Well, maybe all of you haven’t made this mistake.
I know plenty of salespeople who have made it, though.
What is it?
The mistake of not being thorough in your on-line presence.
I realize some people are nervous about intentionally putting information on the internet about themselves. The reality is, though, that many potential buyers will use the internet to do research.
Wouldn’t you prefer that the information they find about you is accurate and positive?
What is key step you can take in that direction?
As a businessperson, you definitely can fill out your complete profile on Linkedin. As many of you know, Linkedin is the primary networking site for professionals.
Unfortunately, too many salespeople make the mistake of filling in the bare minimum as far as information goes — or they don’t even have a Linkedin profile to begin with. Yikes!
My recommendation? Take the time to complete your profile and make full use of all of the features on Linkedin. Even the free version is comprehensive and can demonstrate your experience, your professional interests and involvement in various industry groups.
My other recommendation about Linkedin is that you follow some of the key groups that would be of interest to the bulk of your buyers or prospects. In the B2B world, in particular, you can learn a lot about trends in the industries where your product or service is most used.
Another key profile worth completing is your Google+ profile. If you do not understand Google+, I recommend Guy Kawasaki’s eBook “What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us.”
For some of you reading this, these steps of being more thorough in these profiles is a no-brainer. You long ago did this and possibly even are active on the sites.
If, however, you are a salesperson who still thinks these are just fads or that it doesn’t do much for you professionally to boost your on-line presence, I’ve got news for you.
The internet isn’t going away.
Your potential buyers and prospects will continue to increase their use of it to research products, companies and yes, even salespeople.
Don’t make a critical mistake and ignore what you could be doing to present yourself positively on the web.
(And if we haven’t already, let’s connect on Linkedin, at my Linkedin High-Profit Selling group, and on Google+).
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
