Always be Closing. Boost your LinkedIn presence. Are you doing both?
Every sales professional has had that line drilled into them from every sales manager, “boss” or sales training session they’ve attended.
Selling has changed. In a networked world, it’s best to “always be networking.” ABN doesn’t have the same ring as ABC, but it’s worth remembering. And, more importantly, incorporating as a core selling practice.
There are days where I am out of the office training and other days where, from the comfort of my office, I have the opportunity to meet new people who are interested in learning how to market, sell and recruit differently. I learn something from every conversation and mostly, I’ve learned that folks are hoping to increase their business more transactionally than ever. Today, sales for the long term is best when built on the shoulders of a great network, subject matter expertise and give to get mindset.
You need to leave the comfort of your office to build your network. Even if you sell nationally or globally, find a way to attend at least one great industry conference a year. Get out and meet people.
Here’s how I boosted my LinkedIn presence by leaving the office:
Even a typical late spring weekend, filled with a half marathon (not me, my three daughters) and a high school graduation party proved to be good networking opportunities. Connecting with former clients, friends and neighbors offered tips on potential connections, productivity tips and a couple of new tools to check out.
My week started with an invitation from Insperity to talk about LinkedIn to a group of local business leaders. In addition to learning about LinkedIn, Rick Crawford from Insperity brought in photographers Robin Sommers and Bill Rettberg from Images of Sommer to take headshots.
As Robin, Bill and I caught up afterward we talked about their business, and they shared that they were now doing a good deal of photography for businesses to use in their content. WOW. What a great idea! People ask me all the time where we find our images for our website and blogs. I dislike so much of the imagery used in blogs, and not because it’s stock photography, but because it’s so overused. So, the idea of “original content photography” is smart and will serve to enhance an individual or company’s content, initiate engagement and be memorable. Love it.
On Wednesday, I had the privilege of joining the World Trade Center Institute’s 10th Annual Women Spanning the Globe event at the American Visionary Art Museum. (If you have not been there lately, you owe it to yourself to go). You may even have a chance to meet the unstoppable, Rebecca Hoffberger whose creative spirit touches every inch within the museum. As the speakers took to the stage, I was humbled to be in the company of speakers whose work directly changes lives. Below are some highlights.
Betsy Collie, from the World Trade Institute, provided the following list of highlights from the event:
- See the awesome photos from the event courtesy of John Coyle of Coyle Studios
- Take a leadership assessment from our first speaker Henna Inam, Author and CEO Transformational Leadership
- Visit Marylou Falstreau’s website and see more of her artwork featured at the event and in the accompanying marketing materials
- View Sodexo’s Gender Balance Case Study SlideShare
- Visit Colleen McKenna’s website to learn how to better leverage LinkedIn
- Dr. Leana Wen encourages you to learn about the state of health in Baltimore and get more information on her ongoing efforts
- View the videos Marc Pritchard shared here, here, and here
- Check out the conversation on twitter #womenspanningtheglobe
- Join our Women Spanning the Globe LinkedIn Group
- See some of the great work Jhpiego is doing and how some comedians have trouble pronouncing Jhpiego
It was a full day filled with global leaders doing significant work in leadership, advertising and branding, diversity and inclusion, health care, public service and product development in emerging markets. The more than 300+ women came to learn, be inspired, network.
By Friday, I was in catch-up mode. And on a quick Starbucks break, I ran into a friend and former colleague who invited me to a couple of upcoming networking events.
Next Steps
Now, it’s over to LinkedIn to follow up with a personalized message, where you can Connect and begin new conversations. LinkedIn is the perfect tool for follow-up and taking the conversation to the next stage after in-person networking.
Notice who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile. You can see that my LinkedIn activity increased because of my in-person activities. And, you can also see how my activity plummeted the following week when I went on vacation.
If you are in sales, it’s important to be meeting and talking to people in person. It’s not only a critical way to stay in the know, top of mind, and visible, it’s a way to learn what is current, interesting and potentially valuable. Begin to work your networking plan with greater intentionality and an open mind. See what happens when you do.
And in case you’re wondering – yes, new business resulted from my week of networking.
