LinkedIn for Sales: Three Ways LinkedIn Can Help eYour Sales!

Forget Twitter. Forget Facebook. Only one social media site truly matters, and that is LinkedIn.

Yes, LinkedIn is a common site for job seekers to find people to connect with, but it is also an excellent way to connect with people.

I want to preface this by saying that shared connections are VERY important for LinkedIn users. Without connections, why should someone view you as somebody who is worth their time? How do they even know if you are relevant?

LinkedIn is practically built around shared connections. I'm sure we've all heard the phrase, "I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy". This saying is so relevant when it comes to LinkedIn!

In fact, in order to really get anything done on LinkedIn, you need to "know a guy who knows a guy". Everything from messaging to viewing profiles is usually restricted by mutual connections. Luckily, the more connections you have, especially within your industry, the more access you will have to others on LinkedIn. Now, go and get those connections!

After you obtain some relevant connections, especially with past and present clients, I would recommend you make use of some of the following tips:

• Get recommendations: Recommendations can really give you an edge you need to stand out. Positive recommendation from your connections not only highlight positive experiences with you, but also positive experiences with your company. If the right person sees and understands those recommendations, you are likely going to be the person they will want to do business with in your company. As with in person sales, never underestimate the power of referrals, and that is basically what a recommendation is. Ask some of your connections, I am sure a couple of them would be willing to write a recommendation for you.

• Get the proper person to speak to: There have been so many times I have attempted to get hold of a "person in marketing" without having a name on hand. When I am transferred to the proper person, it always makes it a little less awkward when I already know who I am speaking to. Luckily, I can usually get around this by browsing a company's LinkedIn page. In doing so, I can usually find the name of the right person to speak to. I can also get an idea of what their interests and specialties are; certainly better than flying in blind!

• Message people if you can't get a hold of them: I rarely do this, as I prefer talking to somebody on the phone or in person, but if I message somebody on Linkedin, then that gives them the opportunity to see what my company is all about; what I'm all about. They can also see my skill set and recommendations. As such, my profile says more about me that I can convey in a 30-second voicemail.

These are just a few uses for LinkedIn when it comes to improving your sales. What are your experiences with LinkedIn? Has it helped your sales? Do you have any tips? Please feel free to comment!

Gatekeepers: How to turn them into Valuable Sales Allies!

(WikiMedia Commons, uploaded by AgainErick)

As a salesperson, you are no doubt going to run into gatekeepers on a regular basis. Whether it be an office secretary, a personal assistant, or a simple phone operator, it is important to realize that they hold all of the power in the conversation. While the person you are trying to get a hold of has all of the purchasing power, the gatekeeper has the power to determine whether or not you get the opportunity to speak with your person of interest at all!

When I was first starting in sales, I called on a company with the most obnoxious gatekeeper. This person clearly did not want me to speak to my person of interest. As such, he kept answering all of my questions with disinterested, one-word answers. It was clear that I would go nowhere if I kept using my normal tactics with this gatekeeper.

Instead of continuously trying to get him to give the boss the phone, I let him know about my interest in the company and how the services that I would provide would benefit the company. I want to save their company valuable time and money. I can save them precious hours of labor time and hundreds of thousands of dollars in various costs. So, why would his boss not want to know that?

You have to pitch two people: the gatekeeper first, and the buyer second. You need to convince the gatekeeper that the buyer would want to speak with your about your service or product. In my case, the gatekeeper was so dead set on not listening to me that I had to do the one thing that would make it impossible for him to hang up on me: I went to the company in person.

While I was there, I tried to get a meeting with my person of interest, but the gatekeeper was still insistent that I couldn't meet with the person of interest. I ended up giving the gatekeeper a full-on pitch about my company's services. I broke it down to him that I knew my product could save the company tons of money and that it was crucial that I speak with the proper person. I would do whatever it takes and I'd go through whatever channels I would need to in order to speak to the proper person.

I ended up impressing the gatekeeper enough that he actually broke their protocol and gave me the person's extension so that I wouldn't have to go through him anymore. He even gave me some tips on how to sell them. I ended up writing up half a million dollars of business with that company! I would never have done so if I didn't put in the effort to convince the gatekeeper. It was actually two sales: one to the gatekeeper, and one to the actual buyer.

So, what other advice would you give people regarding gatekeepers? Do you try to bypass them or turn them into sales allies? Any particular tactics? Please comment below!

From Zero to Hero: How to Turn a Sales Slump Around!

When I first started in sales, I will admit, I struggled. I struggled a LOT. More than I think should be acceptable. My boss sat down with me and went over what he thought I was doing wrong and showed me ways to correct it.

My boss was correct about not reaching out enough, not going the extra mile, and not being as upbeat as I could have been, there was more to it. I knew deep down I was not as knowledgeable and confident about the product as I should have and could have been. Thus, I was not equipped with the proper tools to get out there and sell.

I believe the number one tool a salesperson has when it comes to creating success is themselves. You can have the best boss in the world, but whether or not you ultimately get sales boils down to you!

For me, I took 3 simple steps to get out of my sales slump and increase my level of success.

Step 1: Evaluation: This is exactly what it sounds like. Crunch your numbers. Maybe you're making 75 calls a day when you should be making 150? Or maybe you're calling people every other week when you should call them every week? Other times, you should look at how your are communicating. Are you voicemail messages as effective as they can be? Are you still nervous on the phone? Get over those nerves! Are you not as knowledgeable about your product as you should be? Time to learn!

Step 2: Action  Time to correct the mistakes that you found in your personal evaluation! Not calling enough? Make more calls! Not equipped with the proper knowledge of your product? Get that knowledge!

