Today’s buyers are a lot more sales savvy; they conduct research online about your products and services, your company and your competitors all with a few clicks of a mouse. The internet and social media in particular are now your buyers’ best friends, as it puts them in control of the modern day sales process, so what are you doing to redress this balance of power?

Here are some scary facts and figures for you:

• 90% of buying decisions are based on internet research – Gartner research
• 2 out of 3 decision makers place more trust in their own research than in sales people – Market Transformations
• 80% of sales are lost because the salesperson failed to establish an element of trust and credibility with the buyer – The Marketing Edge

The way your buyers make their purchasing decisions has changed, but are you changing the way that you sell? Social media can be a powerful sales tool when you know how to get the best from it, especially when it comes to using LinkedIn.

You’ve definitely heard of LinkedIn, you might even have a LinkedIn account and you’ve heard of the benefits and the power that LinkedIn can provide you in terms of prospecting and selling….but your LinkedIn account is just sitting there gathering dust simply because you don’t know what to do with it!

Or is it because you have yet to be convinced of the real value of the site? Well, he’s a few LinkedIn stats for you to digest:

• 1 new member joins LinkedIn every second – LinkedIn Press Centre
• Over 40% of LinkedIn’s users work in companies with more than 10,000 employees – LinkedIn Ads
• Nearly 50% of the LinkedIn members are in a decision maker role (such as Manager, Director, Owner, Chief Officer or Vice President) – LinkedIn Ads

Considering this information, it’s unsurprising to find out that in a recent survey conducted by advertising agency OgilvyOne found that 93% of UK sales professionals have received no training in using social media, and 53% of these want help with learning to use social media platforms as a business tool.

As a modern day sales professional it is so important to understand how to harness the power of LinkedIn for your business, and MTD Sales Training are here to help.

We have created a complimentary report for you which will help you to understand how to get the most out of LinkedIn as a business tool.

“Ultimate LinkedIn Essentials For Sales Professionals” is free to download and will show you how to tap into the potential goldmine of prospecting resources and additional sales opportunities that LinkedIn has to offer. With a killer profile and the right approach to hunt out, prospect and engage with your target market, you will maximise your prospecting time and generate qualified leads.

Simply click the link below to download your copy:

http://www.mtdsalestraining.com/lireport.htm

If you still need convincing of the power of LinkedIn or if there’s anything you would like to ask me then leave me a comment below and I will get back to you.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…

Recent statistics released by the LinkedIn Ads group showed that nearly 50% of LinkedIn members are in a key decision maker role such as Manager, Director, Owner, Chief Officer or Vice President – once again proving that LinkedIn really is the biggest and best decision maker search engine in the world!

So how can you delve into this network of key decision makers and engage with them on a one-to-one level? Well, a great way to gain direct contact with these desired connections is to strike up a conversation with them in one of the many LinkedIn groups that the platform has to offer.

The chances are that you will already be connected to some of these key decision makers through your current groups, but you can also research which groups these ideal contacts are members of simply by visiting their profile. Here you will find a list of all the groups they are involved with, so it’s wise to go in to a few of these and see which ones they are the most active in – as most people will join lots of groups but may only contribute regularly within a certain few, so seek these out.

Once you have found out where your key contacts are hanging out on LinkedIn, you can then enter the discussion and strike up conversation with them by commenting on their recent posts or starting a relevant discussion of your own which you feel they would be likely to interact with.

The key to being successful when prospecting and networking via the LinkedIn groups is to be genuine with your interactions and contribute useful content – without turning everything you say into a sales pitch. By all means share your blog posts and link to your webpages in your responses, but only if this adds real value to the discussion.

Once you have gained a decent level of interaction with these key decision makers, and offered plenty of friendly and free advice (without trying to sell them anything straight away) you can then send them an invitation to connect with your personally.

Better still, you could contact them directly by email or on the phone to see if they would like you to send over your latest whitepaper or pop into their office for a chat about how you could help them in their business.

Certain groups even organise networking events for their members, so if you find out one of your key decision makers is attending one of these get-togethers then why not offer to meet them there, and turn your online networking into a face-to-face interaction.

Networking and engaging with your desired prospects in this way is none threatening and is likely to yield a better response than spamming them with emails or trying to cold call, so make the most of your LinkedIn groups and show these connections why they should want you as a contact.

That’s all for now folks, see you again soon for another Techy Tuesday.

Regards,

Louise

Louise Denny

Marketing Manager

(Image by Idea Go)

So how exactly do you prospect on LinkedIn?

