According to Lauren Mullenholz who spoke on October 8, 2015 at the LinkedIn Sales Connect conference in Las Vegas, those with SSI (Social Selling Index) scores above 70 achieve 200% more meetings, opportunities and new clients compared with their peers. Who wouldn't want to outperform their fellow sales people and competitors by 200%? Lauren's video is at the end of this post and includes a case study explaining how Microsoft is modernizing the way they sell with LinkedIn. The screenshots below are from the video.
The average SSI score within LinkedIn globally has gone from 21 to 28 in the last 12 months with North America and Australia leading the world with an average just over 30. But it's lonely at the top... achieving an individual SSI score of 70 or above places you in the top 1.4% of LinkedIn members. Click here forhow to create a strong personal brand in social with LinkedIn.
I've personally achieved a SSI score of 90 and the business results have staggered me. If you're serious about modernizing and improving the way you sell, thenknow the business case for social selling and create your own specific strategy. You can download a free white paper I've written defining 'strategic social selling' here (no form to complete).
I encourage all of my clients to embrace LinkedIn's SSI scores as the new KPI. My framework above is not dissimilar to the following four elements of LinkedIn's approach which drives the SSI score algorithm:
- Create a strong personal brand to attract buyers and evidence your relevance and credibility
- Find the right people within your network and identify who can assist with warm introductions and research
- Engage at the right level with insights that set the the agenda and influence the buyer's priorities, business case and procurement process
- Build relationships of trust and value
Many companies around the world are modernizing the way they sell by embracing social selling. The illustration below shows the results that Microsoft are achieving in three distinct areas: Enterprise partners / resellers, direct corporate sales and direct sales into the government sector. Watch the video at he bottom of this post to hear their story and how they are achieving these results.
Lauren's LinkedIn video below also features Phil and Brian from Microsoft with their case study. It's ideal to use during a 'lunch and learn' session with key executives inside your own organization. Introduce it by asking: "Could this be the way to modernize the way we sell?"
If you would like to see your own SSI score and understand how SSI scores are created, read this blog post.
If you valued this article, please hit the ‘like' and ‘share’ buttons below. This article was originally published in LinkedIn here where you can comment. Also follow the award winning LinkedIn blog here or visit Tony’s leadership blog at his keynote speaker website:www.TonyHughes.com.au.
Main image photo from Flickr