This is key to improving your sales. Aside from fixing the mistakes, you are stepping further outside of your comfort zone. That is good! That means you are evolving as a person and as a sales rep

Step 3: Outcomes Did your changes produce .quantifiable results? Were your sales starting to increase? Are your prospects becoming more responsive? If so, good job! You are on your way to becoming a new and improved salesperson!

Or did it not matter? Are your sales still low? If this is the case, I want to lead you on to step 4.

Step 4: Rinse and Repeat Sometimes the reason for our failures is not as clear, so you may need to take another step back and reevaluate what you were doing wrong. Eventually, you are going to find where you actually DID go wrong, and then you can take the proper actions to rectify that, which will lead you to your desired outcome.


These three steps are an incredibly simple and logical way to not only increase your sales, but to pretty much increase your effeciency at anything you may have a problem with.

Do you use steps similar to this? Do you go in blindly? Or do you have a different method of improvement? Please feel free to share within the comments!

How to Get Sales with Less Effort!

It happens too often: sales teams spend hours and hours of time on the phone and in meetings, yet the numbers are not as impressive as they would prefer. I know, I've been there. However, there are several ways to reach out to those who are more likely to buy, hence decreasing the need for cold calling, thereby decreasing the effort needed to make a sale. Below, I will list some ideas for increasing your sales with minimum effort.

Networking: Too many people view networking as a waste of time. I am not one of them. In fact, I view networking as more crucial than cold calling. I have gotten more interest from prospects when they already know me or about me, versus if I were to simply cold call them. For example, one of my clients works in the Fine Art department of a local college. He introduced me to a few people in other departments. Four months later, I am doing business with other areas of the college! I never had to cold call them!

Social Media: A wise man once said, "Never underestimate the power of social media". That man was me. No, I am not tooting my own horn here, social media can actually produce good results for your sales.  Good social media posts should be brief, informative, relevant, and relate back to your brand. A well implemented social media campaign should allow you to generate a decent amount of interest in your product. Why make hundreds of outbound calls when you can take calls instead?

Your Own Website: It amazes me that so many companies spend time and money building their websites, only to neglect them. Your website is your brand! Your website is where potential clients can garner a look at your services, get an idea of pricing, and even establish initial contact with you! By utilizing search engine optimization properly, a website will rank higher in search results, which will result in more people viewing your website, which may lead to sales! That's what you want, right?

These are just three ways to get sales with less effort. Why spend hours dialing phones when you can make the more interested prospects come to you?

Do you have any other suggestions for ways to get sales with less effort? Please comment below! Share your knowledge!

Hating the Product, not the Salesman

We all know one of these incredibly talented salespeople who can sell anything. They can sell a turd to the President of the United States and make a pretty penny in doing so. However, odds are you aren't that person. That's okay, I'm not him either. I can strive all I want, but in the end, it's going to be next to impossible to sell a turd to somebody and that's okay!

My first sales job involved me calling business owners and selling them radio advertisements. Occasionally, I'd get somebody to fork over a couple hundred of their dollars for some top quality radio advertising. The ads were in the form of a PSA advising people to avoid drunk driving. 

"Save a life!" we told them. However, in the end, what most business owners are thinking is "save my money!". On many days, our best salesmen would come up empty and the newbies would end up getting a sale. It ultimately boiled down to patience, luck, and skill.

Many of our customers called in with complaints regarding things like incorrect scheduling, false advertising, and regrets about their purchase. None of these things were within our salespeople's control.

Also, this was not too long ago. I was already hooking up my iPod to my car stereo, so why would radio ads still be a big selling point? As far as I know, the company is still around. Will they survive? If they start changing their product to adapt to a changing market, they probably can. Otherwise, they will likely go under.

On a similar note, a friend of mine sells textbooks to students. While not a salesperson in the traditional sense, he is still making a decent amount of money each money reselling old textbooks. 

Now why does he make good money? Why is he making sales? THE PRODUCT! Textbooks will always be in demand for the college demographic, and it is usually a required purchase. Therefore, all you really need to do  is get your hands on the textbooks that students are looking to purchase for major classes, then sell them for more than you paid for them. Boom, profit!

If I were starting a business, I would involved myself with products that are likely to sell, not with products I am used to or do not require much money to invest in.

How about you guys? What products do you sell? Is it a good product? Please comment below!

Never Give Up!

One of my coworkers said something to me the other day that really struck a chord with me: "I see no point in trying to contact the same people over and over again, when I can use that time to go after newer prospects".

I agree and disagree with him at the same time. I am a competitive and stubborn person by nature, so it is naturally more challenging for me to let things go. I have done things that would make the average salesperson cringe. I have waited in lobbies for hours, I have blocked my number on called ID, I have even brought flowers for people!

Am I crazy for doing so? Maybe. But it has gotten me results.

From my experiences, you have to really believe in your product and that your product is the BEST solution for your prospect's needs; not just a good solution, but the BEST one. You are a problem solver, not a simple salesperson. By taking this customer-minded approach, I find that I come off less as a desperate salesperson and more as a dedicated problem solver.

Sure, some people will see you as desperate no matter what. Well, guess what? Those people were not going to buy anyway! So don't focus on them, and focus on the END RESULT!

Late last year, I made a MAJOR sale of over $100,000 of my company's product. I kept trying to get a hold of the person I needed to speak to: I left around a dozen voicemails, I sent numerous letters, I even brought him treats to share with his employees. Eventually, he caved in and spoke to me. He said I was a bit persistent and he would give me the time to state my case and show him why my product would benefit him. Turns out he was quite impressed with my company and our product and he eventually bought from us.

I would never have made this sale if I just gave up, like many salespeople would have done. The bottom line here is to just take a chance! Go for it!