Most sales professionals and business owners are only aware of their first degree connections. These are the people that you probably already knew before LinkedIn; friends, colleagues, people you have worked with in the past etc.  But these connections might not be potential prospects for you, so how can you get to the key decision makers who you really want to engage with?

The real gold which LinkedIn has to offer (more than any other social networking site) is the ability to be introduced to key decision makers you may otherwise not be able to reach. It quite literally is a prospecting power tool…in the right hands.

The real value in the site doesn’t necessarily come from who you are connected to, but who your connections are connected to – and the great thing about LinkedIn is that it doesn’t just show your own network, it also shows your network’s network. In fact, LinkedIn even shows you how you are connected to these prospects so that you can ask for an introduction from your shared connection in order to make that first contact.

Say for instance you are already connected to the Sales Manager of particular company, but the connection you’re really interested in is the Sales Director of their company who they are already connected to.

By building up a solid relationship with your current connection – giving them good advice, offering solutions to their problems or suggesting interesting content that may help them – you can then ask them with confidence to recommend you as a connection to the key decision maker you are keen to network with. After all, you’ve proved to be a good connection to them so why would they not consider recommending you to their colleagues?

But it goes further than that. Whilst asking for a recommendation to connect on the LinkedIn platform is a start, what you really want is to get to talk to this key decision maker outside of the site, via email or on the phone.

If you have a new product or an interesting whitepaper you feel would really benefit the Sales Director of the company, email or call your first degree connection and speak to them directly about what you have to offer them and the company, and then either ask to speak to their Sales Director directly or set an appointment where you can meet with them both to discuss things further.

If you have a good relationship with your first degree connection you will find it much easier getting them to pass you on to their superiors and setting an appointment with them – you are literally bypassing the gatekeeper and getting right into the heart of the company.  

This is the gold on offer through the LinkedIn platform, and by putting in the time and effort with your current connections you could soon find yourself being recommended to the key decision makers you are looking to work with – an opportunity you may not otherwise get.

That’s all for now folks, see you again soon for another Techy Tuesday.

Regards,

Louise

Louise Denny

Marketing Manager

(Image by  Jannoon)

Techy Tuesdays takes the reins of the MTD Sales Blog once again this week as we steer you towards a brighter future in the online world.

Last week I showed you some great uses of the LinkedIn Answers platform when looking to test your marketing strategies and generate ideas for new content, and this week I thought I’d give you some top tips for creating a successful LinkedIn Company Page.

Setting up a Company Page on LinkedIn is a great way to connect with your prospects and keep them updated about your business and your products and services. It’s very simple to set up a basic company profile on LinkedIn, but really you should have more than just the basics if you are looking to position your company as industry leaders and develop your company’s branding – so here are 6 top tips for taking your LinkedIn Company Page to the next level.

1.       Write a keyword rich and concise Company Overview

Creating a short but detailed Company Overview which explains exactly your company does and why will help prospects find you when they are searching for the products and services you provide. Simple but very effective. 

2.       Add in your company’s specialities to increase LinkedIn SEO

As with your personal profile, LinkedIn gives you the chance to link your company to important keywords which best describe your business, which will help increase your chances of being found by your prospects in the vast sea of similar companies on LinkedIn. Consider the words and phrases you would like prospects to use when searching for your business and treat the specialities section as an open SEO opportunity for your LinkedIn page.

3.       Link to a Lead Capture page rather than your homepage

On your Company Page you get given a chance to link out to your company website, and whilst this works well for redirecting traffic to your website, is it providing you with any more value than just extra traffic? Probably not, so instead I suggest linking out to a specific landing page or lead capture page which offers freebies, extra content or has a sign up form included. This will bring any extra traffic which LinkedIn provides you with to a page which is designed to generate leads for your business – rather than the traffic simply landing on your standard homepage and not going any further than that.   

4.       Host your blog feed on your page

As we discussed before, LinkedIn gives you an opportunity to link out to a select web page on your profile and some companies will use this option to link out to their company blog – but I suggest you save this for your chosen landing page which is designed to generate leads, and instead use the WordPress or Blogger application for LinkedIn to host your blog’s RSS feed. This will appear further down on your profile but it will show a list of your most recent posts, which is likely to encourage more people to click through and read your content.

5.       Add your products and services to your Product Page

This page is designed to showcase your products and services so don’t waste it. On a basic level you can simply link out to and describe each of the products or services your company provides, but it is wise to go one step further with this and explain in the description of your product/service WHY it is valuable. Do the work for your prospects and tell them why the products and services you provide are worth investing in.  

