Risk & Business Magazine Atlas Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 11

SOCIAL SELLING
colleagues and bosses and add new
acquaintances each time you make a
face-to-face connection.
3. Add a background image: Stand out
from the crowd. You wouldn’t dream
of having a Facebook or Twitter profile
without a banner image. Don’t leave
your LinkedIn profile naked either. (Hat
Tip: Viveka von Rosen)
4. Don’t forget the basics: Profile
picture, short tag-line, work history and
education.
5. Brag about yourself a little: Don’t be
afraid to list your awards and honors.
6. Have a killer summary: Combine your
story into a shortened summary. This
will be the first main attraction anyone
will see on your page.
7. Post Content: Hammer away about
what you love to talk about. This gives
individuals insights into your passions,
personality and expertise. Clients don’t
buy from companies; they buy from
people. Let them know who you are.
TIP NO.2: UTILIZE ALL OUTLETS
WHY
Reaching your customer where they
want to be reached when they are ready
to buy is critical to increasing sales.
Social selling is a great way to do this.
HOW
LinkedIn is the greatest selling and
prospecting tool we have ever seen.
However, this doesn’t mean you
replace all your offline and online
strategies that have worked in the
past. Specifically: Social selling doesn’t
replace your coffees, meetings, lunches
and golf outings. LinkedIn is primarily
designed to help start and deepen
relationships when time and distance
are issues.
Use your EQ (emotional intelligence)
to determine when and where each
individual customer wants to be reached
both offline and online— keeping in
mind that everyone differs. If a client
loves the ballet, taking them to a
football game doesn’t make much sense.
So use Facebook, email, direct mail,
birthday cards and such to properly
cross-sell and augment your LinkedIn
social selling activity.
There is exponential power in meeting
people for lunches, as well as having
your message appear in your prospect’s
mailbox, inbox and social feed.
TIP NO.3: ENDORSING PEOPLE
WHY
It’s a way of posting-it-forward. It
keeps you top of mind with important
connections in a positive way. Oh, and
the science shows it makes you and the
recipient happier.
LINKEDIN IS
PRIMARILY
DESIGNED TO
HELP START
AND DEEPEN
RELATIONSHIPS
WHEN TIME
AND DISTANCE
ARE ISSUES.
HOW
1. Go to the profile of the person you
wish to endorse.
2. Underneath their photo, you will see
suggested endorsements.
3. Select the endorsement you feel is
most relevant.
4. The endorsement must be genuine—
only endorse people for skills you know
they have. Endorsing someone for a skill
you don’t think they have has various
downfalls:
1. You are being phony.
2. Skills are often randomly placed
there by a LinkedIn algorithm and
the person may not even want to be
endorsed for them.
3. You signal to that person that you
really don’t know them well.
We recommend only doing one
endorsement for the same person every
few days. This helps you stay top of
mind for a longer period rather than
endorsing the same individual for
multiple skills at once. Remember the
goal is to play the long game, so it’s
better to sprinkle 10 endorsements over
four weeks than 10 endorsements for
the same person in one day.
PRO TIP:
Don’t use the endorsement box at the
top. Instead, scroll down to the list
of skills for this person towards the
bottom of the page. This list defaults
from highest to lowest (what other
people are selecting for skills). However,
the user can also arrange this list to
their liking (reference the book for
more tips on managing endorsements).
Always start by endorsing individuals
for the skill you know they have
that is highest on this list. Avoid the
endorsement box at the top, mainly
because LinkedIn generates the skills in
this box. The skills listed further down
the page in the list format are more
credible.
Find more great tips like these in
Qualman’s book, How to Sell on
LinkedIn. +
No.1 Bestselling Author and Motivational
Speaker Erik Qua!man has performed in
47 countries and reached 25 million people
this decade.
His Socialnomics work has been on 60
Minutes to the Wall Street Journal and used
by the National Guard to NASA. His book
Digital Leader propelled him to be voted
the 2nd Most Likeable Author in the World
behind Harry Potter’s J.K. Rowling.
What Happens in Vegas Stays on You Tube
was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and
his books are used in over 200 of the world’s
top universities.
His latest book, How to Sell on Linkedin
is becoming mandatory reading for sales
teams. Qualman was formerly a sitting
professor at Harvard & MIT’s edX labs.
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