LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 USING LINKEDIN FOR COMMERCIAL BENEFIT Delivered by James Taylor @macs_jamest
Agenda
Key Information/stats
Changing buyer behaviour
Linkedin – for commercial benefit:
The opportunity
How/what to do
SMART Profiles
Searching/Lead Chasing
Networking/nurturing
Market Intelligence
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 Key Information
A few basics & Key Info It’s SOCIAL media
Over 12 million users in the UK
Over 230 million users world-wide
Linkedin Contacts = free CRM
Anonymity rules
Based on Key Word criteria & BOOLEAN search
Most up to date database….EVER?
Walk the Walk…
2 New Divisions = 24% Sales
10th July Aggregate Industry
It works, but you have to work out how it works best for you…
What are your Customers doing – how are buyers behaving?
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 Buyer behaviour
Buyer behaviour has changed!
And so to has the way we communicate with each other.
But ultimately…
‘Relationships’ are still critical
And in many organisations/transactions…
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 The best social site for B2B…
MISSION
“CONNECT THE WORLDS PROFESSIONALS – TO MAKE THEM MORE PRODUCTIVE & SUCCESSFUL”
(* the rules/spamming and anonymity)
It’s also changing (all the time!)
And mine changed last week
Loads of new exciting functionality
Best is totally relevant for today – CRM functionality
Whilst I’m good – I’m not that good!
Mr Linkedin = Mark Williams
The Opportunity For you, as an individual
become more DISCOVERABLE
increase brand/profile of yourself /your business
differentiate yourself from competitors
build an on-line testimonial portfolio
Make “networking” easier & less time consuming
The Opportunity
For Businesses
Account Management – CRM utilisation
Strategic Sales
Competitor intelligence
Be found first, by buyers
Aim = HOW rather than WHAT
Building a SMART profile – Personal and Company
Utilising groups
Boolean Searching
for customers
for Suppliers
Making contact – the etiquette
Gaining Market Intelligence
SMART PROFILES - you Let’s go:
Keyword/s and Scoring
Name & number in headline = more contactable
Be memorable - visually
Recommendations –
“people buy from people who other people rate & trust”
New- Profile SEO Maximisation
Your SEO
Are now ordered by relevance to the person running the search:
Relationship
Keyword scoring
Skill endoresements (for the keywords searched on)
Profile Strength (All star is important)
You go from ‘expert’ to ‘all star’ by having more than 100 connections (we believe)
You can now make your profile ‘dynamic’ by adding video/slideshare etc
SMART PROFILE - Company
See who “follows” you
Send meaningful updates to customers
Give buyers/procurement an on-line route to:
Specialist sales teams, by division
Customer Service
CEO/COO
Company Page to support website & enhance SEO
The Power of Groups
Groups – be more “contactable”
50 is the magic number (now 99?)
The most important groups
BOOLEAN SEARCH
Identification of potential customers
Thinking outside the box e.g “Artificial Grass” AND “council” (including variations)
CHASING A LEAD…(real life example)
A.E Yates Ltd have won a sizeable contract
You know they need a supplier = you/someone like you
But you’ve never worked with them before…
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 Commercial Excellence
IS THE A.I. EXAMPLE APPLICABLE?
Aggregate supply to Birse
Birse are suppliers to Severn Trent
The challenge –
If you’re able to find out the challenges facing Severn Trent,
you could help Birse provide them with improved solutions
Birse gain loyalty from Severn Trent
You gain loyalty from Birse
Which ultimately leads to increased sales
NETWORKING STRATEGY
Making the approach
2nd tier & groups
Keeping in touch
email < linkedin < phone < face2face
< GOLF!
target to advocate…
Linkedin ‘Contacts’
This is brand new
Gives individuals some CRM capability.
Improves efficiency of searching for customers
When found relevant contact…(tag, make note, schedule)
Syncs to smart phone
Once you’ve searched, tag.
You can also set reminders for when to follow up.
And…
Syncs to smart phone app…
And, it organises you…
WEEKLY MARKET INTEL Saved boolean searches
Linkedin Signal
Both can give invaluable: Current Customer Insight
Target Customer Insight
Competitor Insight
Advanced Search
Boolean Search
Keyword criteria/scoring – a quick example search
Specific searches – for buyers/suppliers
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP 2011 A few quick extras…
And finally
Linkedin official youtube channel
LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar
Productivity Tools