My database was a shoe box on my desk before I started using Linkedin

I was a database developer in the late 1990’s, programming on Oracle database using PL/SQL. I started my own business before social media was been used in business. 

A shoe box of business cards collected from networking and attending trade fairs was my first database and then came Linkedin.

I can now store and email friends, colleagues and business contacts though email and now have more time to be out face to face with my business contacts. As you can imagine this helps my business generate more results.

How Linkedin can help sales people, be mad, be bold, be unique

You can do the following but always think of how to be unique and stand out from your competitors:

Your Profile, not only on LinkedIn, but also shows up in search engines like Google, contributions in Answers and Discussions. Try to be different.

Finding the right people at prospects or at current customers. Think about who you went to college with and worked with.Find their Profile via Advanced Search or by browsing through the network of your network.. Find information about prospects as preparation for your meeting. Read the Profiles of your contact persons before your meeting.. Maintain relationships with prospects or customers.

Sending personal messages, sharing ideas in Discussions and answer questions in Answers.Often appropriate humour works.

Receive Recommendations which are visible for everyone and in particular for prospects and customers.How can LinkedIn help? Receiving Recommendations and showing them in your Profile. Discover relationships between:Customers, prospects and other contacts Prospects and colleagues so you don’t contact the same prospects.

Searching and browsing in the network of you own contacts. Introductions or referrals to prospects.How

Through the “Get introduced to” option or via an email outside LinkedIn after finding the relationship between them on LinkedIn. Visibility, reputation and online branding of yourself and of the organization you work for.

Your Profile, not only on LinkedIn, but also in search engines like Google, contributions in Answers and Discussions. Word of mouth advertising, the best form of advertising.

Recommendations you have received and people who talk about you in Discussions, mention you as an expert in Answers or talk about you outside LinkedIn. Receive notifications when someone changes jobs. In this way you can ask to be introduced to the person who replaces them. You might also become the supplier of the new organization of your contact. Via Network Updates on your LinkedIn Home Page.Hear about trends in the market place from customers, prospects and other sales people.

Membership of Groups of which your customers and prospects are also member of and Groups where you can exchange ideas with other sales people.

Make sure that customers and prospects regard you as an expert (and as a consequence keep faith in you and are happy to refer you) Building trust is a major factor in sales. Contributions in Discussions and Answers.

Find the right organizations to become member of, both online and offline. Via Group Search and via the Profiles of people in your own LinkedIn network.