6.       Add a Youtube video to your Product Page

If you don’t have a Youtbue video which showcases your products and services then make one especially for this opportunity, as this is one you don’t want to miss. It may not be as great as the fancy, professional video you no doubt have on the homepage of your website but it is still a great opportunity to really show people what your company has to offer. Plus, if you have a Youtube Channel then this is a great way to showcase a selection of your video content over time.

Company Pages are a great way to bring your business, staff and products and services together under one branded page on LinkedIn, and offers you an extra platform to showcase all that your company has to offer – so don’t waste it. Optimise your page and ensure your company profile is something you are proud of – as this page is just as likely to come up in Google’s search results as your company website is. LinkedIn is an authority site and will rank highly in search engine results so ensure your Company Page does you justice.    

That’s all for now folks, see you again soon for another Techy Tuesday.

Regards,

Louise

Louise Denny

Marketing Manager

(Image by KROMKRATHOG)

Have you downloaded Sean’s latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Introducing Techy Tuesdays!

Every Tuesday from now on I will be taking over the MTD Sales Training blog with a quick fix of interesting and innovative updates from the technological world which will help you to generate real leads and boost your sales pipeline. For those who don’t already know, I’m Louise, Sean’s Marketing Manager, and I am really looking forward to bringing you some top tips on how to prospect, network and engage with your clients via the digital world.

Our new Techy Tuesday series is designed to help sales professionals just like you to make the most of the vast range of internet-based resources and social media sites out there, by showing you how you can tap into these valuable online tools to support your business.

So, following the launch of MTD Sales Training’s new course, LinkedIn For Sales Professionals, I thought I should give you a taster of some of the great ways you can use LinkedIn to keep your pipeline full over the festive period.

A hot topic on LinkedIn that I’m particularly interested in at the minute is the LinkedIn Answers platform. LinkedIn Answers gives members to ask and answer business related questions, meaning that you can really get to the bare bones of what your prospects and potential competition think about aspects of your company, the products and services you provide, your content and even your upcoming marketing ideas. LinkedIn Answers has the potential to give you direct feedback on your business by those whose opinions you value most.

Here’s 3 top ways LinkedIn Answers can boost your business strategies:

1.       Generate content ideas

By tapping into the vast network of conversations which are going on in this platform you can uncover some truly brilliant content ideas for your blogs, webcasts and whitepapers. Some of the best content you will ever produce for your audience will stem from an idea which is either highly topical or of major interest to your target industry as a whole – and LinkedIn Answers shows you exactly what people are talking about and what topics have caught their attention as of late.

2.       Test drive your next marketing campaign

You can use LinkedIn Answers to test your next big marketing campaign on a small cross section of your desired audience before you launch an expensive and time-consuming campaign on the grand scale. By using bite sized aspects of your whole campaign – such as taglines or images – you can gain instant feedback on what people like and what they don’t, and from there you can adjust your campaign accordingly.

 3.       Get your terminology right and boost SEO

It is sometimes difficult to steer clear of industry jargon when you’ve been working in the business for so long, and it can be off putting to some of your audience if they feel your content isn’t written in a way they can understand – so a key use of LinkedIn Answers is to find out what terminology your prospects are familiar with and what they understand.

By listening in to conversations on LinkedIn Answers it will give you a good idea of what key words and phrases you should be using in your own content and ad copy from the perspective of what your prospects would be comfortable receiving.  This terminology can also help massively when it comes to increasing SEO as you will be able to determine how your prospects are most likely to describe your product and service, and therefore you will be more aware of what keywords they are likely to use when searching for what you provide.

Those are just three nifty little tips for using LinkedIn Answers, but there are many more ways that you can use social media platforms such as LinkedIn to generate real value for your business, so stay tuned for future posts.

See you next week for more updates from the world of technology on another Techy Tuesday.

Regards,

Louise

Louise Denny

Marketing Manager

(Image by Mario Sundar)

Have you downloaded Sean’s latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Since the launch of my bestselling book eselling® I’ve been inundated with keynote speaking requests on the subject and also for in-house training.

 One of the most popular elements of eselling® has been how to use LinkedIn for prospecting, networking and how to identify sales opportunities.

 So we’ve designed a special course around just that: 

** LinkedIn For Sales Professionals **

 This course will be a “hands on” open course where you can bring your laptop (if you like) and we’ll work through what it takes: 

• To have a killer profile
• To hunt out key decision makers
• To engage with those decision makers
• To spot additional sales opportunities

Here’s the link for the full details:

http://www.mtdsalestraining.com/linkedintraining.htm

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…