Does your linked in profile entice potential customers or does it scare them away
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The document emphasizes the importance of crafting a compelling LinkedIn profile headline summary that appeals to potential customers rather than resembling a traditional CV. It points out common mistakes, such as lacking a professional photograph and failing to articulate one’s expertise and value proposition clearly. The document encourages professionals to highlight how they help clients and to include results that matter to potential customers in their profile summary.
Does your linked in profile entice potential customers or does it scare them away
- 1. Inside Sales Series Does your LinkedIn profile entice potential customers or does it scare them away? Most business to business sales professionals are aware of the advantages and angles LinkedIn can provide them with for business development purposes. That said, the majority of sales professionals put very little thought into how they will make their LinkedIn profile stand out from the crowd. They often set up their LinkedIn profile as if they were writing a CV for a job. If you are trying to use LinkedIn to win new business , then this is a mistake. They forget that they are writing their profile to entice a potential customer to make contact. In particular this means you must get your profile headline summary right. What is a 'Profile Headline Summary'? The profile headline summary is the section that sits directly underneath your name and beside your photograph. It's also the section that a potential buyer will see when they do a search to find a potential supplier. So it's important to make sure this section reflects well on your area of expertise. The Main Mistakes people make with their Profile Headline Summary and how to put them right. • The photograph 1. You must have one. Bizarrely many people don't! Point: A profile with no photograph is automatically ignored in favour of profiles with photographs. 2. The photo must be high resolution / good quality. When the 'pix' quality is low then LinkedIn makes the size of the photo smaller to counter balance resolution quality. 3. The photo should be a business photograph - with you 'suited and booted' appropriately.
- 2. Inside Sales Series 3. The photo needs to be a close up photo of your shoulders and face - with your eyes open and in clear view. 4. I suggest you get one taken professionally - you will probably need it for your website and business bio in any case. • Your 'profile headline summary' When a customer conducts LinkedIn search to find a potential supplier - the search result 'throws up' a list of people via their profile headline summary. The customer will then decide to 'explore you further' based on whether your summary matches what they are looking for. Many people just include their job title as a profile headline summary. Some others leave it blank! Most forget that they are writing the summary for the potential customers to find them and not to get a job! For example: Job title perspective: Account Manager, ABC Telecom Customer perspective: B2B telecoms expert. I help companies to improve sales and customer service via optomising the way they use broadband and Internet. Remember! 1. A potential customer or buyer will rarely search for your expertise based on your job title the HR department have given you. (unless you are a craftsman ... example: plumber) Therefore, your profile headline summary should explain 1. What expertise you have. 2. How you help customers. 3. Position sectors you work with - retail, B2B, enterprise etc. 4. Their needs to be a deliverable / result mentioned that the customer sees as being important.
- 3. Inside Sales Series Good example: A) Profession - training consultant: John Smith Sales coach: Practical training consultant helping companies win new customers and retain price margins in very competitive ICT and telecommunication markets Poor example: John Smith Director of The Superstar Training Company. Deliver bespoke sales training solutions * Warning! LinkedIn defaults it to the most recent t job 'experience' as outlined in your extended profile if you don't write a profile headline summary. Tips 1. You are writing the profile headline to be found by a potential customer - so you must use the headline as an opportunity to describe how you help the customer. Ask yourself 'what results do you deliver to your customers?' and then include the most relevant ones in the headline. 2. Try and generate your headline in one sentence as there is a limit on the number of words and characters you can use.
- 4. Inside Sales Series And Finally, here's one I prepared earlier ......... Case Study While researching for this blog, I decided to run an advanced LinkedIn search as if I were a potential business buyer looking for a senior sales contact in the outsourcing industry. I included the following as criteria for the search • Title - Sales Director • Industry - Outsourcing • Position - Current • Location: Ireland The 1st page of my search 'threw up' ten 'sales directors' for me to consider. Of the 10 profiles on page one of the search result ...... • 3profiles had no photograph • 1 profiles had a photograph of a person surfing in the distance • 8 (out of 10) profiles had no profile headline summaries. LinkedIn defaulted from their job title - "Sales Director". So these eight had no description of what they do, or how they help customers! • 1profile described themselves as 'sales director of a leading Irish outsourcing company'. • 1profile described themselves as 'Corporate outsourcing expert: I help my business customers to deliver best in class back office and customer telephone interactions in the Insurance, ICT, and Pharmaceutical sectors. So if you were a customer - who would you make contact with?
- 5. Inside Sales Series Thank You for taking the time to read these tips davemalonesalescoach More tips and resources freely available at www.evolve.ie/resource-centre/