SOCIAL SELLING ON LINKEDIN

Veronica Dogbegah (Business Development Executive)

WHAT IS LINKEDIN?

This is a social platform for professional individuals and groups to engage in business related issues, generate sales leads or even get jobs.

5 steps to becoming a social selling pro

You’re not just connecting to the person you’re connecting to a network

Make the effort to stand out –it’s worth the investment

Focus on your personal professional brand

The era of cold calling is gone –use social networks for prospecting:

1.Build a prospect list

2.Nurture and engage

3.Create a connection

How to build a prospect list on LinkedIn.

Find prospects from contact or groups you are involved in on LinkedIn.

See how you are connected to these prospects identified.

You can ask for an introduction if not connected or send an Inmail.

It is very important to note that before we contact or engage with our prospect, we must have done lots of homework. Know prospects position in their firms, topics or events they engage in and what groups they are in even, a bit of their personal life such as alma mater. This information gathered will break the ice before contacting them.

Basic rules to observe before contacting your prospects.

Endorse your prospect or like a post before messaging.

Do not sell your company’s product or service during the first contact in order not to be rejected.

Inmail should be more about them and not you or your firm.

Pick a topic of shared interest.

How to nurture and engage. Nurturing and engaging with your

prospects requires lots of listening to your prospects and their activities on their social platforms. Their interest and opinions.

The following practiced could be adopted:

Monitor prospect Profiles

•Blogs

•Twitter Profiles

•LinkedIn Profiles

• Listen For Trigger Events•Group Activities

•Leadership Changes

•Expanding Operations

•Personal events(birthday, role change, promotion)

Watch For New Activity

•New Connections

•Who’s Recommending Who

• Listen For Their Point Of View

•Group Activity

•Google Your Prospects Name With “Blog”

•Create a list of keywords (terms relevant to them, triggers, pain points, failures, solutions, etc.)

How to create a connection. After all the hard work and background

check of your prospects, you will then find a connection to relate you to the prospects.

These connections may include; alma mater, an article written by the prospects, an industry related opinion or a business group you both belong to.

You are now ready to make a contact with your prospect. It is very important to keep these tips in mind whiles sending an Inmail.

Keep the message short Be friendly and creative Be persistent and professional

WHICH WILL YOU RESPOND TO?

Creating a useful template

Inmails Body Text

SOME EXAMPLES OF INMAILS

Tips in engagement Non-sales pitch Conversation starters Non-Company or product Focused on common interests Objective in this stage is to QUALIFY

not convince Reverse psychology open people up Like, comment, endorse, congratulate

How do I measure my success?

Your success on LinkedIn can be measured using SSI (Social Selling Index)

In Summary.

Question Time

Reference. Marco, A. (2016). “SAP social selling partner program: modular 3 information” Retrieved May 02, 2016, from file:///C:/Users/veronica/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/ZUBXO369/SAPModule3%20-%20Social%20SellingPartnerWebinarV7_200416.pdf