Linkedin IS a Sales Tool!

Like most people, sometimes I have to remind myself why social networking tools like Linkedin and Facebook are valuable. It takes a little extra effort to keep up with these but I think it’s well worth it. I wanted to share some examples of how Linkedin has helped me which you may not have thought of. I try to connect to all of my vendors, business partners and prospects as soon as I meet them (again, I’m not perfect here).

One way this becomes valuable is the Linkedin updates. I get to see who everyone is connecting with which is very useful information if you really think about the possibilities. Here’s some examples of information I’ve benefited from.

• One of my customers recently connected to my counterpart at a competitor. A good opportunity for me to make sure Catalyst’s relationship with that customer is where it needs to be.
• CAM’s for our Vendors often connect with resellers who I’m not privy to. This helps me get a jump on other distributors and try to work with them.
• My Business Partners often connect with strategic contacts which may tell me something about the direction they are taking their business and help me have better conversations in the future.

The other side to this coin is that my connections can see who I’m linking to. This reminds me to be careful who I have connections with as I realized there’s a couple of old friends in my network that are now directly or indirectly competing with me.

Another way this becomes valuable is statuses which show up in the Linkedin updates. Every now and then I’ll put something in my status to get a reaction from partners. Last week,  a potential new partner for Avaya contacted me in response to my status — a comment related to Aura. On the flip side, I get to see the statuses of vendors and partners to see what is new in their world.

Good Selling,

Tom