Linkedin’s Social Selling Index Will Make You Better At Sales
First ,a little history. I believe Axel Schultze, CEO of Xeesm.com, now of Founder Society3 Accelerator & Fundraising marketplace, who coined the term, “Social Selling”. He wrote about it in Oct 2009 {CustomerThink.com}
I heard about social selling index in early 2014… LinkedIn utilized a compilation of data ,from a number of companies, in the 3rd quarter of 2013.
The SSI was part of, or available only, with the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, until July 30th this year, when it was made available to all LinkedIn members, beginning with the English speaking members….
You may know that LinkedIn is one of the older social media platforms. LinkedIn began in 2003. LinkedIn is the only professional business network online.
Did you know, LinkedIn’s network of 300 million-plus members is the largest channel in the social selling arena. No other channel has as many B2B professionals representing all types of businesses and industries. “LinkedIn is the goldmine of the B2B sales world,” said Jill Konrath, a B2B sales expert, thought leader and author. “It’s the biggest database of business people in the world, and members are highlighting who they are and the best work they’ve done, so immediately the potential is there to connect to a person. Second, they’re all connected to their peers, so you can map out an account. Plus you have the ability to meet them through groups.”
What exactly is social selling?
What The Hell is the Social Selling Index? What can it do for you?
The social networks are making it possible for you to meet, greet, and build a relationship with those people connected to those people you already know. Working through social media, to build relationships with a prospect that has common connections, is really making the cold call obsolete.
Enter, the social selling index, by LinkedIn. I believe it is the first of its kind . An index that measures a company’s or individual’s ability to adopt the four pillars of social selling on LinkedIn itself.
The four pillars of social selling referred to:
- creating a professional brand
- finding the right people
- engaging with insights and
- building strong relationships
The four key activities in this index are each worth 25 points which gives you an overall score out of 100.
Social selling is quickly becoming a key tool, in the arsenals of real sales stars. Mike Gamson, the SVP at LinkedIn, has said that social selling improves close rates because it’s far quicker to build a relationship through warm introduction compared with a cold call outreach. He continued with this, buyers are five times more likely to engage if the outreach is through a mutual connection.
People can and do search on their own, for products, information, and services online. More often, people put off their buying decisions until the very last moment. They are ready to engage only when they see extreme value, in that engagement.
Today’s successful sales professionals are jumping on the bandwagon and using all the tools at their disposal. For those who really want to outrun the pack,they are using all their online connections and the interactions with prospects, to make sure that they’re making use of all those warm introductions, and they’re providing really valuable content, that speaks to the specific issues and or roles and buying stages, of the people with whom they have dealings. LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator and the Social Selling Index are key tools in any toolbox.
LinkedIn itself stands alone in the ocean of other social media networks out there. Being able to measure the effectiveness of your sales funnel, understanding how effective you are when you deal with your prospects and your customers is really key to being able to grow your business. This is an important component of success for any and all sales organizations. Using the information that the Social Selling Index provides can be a real benefit to even the smallest business.
Some of the new data states that those who excel at social selling are not only creating more opportunities but they’re 51% more likely to hit their quotas. All of this is possible, from be able to measure your social selling efforts. What are you waiting for? Do you know your SSI?