Building Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales

LinkedIn is a great place to connect with c-suite executives and other business decision-makers. Make sure your profile is built for lead generation.

Through our research, we’ve found that LinkedIn is a reliable place to find and reach C-suite executives. And because decision makers are present on this social media channel, you can’t ignore it for growing your business and generating leads.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to use LinkedIn to your advantage, from advertising, to InMail, to the publishing platform Pulse.

However, first and foremost, you must present yourself professionally and credibly. Whatever you choose to do on LinkedIn, crafting a polished profile comes first. To help you in this endeavor, we’ve outlined a few times to optimize your profile for sales.

First Things First

The first elements most people see on your profile are your picture, name, and headline.

• Photo: Make sure you have one. Your profile is fourteen times more likely to be viewed if it has a photo. Further, make sure your photo is professional. Selfies are unacceptable. Photos where you cropped out your friend or significant other are unacceptable. Photos that include other people are unacceptable. Yet you don’t want too stiff and stuffy a photo, either. You want to appear approachable and friendly, even online.
• Name: Make sure you spell your name correctly. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it happens all the time. You wouldn’t click on our website if we listed ourselves as “FogDog” when you clearly know we are “FrogDog.”
• Headline: Your headline is the first chance you have to speak to your audience. Don’t waste this opportunity by simply putting your title. This is the place to show who you help and how you help. Use active language—including verbs.

Contact Me

Your profile can look great, but if people can’t reach you it is all for naught. Be sure to include your e-mail address, phone number, website, and Twitter handle (if you use it) to ensure you are easily reached.

Also, you can customize your LinkedIn URL, which will make it easy to include as part of your business card and e-mail signature. Also, customizing your LinkedIn URL makes it easier for people to find you through searching.

Summarize This

The summary section is a perfect opportunity to talk to people looking at your profile.

Aim to have three small paragraphs, each with about three sentences that include keywords that will interest and intrigue your prospects:

• In the first paragraph, emphasize the purpose of what you do and what value it provides.
• In the second paragraph, show how you achieve your purpose. Give examples if you can.
• The third and final paragraph should be a call-to-action. You want to make the sale? Tell people why they should contact you and how they can contact you.

You will have an opportunity to add content to your summary. Use this space to add about two to four visual pieces of content that will be helpful to your buyer.

What I’ve Done

Most LinkedIn profiles use the experience portion as a laundry list of jobs held and tasks accomplished. While you should indeed look at a LinkedIn profile as a resume, continue to keep your target audience in mind. After all, your LinkedIn profile isn’t about getting a job, but getting a sale.

In your experience section, include your relevant professional positions with a few sentences to summarize your role at each. Add three to five bullets that capture your achievements, especially achievements that benefited your clients.

Earned It

List your work-related honors and awards, publications, and your education, which could also include any professional development courses you’ve completed that are relevant. Show that you know your stuff.

Be Where They Are

Show your prospects that you care about what they care about. Join relevant groups that your audience is in and participate frequently. Think about submitting thought-leadership posts to help raise your credibility.

Endorsement

If you want to show your customers what you can do for them, show them what you’ve done for others. Ask current and past clients with whom you’ve worked at least six months to endorse your skills and provide recommendations on how you helped them.

Endorsements and recommendations can work wonders in sealing deals and convincing prospects to give you a chance.

LinkedIn can be a great opportunity to grow your business if you do it right. Another way to grow your business? Bring in FrogDog to build and implement a strategy for growth. Contact us today.