Making Sales Social Live Episode # 43 – 8 Mistakes Sales Pros are Making on LinkedIn
| June 7, 2022
Watch On-Demand Here
In this episode…
Our hosts Brynne Tillman and Bob Woods take us on another interesting ride into the world of social selling as they tackle eight common mistakes salespeople tend to make on LinkedIn.
Learn what engagement strategies you need to be doing instead of committing LinkedIn don’ts such as the “connect and pitch,” the “connect and forget,” the random acts of social, and many more.
Connect with Brynne and Bob on LinkedIn or you can also visit our LinkedIn page to watch this episode again and get daily tips from the Social Sales Link team!
Things you will learn in this episode:
1. A salesperson can’t have a self-centered LinkedIn profile. Shift your profile from a resume to a resource, focusing on what interests your buyers and how you help them. Create curiosity. Teach them something new that gets them thinking differently about the way they’re doing things.
2. Do not connect and immediately pitch. We need to start showing up as a resource first. Bring value. Earn the right to get the conversation. We’ve all been victims of “connect and pitch,” don’t be the perpetrator.
3. Avoid the “connect and forget” syndrome on LinkedIn. When accepting a connection request, always send a welcome message. You can offer some value or content that could make an impact. Ask them a question or talk about a content they shared or engaged in.
4. Export your connections into a spreadsheet. Create a column labeled “client prospect referral partner” and take inventory of who in your list you should be talking to that you’ve been ignoring. Send a personal video to their inbox welcoming or re-engaging them.
5. Stop performing random acts of social and start engaging in your prospects’ content. Engage in the comments and with the commenters of people whom you want to start conversations with. Plan how you’ll engage with the right people so you can convert them into connections and ultimately, conversations.
6. Don’t “post and ghost,” which happens when people start reacting or commenting to something you posted but you leave your engagers high and dry. Keep bringing your thought leadership to those comments to prove you’re the expert at what you do. Make sure you reach back to your reactors and commenters with a quick little note thanking them and sharing content that they’ll find valuable.
7. When posting content as a salesperson, talk about what your buyers want to consume, not what you’re interested in. There’s a lot of social listening involved — know what your buyers care about and the challenges they’re facing that you can provide insights to.
8. Don’t send a connection request without a message. This is cold calling on LinkedIn. You have to deserve that connection. So get on their radar and bring value to the conversation before sending that request.
9. Leverage your existing connections for referrals. Search and filter your connections’ connections and identify who you want to meet. Leverage those relationships to get introductions or permission to name-drop.
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