The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide

CHAPTER 9GROWING YOUR LINKEDIN NETWORK

‘Your Network on LinkedIn is your Net‐WORTH’.

I like to think of a network on LinkedIn like a river of fish. The question I ask salespeople is, would they rather fish in a river that only has 50 fish, or would they rather fish in a river that has 500 fish?

With the river of 50 fish, the maximum you can ever catch is 50. Whereas with the river of 500 your limit is 500.

The more fish in the river, the more you can catch, just like the more people in your LinkedIn network, the more sales opportunities you can create.

Quality versus Quantity

This is where someone usually tells me that they would rather have 50 big fish, than 500 tiny fish. That they would rather have quality over quantity. I have two answers to that:

1. Why wouldn't you want both?

   For many out there, it is possible to have a large network of high‐quality people. Regardless of whether you're selling to people around the world or just a local area, you'd be surprised how many prospects are on LinkedIn.

2. Connections shouldn't just be prospects.

   This is a very important point: your connections shouldn't only be prospects. I have generated so many sales from talking to other people within prospective companies. If I'm unable to get a response from the VP of Sales, for example, sometimes I am more successful speaking to the Sales Manager first or even a Sales Rep, who then helps provide both valuable insights and information, but also introductions.

AVERAGE LINKEDIN NETWORK ...