How do you get the best out of LinkedIn to generate sales in professional services?
For a great starting point, check out this blog on using LinkedIn for sales prospecting from Anna Bratton at Salesforce.
I particularly like her advice on using LinkedIn’s advanced search function well:
“By intelligently mixing the different filters you can get really deep and identify key individuals quickly and easily….You can also save your search criteria and get a weekly report listing anyone new who matches the customers you’re looking for.”
And she also explains how it’s possible to map the decision makers within target companies:
“You’d be surprised how much people put in their profiles – which team they’re in, which office they work out of, what projects they’re focusing on. With a little detective work, you can quickly build up a picture of who you should be talking to, what they’re like (check out their recommendations) and what they’ve done before.”
Great advice – in professional services, it clearly makes sense to use these ways to find the specific individuals you want to talk with and their role in any decision to engage your services. I’ll be talking about these and other ideas in my next workshop on Using LinkedIn as a Business Development and Marketing Tool.
