LinkedIn has become a very valuable tool for me. I enjoy partnering with my connections for referrals, business opportunities, learning experiences and awareness of our industry and business climate. In the few years I’ve been using LinkedIn I’ve reconnected with former colleagues, exchanged valuable referrals, developed deeper relationships with clients, kept track of clients when they’ve switched companies, connected employers and employees, created great peer networks and, not lastly, increased sales. My point? LinkedIn is a powerful tool in my business.
In the past year, I have gotten more active on LinkedIn Groups. I wanted to share my experience and some of my best pratices for using these groups to build business acumen, share and gather best practices and grow as a sales professional.
- First of all, you need to find a group that is well-managed. This means that the group manager is actively involved in the discussions and ensures that spam or selling is not tolerated. The groups that add value are made up of a community of peers that value sharing ideas and best practices for the benefit of the group – and ultimately the customers they serve. Here are three groups I am active in and would highly recommend: Sales Blogcast, Sales Gravy, Sales Playbook (If you know of other good groups, please post a comment and share them with our readers.) Visit one or more of these groups and request to join.
- Once you are a member, you should share your ideas and opinions on discussion questions already posted.
- If you are facing a sales challenge such as getting a prospect to take your call, overcoming a price objection or dealing with customer service issues, you can post your dilemma for the group. These groups are made up of professionals from the sales industry and are great about sharing their experiences, ideas and suggestions. You will have a great list of perspectives to consider as you decide how to tackle your sales challenge.
- Be respectful of your network. You can disagree -it is actually interesting and valuable to get differing opinions. Just do it politely and with respect.
- Make an effort to share news that might be useful to the group. Most groups have a place to post news. If you find something helpful, share it with the group.
- Follow up on discussions you post. Thank group members for their input and continue to facilitate the discussion until it runs its course.
- Be abundant. In the The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Dr. Stephen Covey defined this abundance mentality as “a paradigm that there is plenty out there for everyone.” The Abundance Mentality is in contrast to the Scarcity Mentality. (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen R. Covey)
- Invite colleagues to join and participate in groups you find useful.
- Stay positive. The groups I’ve recommended manage to stay realistic and positive. They are solution oriented no matter the challenge.
- Remember the Golden Rule always.
These groups are a great enhancement to your life and career when you participate appropriately. Please feel free to share your own best practices by leaving a comment for our readers.
Get active in LinkedIn Groups and reap the benefits immediately.
Sales Team Meeting Idea:
Ask your sales team to
- all join the same group or
- each join a different group.
At your sales team meetings, bring one of the discussion questions from your LI group to your own team. Share the LinkedIn Group’s responses and then build on those.
Or, determine a sales challenge that exists on your team and post it to the group(s) you belong to. The next time you get together, share the answers from the LinkedIn group(s). Be sure to let your LinkedIn Group(s) know how they helped your team by leaving a comment in the discussion thread, also.
(Meeting to Win offers subscribers sales team meeting agendas every week. Join us by subscribing at https://www.meetingtowin.com/subscribe.)
