It's 9 a.m. and you have already exhausted your cold calling list for the day without much luck. It has been downright frozen with zero results.
This could be an indicator that it is time to come up with a new sales selling plan.
Whether you are selling a product or a service to a business, entrepreneur, or a full-fledged company cold calling old style might not be the best bet for you anymore.
In fact, as a salesperson, you might think about easing into social selling by utilizing social media platforms such as LinkedIn to make sales.
After all, social media is the future that could help you crush sales a lot faster than daily cold-calling.
There is little doubt that salespeople can thrive on LinkedIn, whether they are just beginning or are already wildly successful.
The benefits of using LinkedIn are far and wide as it helps build buyer confidence and creates trust among potential clients as well as loyal customers.
As a salesperson, your goal is to get people interested in you, your product, and your solution. LinkedIn is an excellent way to accomplish these goals, and more.
Social selling on LinkedIn is also one of the fastest and easiest ways to practice social selling if you know your target audience, what you are selling, and how to create the best content to attract an audience.
When you have a presence on LinkedIn, you can reach people and businesses you never thought possible from morning to night, 24/7.
By creating a profile on LinkedIn, potential leads will see it right away, which means it should be precise and convey confidence.
A profile on LinkedIn allows for posting and adding an up to date professional profile picture with clear resolution. This helps leads to see who you are today as opposed to what you liked like 20 years ago.
LinkedIn is also a great tool for salespeople because it allows them to create a 1-2 paragraph summary outlining how they can help clients.
There is also a section where a social media salesperson can boast and post about prior jobs, certifications, and awards on LinkedIn. This is a good area to shine and show off all those skills that may attract potential leads.
The wonderful thing about a LinkedIn profile is it can be optimized for selling a product to prospects rather than recruiters.
Social media sales professionals can also thrive on LinkedIn thanks to being able to post daily status updates.
It allows for publishing posts and other info once a day or all day on LinkedIn to keep connections up to date. It is easy to post current content associated with what you are trying to sell whenever you like.
For instance, it can be a good way to share industry news or important helpful content, as well as feature a product without overkill.
Salespeople can post news articles or blog posts, product announcements, and positive customer service feedback that connections and audiences might find insightful.
LinkedIn is an appropriate platform for balancing what you are trying to sell, as well as showing the intended audience other things related to the focused industry.
This, in the end, helps a salesperson earn respect and trust while aiding other potential clients to succeed.
Another way social media salespeople can take advantage and thrive on LinkedIn is to join LinkedIn Groups. The platform lets one connect with up to 50 different groups on the site in addition to enjoying some perks for joining.
Salespeople can keep track of what potential customers are talking about and give their comments when it is appropriate. They can also submit their posts or articles to further offer themselves as a thought leader in the field.
LinkedIn sales forces may also send InMail messages to other members of their groups, even if they are not connected. The great thing about joining LinkedIn groups is it lets a salesperson learn from, engage with, and send content to leads in an inward bound way.
In the end, a salesperson who joins LinkedIn Groups will be a member of a community, instead of being just another salesperson sending an InMail message.
Keep in mind building relationships and connections on LinkedIn and establishing yourself as an industry thought leader on the site takes time and effort.
Try not to view this as a bad thing but rather a good one because the richer the relationships and the more established your credentials, the better the chances of closing and forming new leads will be.
Most importantly if you are new to LinkedIn, don't get discouraged and throw in the towel if you do not see immediate results. Push forward, do the work by creating a solid foundation on LinkedIn.
In the end, it will be worth it. Social media platforms like LinkedIn can be an excellent way to connect with potential clients and build a loyal following for years to come.