10,000 attendees. Graphical notetaker Kelly Kingman drew up my speech. It starts and ends with elephants. And, there's a ton of good info in-between. 

We've been told for an eternity that sales is a numbers game. And it's still a popular belief today.

The theory is that all we need to do if we want to be successful in this business is to call, call, call. If we do that, we'll fill our pipeline with a gazillion suspects, who'll turn into X number of prospects, opportunities, and ultimately, customers.

We've been lead to believe that going after all those prospects is essential to our success. But what if it isn't?

I'm serious. What if trying to work all those prospects contaminates our thinking and causes us to behave badly? What if we could generate more sales with fewer prospects?

Are you at the cusp of something new? Perhaps you've taken a new sales position. Maybe you're selling into new markets or to new buyers. You could be launching a new product or service. You might be responsible for onboarding a new rep.

Or just maybe you've finally realized that you're doomed unless you figure out how to deal with today's savvy, frazzled, sales-averse decision makers.

What's common between all those scenarios? You – or your new reps – are thrown into learning mode again.

You're overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of the task. You're not sure you'll ever figure it out. But here's the deal: to make that happen, you need to take control of your learning. It can't be done in bits and pieces, with no rhyme or reason on what you're learning first.

Last year I spoke at Dreamforce with my client DiscoverOrg.com. (If you sell into the IT area, check them out.) Over 130,000 Salesforce.com customers, developers and partners were there.

After our talk, I went to DiscoverOrg’s booth for a book signing. The exhibit hall was a zoo.

When all my books were gone, I spent time observing their salespeople in action. It was fascinating.