Jill Konrath

In Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code, which highlights the results of our 2013 Sales & LinkedIn survey, we discovered that top sellers had significantly more LinkedIn connections with their customers than everyone else. 

That's a huge difference. And here’s an even starker contrast. If you look at the 55% of survey respondents who never generated an opportunity via LinkedIn, they’re only connected to 9.8% of their customers. Mmmm. Do you think being connected to customers might matter?

One LinkedIn strategy that top sellers use is getting alerts when a customer or prospect changes jobs. The only way to get these...

How often do you use LinkedIn updates? Most people I ask say seldom or even never. And the reason they don’t is because they don’t have a clue why it matters.  

Here’s the deal. Every time you issue a LinkedIn update, everyone you’re connected to can see it in on their LinkedIn home page. It’s a way to stay in front of your prospects and customers. But, you have to be smart about it and focus on what matters to them. Seriously. Don’t pitch your products, sell your services or use any form of hyperbole.  

The best thing you can do is to share helpful information. If you read an interesting article, mention it and provide a link so others can read it too. In fact, you should always be on the lookout for content you can share with others. For example, you can let people know about upcoming...

Who's your biggest sales competitor? It's not who you think. It's the status quo. Doing nothing is the absolute easiest thing for people to do -- even if the process or products they're using now aren't doing a good job.

Over the years, I've always lost about 50% of my identified prospects to no decision. Sometimes it truly doesn't make sense to change. I can live with that. But other times it is foolhardy to stay with what they're doing -- yet they still do. Those are the times that drive me crazy.

That's why I've learned that our most important job is helping our prospects understand the business value they'll get from making a change. It all starts with a story of how we've helped others.

This needs to pique their curiosity enough so they're interested in...

So how many LinkedIn groups do you belong to? I’m in 50 – the maximum allowed  -- and there are tons of reasons for it. But first, lets talk about the kinds of groups you can join.

My personal favorites are groups that my prospects belong to -- in my case, that’s VP's of Sales, but for you it may be Clinic Directors. Or, if you sell to specific vertical markets such as printing or financial services, you can belong groups with that focus. And finally, if you sell in a certain geography, you’ll find LinkedIn groups too.

But why in the world would you join so many? Here are just a few reasons for using LinkedIn groups:

1. You have a chance to learn from and engage in online conversations with potential prospects.

2. You can demonstrate you’re a valuable resource by offering insights, ideas and...