Are you a "caveman salesperson"? 🙊

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What if you get into the story?

Almost 14 years now that LinkedIn is part of our professional universe

So, on the part of salesmen/sellers of all hairs, nearly 14 years of various experiments to make this tool a facilitation channel/business generation.

Let's go for fun to go back and see how practices have evolved. How, first of all, primary, they matured to become more subtle, smarter.

More "web social friendly ", what!

And so, at the very beginning of our history, we were able to see the appearance of archaic social sellers, the "commercial caves"!

We are between 2003 and 2008: our salesmen were just out of the age – stone – of buying files and "cold telephone prospecting". 

For them, LinkedIn was first and foremost a file. One very large file.

And so their Social Selling approach on LinkedIn could be summed up as: 

1. I'm identifying my prospect (if, however, it is on LinkedIn, for information in 2007 the social network had only 17 million members, so clearly there were few decision-makers there)
2. I have his name, so I'm calling him.. And my phone pitch is no different from what I'm used to doing. Anyway, it's barely if my prospect remembers that he counted LinkedIn...

And I only connect to LinkedIn very occasionally. Especially to update my resume – sorry, my profile. 

And from my desktop PC. Zero mobility and because of this, smartphones hardly exist...

Then appeared the "social sellers" of the Bronze Age

Apparus around 2008-2010, they begin to understand that LinkedIn is not just a Great file.

Several other actions are also possible, such as doing the day before, sharing articles, commenting, liking.

Well, they don't do it yet, or very little, but start to realize that this type of action may have its interest in a customer relationship.

They also understand that developing a targeted network permanently attached to their person can be a useful business capital.

Their Social Selling approach on LinkedIn is therefore: 

1. I identify my prospect, and now using LinkedIn's search engine. I'm not running Boolean operators, but I know how to sort by occupation, function, geographical area...
2. I'm sending him an invitation, not necessarily personalized, but...
3. He or she accepts ?? YES then I send him a commercial message and/or call him to get an appointment
4. Generally speaking, I make sure to be connected with my clients. From time to time, when I have a few minutes, I like or comment on their possible posts (because at this time, only a small proportion of Linkedin users publish on the wall.

I log in once or twice a week, usually from my laptop, my everyday companion.

Then emerge the Social Selling traders from the Iron Age 

We are now around 2012. Practices are becoming more mature

This commercial – which necessarily already uses Facebook or Twitter on the private sphere – understands that LinkedIn is a complete social network. And the fear as such.

It therefore exploits most of the possibilities. This gives us a much more advanced process:

1. I think about the ideal network I should have on LinkedIn, so I list my priorities companies, trades, geographical areas...
2. I develop my network proactively; obviously my clients, but also my prospect deposits. Nevertheless, I am still shy and tend to connect only people I really know (e.g. prospects encountered in networking actions). High priority is given to Quality Vs the Quantity
3. On a regular basis I send targeted and personalized invitations, my acceptance rate is measured and rather good
4. The prospects that accept my invitation? I'll call them!
5. I use email to send product and/or event information on a regular basis (at the time LinkedIn still allows group packages in hidden copy)
6. I make sure to regularly like my customers' posts, I can do it thanks to my smartphone, which now doesn't leave me anymore!

Finally, the commercials of Modern Times, our contemporaries!

These make full and mature Social Selling. That is to say- you will see the differences are notable:

1. I think about the ideal network I should have on LinkedIn, so I list my priorities companies, trades, hierarchical level, geographical areas...
2. BUT I also reason more widely in terms of business ecosystem, or "commercial land", so my network is not only customers and prospects, it's also all those who revolve around: Prescriptors, influencers, work teams or projects, weak links... I know in terms of network combining Quality and Quantity. I am also targeting the thousands of relations
3. It is with great regularity and rigour that I send invitations, I am in a logic of colonization or coreting; I develop my "connection rate" in the right ecosystems!
4. The prospects that accept my invitation, I don't call them right away. No, instead I seek to generate with them, around them, exchanges with value-added that give me a position of knowing. I am organized and equipped for the process to work, my business action plan has its counterpart on LinkedIn.
5. I use the articles function in Linkedin. Either I write or I make sure that Marcomm, in my company, feeds me in adapted content
6. I even know how to cook content, wow. So what I publish on LinkedIn is chosen according to the editorial line of the box
7. Anyway I am on Linkedin ALL days, and the range of what I do there is wide. 50% from my smartphone which is now an absolutely indispensable work tool

Now, to finish, the revelation that kills, be careful it'll sting:

The Archaic Social Sellers exist ENCORE.

This is even the bulk of what we find on LinkedIn. The modern time salesmen? Maybe 5 to 10% of commercials on LinkedIn

What's your opinion on the matter?

What about salesmen in YOUR company? Archaic? Bronze Age? Iron? Modern Times ??

Need for training in this area: Appointment on https://www.elorezo.fr/formation-reseaux-sociaux-linkedin 😉