How Raising Your SSI Score Can Grow Your Business!

As a LinkedIn & Social Selling Trainer, it is vital that I am practicing what we preach, and this past week it paid off in spades. In front of hundreds of Insides Sales Leaders at the AA-ISP in Chicago, LinkedIn announced the top Influencers and I was thrilled to be #1 on that list. So how’d that happen?

I use LinkedIn’s SSI (Social Selling Index) score as a key performance indicator on how well I am leveraging LinkedIn, with these 4 areas as my top priority:

1. Establishing my professional brand through having an engaging profile that offers valuable resources that attracts, teaches and engages the readers is foundational. According to LinkedIn, 81% of buyers are more likely to engage with a strong, professional brand. And, 92% engage with sales professionals if they have a reputation as an industry thought leader.
2. Finding and connecting with the right people is vital when building my network. The key word being RIGHT! I spend time identifying LinkedIn’s advanced search filters that match my prospects as closely as possible so I can pinpoint and engage with the folks that I can truly bring value to. LinkedIn says that 69% of sales professionals that view the profiles of at least 10 people in their targeted accounts daily exceeded sales quota. Imagine what the numbers look like when you connect and engage with them.
3. Offer valuable insights that get your prospects thinking differentlyabout their situation, company or industry. Content, good content, is one of the best ways to get engagement from your network. If you are a resource to your prospects even before they talk with you, getting them to take your call becomes easier. LinkedIn reports that nearly 64% of B2B buyers appreciate hearing from a sales person who provides knowledge or insights about their business.
4. I work hard to build referral-based relationships. This means that I am not only connecting and engaging with prospects but other vendors and strategic partnerships where we can both mutually benefit from introductions. There is no better way to gain access to decision makers than from a warm referral from a trusted connection. In fact, LinkedIn mentions that 87% of B2B buyers have a favorable impression of a salesperson who was introduced to them from someone in their professional network.

LinkedIn’s SSI score is a fabulous way to gauge how you are doing, and identify what you can do to improve your performance on LinkedIn.

• Visit Get Your SSI Score Now to see your strengths and areas of opportunity.

• CLICK HERE to share with us your SSI score and enter to win a 30 minute customized webinar for you and your sales team that can help get better engagement on LinkedIn that drives real business.