LinkedIn introduces social selling solution

The "Sales Navigator" is also designed to make it easier to approach potential customers because it displays a lot of information around their public profile and activities, according to a statement from the business network. The insights not only make it easier to approach them, but also to provide tailored information as well as offers, thus increasing the chances of success. In Germany, around 100 companies are already using the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

"Cold calls have always been terrible for everyone involved and always will be," said Arjen Soetekouw, Head of LinkedIn Sales Solutions (LSS) in the DACH region. "What's exciting about Sales Navigator is the transparency the solution offers sales professionals. They get real-time information on business partner interests and activities. By knowing what the potential customer is looking for, a real conversation can develop, leading to more stable relationships in the medium to long term. There is currently no other product on the market that can support sales professionals in a similar dimension in terms of audience, quality of content and network, and in this way open up new opportunities."

Among the customers who already rely on LinkedIn Sales Solutions in the DACH region is SAP. Malin Lidén, Vice President, SAP Experience: "Our customers shop differently in the digital world: the majority of the purchasing process takes place online. Every day we see how important it is to meet our customers where they prefer to be and to support them with appropriate information in their decisions. Using digital networks in the right way opens doors more easily - LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers an effective key to this. But it also requires a cultural shift: in an open, digital marketplace, influence, connections, and expertise count more than title. That's why at SAP, we're working across departmental boundaries to harness the full potential of social selling for customer acquisition and retention, and to increase customer satisfaction. That's what digital transformation means to us."

Potential of Social Selling

Already today, millions of business transactions are conducted on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator is now designed to accelerate these processes and make finding and approaching new contacts even easier and more efficient. "Buyers are more likely to respond to an approach if the sales representative can show that he or she has dealt with the relevant needs," explains Arjen Soetekouw. "Simply knowing the position of the person being approached improves the impression when approaching by 64 percent. 75 percent of buyers also use social media themselves to gather information before making purchases. So sales would do well to build a presence there themselves, share knowledge, and make their mark." Existing users of Sales Navigator have a pipeline of potential buyers seven times larger and sales 11 times higher than sales professionals who use only LinkedIn.