In this episode of the Selling in Asia podcast, Tom sits down with Geana Barbosa, the Head of New Business Asia at LinkedIn Sales Solutions. Join them as they discuss how to start selling on LinkedIn, how sales professionals can navigate the ever-evolving sales landscape with LinkedIn, as well as practical tips for creating, building and growing their LinkedIn profiles.
Also read:
- Using LinkedIn As A Lead Generation Tool For Sales
- How to Increase Your Linkedin Connections
- Building Your Personal Brand Using LinkedIn with Natalia Wiechowski
Misconceptions About LinkedIn
LinkedIn is just a job-search platform. Historically this feature has been at the core of LinkedIn and is often how many people hear about the platform. However, the platform has also evolved because of how members use it for social selling. The mission of LinkedIn is really to connect the world’s professionals to be more productive and successful, which includes sellers!
Few social media platforms offer as great an opportunity to increase your exposure to potential clientele than LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the go-to website for companies looking to reach their potential buyers, especially when it comes to B2B sales.
What Your LinkedIn Audience Actually Wants
Many people use LinkedIn solely as a broadcasting tool, which means they’ve forgotten sales fundamentals! You should be listening 80% of the time, asking questions 10% of the time, and promoting your products and services only 10% of the time. In general, LinkedIn and Social Media is a noisy place, so instead of competing to see who can shout the loudest, try listening to your customer base instead. When you’re sharing content, you need to think about your buyer; What is relevant for them and think about the brand you’re trying to build for yourself. Your best course of action is to create your own content if you want to be perceived as a thought leader. Share lessons you’ve learnt, challenges you’ve overcome and goals you hope to achieve.
LinkedIn Best Practices
1. Personalise Connection Requests
Geanas favourite best practice recommendation is that to actually add a message when you send a connection request. However, don’t be tempted to attach your company brochure and an extensive description of who you are and what you do in the initial invitation. You wouldn’t do this face-to-face!
2. Be Concise
It’s not a best practice to send extremely formal, long and detailed messages on LinkedIn. You’re trying to create a genuine connection and long-term relationship, rather than a transactional interaction.
3. Be Curious
Get involved with your network and be curious about people. Start commenting on some of the things they share and then add your perspective or just anything to let them know that you’re interested in what they’re saying.
More About Geana Barbosa
Learn more about Sales Navigator and the solutions Geana and her team handle at LinkedIn here.