The year 2020 is almost in our collective rear-view mirrors. It’s been a… different… year, that’s for sure. LinkedIn usage, though, has spiked throughout our COVID-19 year, and with good reason. After all, with seemingly everything moving online it makes sense for sales professionals looking to start sales conversations to move there too. LinkedIn is the #1 place to spark those initial discussions.

As we’ve moved through the year, a lot has happened with LinkedIn. Here are just a few of items:

• LinkedIn’s interface has changed. It’s more Facebook-like than ever. Some people think that’s good; others, not so much. It’s safe to say, though, that the interface makes it easier than ever to navigate the site.
• Stories, reactions, polls, and LinkedIn Live sessions have all either premiered or are more prominent than ever. Again, the reaction to those and other features is mixed. It’s important to say, though, that LinkedIn is giving all of us more ways than ever to communicate with one another. That’s always good.
• One bad form of LinkedIn-related communication is the increasing number of salespeople pitching their products or services way too early in the sales process. We’ve talked about this quite a bit both here in the blog and on LinkedIn itself. Needless to say, we think it’s bad form to pitch immediately after you connect with someone. Worse yet, more and more people are pitching in their connection requests. That’s the digital version of cold calling, and it doesn’t work.

We still believe that LinkedIn is the #1 platform to get those sales conversations started. We talk about it all of the time. With that in mind, here are some highlights from our blog this past year that are worth reviewing to help you move those discussions along:

The Referral Hack to Your Top 20 List on LinkedIn – Here’s how to “hack” LinkedIn—no actual hacking is involved—to build a list of your top 20 companies, save it and then easily pull it up each time you have a conversation with a client or referral partner.

The Five Things We Want From Every Client – Yes, we do want other things from our clients besides a closed sale or deal. Here’s what else you want and how to get it.

What’s Your LinkedIn Connection “Persona?” – Like actors, a lot of LinkedIn members have their own “persona.” We list the types that are generally on LinkedIn and explain why one of them is the one you want to portray.

LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator Rocks. Here’s Why. – We teach Sales Navigator to a lot of private corporate clients. We’ve seen it work for them, and we know it can work for you.

Log Out of LinkedIn Now! – If you’re security conscious (and you should be), this article can save you a lot of heartache and time in the future.

Here’s wishing you a happy and joyous Holiday season and a prosperous 2021!