So you’re putting in the work trying to reach out. Writing emails with just the right amount of personalization. Practicing your pitches to perfection so you make the most out of your calls. But what are you going to do with your script when you hit the brick wall of “Oh sorry, we’re all working from home right now.” You could try making a paper plane and hope your script floats over – I’ve never been good at that, so I tried the next best thing: Social Selling on LinkedIn.

Why is Social Selling on LinkedIn the in thing right now?

That’s easy: people aren’t going to the office. They’re trading their PJ tops for a t-shirt (or polo if they’re feeling fancy), hopping on their video calls, and getting their work done. And lucky for us, a lot of that is shared on LinkedIn. People are connecting over common business ideas, interests, and challenges.

LinkedIn offers a whole buffet of people’s interests, challenges, solutions, ideas, and achievements. You get Direct Access to what they’re interested in, following, and engaging with. You get Direct Access to them – your prospects.

But here is where things get spicy: They get Direct Access to you.

Face-to-Face and the music is picking up – What now?

Alright, you’re bought-in. You’re spending time prospecting on LinkedIn. Getting to know your prospects. Reading their comments, liking their posts – maybe you even let them know you found one insightful – maybe you found the perfect thing to comment on their posts. Then you go to connect, you write your note – I know you worked hard on it. But there it is again. Silence. No response and you feel like all you did was trade “[Your favorite Social platform] at work” for “LinkedIn at work.”

You need to remember – the looking glass works both ways, and no one wants to talk to a circular silhouette in a circular frame. Your profile says a lot about you, and it’s where your prospect is going to go to learn who you are. If you’re leaving it unattended, blank, and boring, your prospect isn’t going to be interested in your request to connect. Think back to profiles you’ve found lacking, and how frustrated you felt trying to grasp at some sort of tiny tidbit of info or scrap of common interest. Who even is this trying to connect with me?

Don’t forget the social aspect of social selling. on LinkedIn. Everyone wants to know who they’re talking to.

Your profile is a big part of your first impression. You’ve got an Edit button – Use it.

Direct Access to you and what you do

Utilize your prospect’s Direct Access to you to build a great first impression without uttering a single word, or disinfecting after shaking a hand.

First thing’s first: Get your beautiful face framed right at the top. Let your prospect put a face to the name they’re still quizzical about.

Next, you need to write a good Headline. Let people know what you do, maybe you feel like putting in some fancy keywords like “Grow” and “Scale” or want to tell people you’re a “B2B Marketer | Connecting SaaS companies to their future business.” Your headline pops up wherever your name does, so be direct, thoughtful, and I’d suggest not cramming 10-20 different keywords no one will be going through.

Go through your profile and let your prospects know what you can do for them under your company in your experience. You’re hired right now, so look at how you can let your prospects know how you can help.

Be unique and add a voiceline at the top of your profile. Tell people how to pronounce your name or say a quick greeting. A feature that’s been around for a while and still so under-utilised.

At this stage, you’ve covered that initial “who is this?” thought your prospect’s going to have. Now they know what you do, what you look like, and what your voice sounds like. So what’s going to get them to stay?

Your Content, Your Insight, Your Words – The Social aspect of Social Selling

What’s going to keep your prospect interested in connecting with you? You might have a killer smile, but you’re not standing in front of a mirror all day – that’d be boring and your face would cramp up.

You need to make them feel like they just had a fountain of knowledge stumble on them. Update your profile with the certificates you’ve gotten, expand on the work you’ve done and accomplishments you’ve achieved. Get endorsements and recommendations from your colleagues and show-off how great you are at Microsoft Excel – Or maybe something more relevant like HubSpot’s tools or Salesforce. Most importantly, share content.

Get to posting articles and blog posts you find interesting, insightful, and will resonate with your prospects. Be there for them when they’re looking to read on how to enhance a process or digitally transform.

Don’t worry about posting the right content. What’s more important is that you’re posting something useful, relevant, valuable, and being consistent. That consistency and value translates to you. Your first step towards great social selling on LinkedIn is being consistent with your posts.

LinkedIn’s a great place to build relationships with your prospects, so utilize that Direct Access to them, leverage their Direct Access to you, and take a sledgehammer to “They’re OOO today, can I take a message” because now you’re OOO right along with them.