LinkedIn Profile Checklist for Salespeople

To a salesperson, LinkedIn is a very valuable tool. It’s the perfect place to find prospects, cold call leads, and form relationships. If you use LinkedIn, you can also keep tabs on your clients. For example, if one of your clients quits his job, you will be notified by LinkedIn, and you can quickly take action and build a new relationship with another contact at the organization.
While every good salesperson has a LinkedIn profile, every great salesperson has a well-established LinkedIn profile. Having a well-established LinkedIn profile enables you to build solid relationships, find more contacts, and advertise yourself in the best way possible.
If you want to have a well-established LinkedIn profile, take a look at the following three key elements your LinkedIn Profile Checklist for Salespeople should have.

A link to your website

Your LinkedIn profile won’t be complete unless you have a link to your website. You want to give your contacts more information about yourself and your organization, and the best way to do that is to direct them to your website, where real business is done.

A list of your past jobs

You want to delineate what you’ve done so far in your career. This helps open up opportunities for you. If a prospect sees that you have experience in a certain field that would benefit his business, he would be more inclined to do business with you. By listing your past jobs, you will also show how much of an established salesperson you are, and your prospects will have an easier time trusting you. Only include jobs that are related to your career, and don’t include any jobs you worked for a very short time.

Referrals from your contacts

A list of solid referrals from your contacts can take you very far. If your contacts look at your profile and see a bunch of glowing testimonials on how much of a great salesperson you are, they will feel more inclined to trust you and they will be more comfortable doing business with you.
There is no better time to ask for a favor than when you’re giving a favor. That’s why you should ask people to give you a recommendation only when you’re doing them a favor. For example, if you have a client who has an issue with one of your products, and you go above and beyond to fix the issue for him even though it’s not your job, you can say, “Hey, could you do me an enormous favor? Would you mind giving me a recommendation on LinkedIn?” Your client, feeling thankful and indebted to you, will be likely to answer with, “Of course I will!”

Building your LinkedIn profile

It will take you a while to create a well-established LinkedIn profile. Just remember to beef it up as much as possible with relevant information that will put you in a good light in the eyes of prospects.
As you can tell, LinkedIn is an essential tool for salespeople to find prospects, build relationships, and keep track of their clients. A well-established LinkedIn profile with a link to your website, a list of past jobs, and solid referrals from your contacts can help you stand out and build trust with your prospects. By taking the time to build a strong LinkedIn profile, you can improve your chances of success in the competitive world of sales.
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