Tips & ideas to make your linkedIn headline profile stand out from the sales competition

1. Inside Sales Series
How to optimize
your LinkedIn
profile to help
you attract more
sales prospects

2. David Malone
Trainer| Speaker | Consultant
www.evolve.ie

3. Your LinkedIn Profile
Is now part
of your Sales Prospecting D.N.A. ....
Particularly the
‘Headline’ in your personal profile.

4. LinkedIn is fast becoming the 1st point of contact
for B2B Sales networking – so your profile needs to
be more than a historical CV of your career

5. Some scary 2013 LinkedIn facts
35% access LinkedIn daily
83% of B2B users use LinkedIn as primary business networking
Daily interactions - 15,000,000,000
Searches - 5,000,000,000
200,000,000 users world wide
In Ireland – 680,000 registered users approx
Source factbrowser.com – as at 9/5/2013

6. In B2B sales we
moving from the
age of the cold
caller .....
To the age of the social
selling market place!

7. Buyers in
particular are
using LinkedIn to
find and checkout
potential suppliers
as much as
sellers use it to
find and checkout
sales targets

8. But often it has the opposite effect.
It sends potential buyers in the
direction of your competition

9. Fact! Many profiles on LinkedIn read like poorly written advertorial!
Often over indulgent, vague, and generically written!
LinkedIn Point
Danger: Don’t copy
everyone else!

10. If you want to LinkedIn to help you sell ...
Don’t set up your
LinkedIn profile
headline for failure by
writing it as if it were
the start of a
traditional CV!

11. 1. Your headline summary is ...
The description of
you that will appear
in a key word search
on LinkedIn
The bit about you
that comes up at the
start of your profile
1st
The piece of
information a
potential buyer might
see about you
One of the 1st
references to you that
will probably appear
on a general Google
search
The only peice of
information a buyer
might use to decide
you are not the right
fit for them!

12. Your Profile headline should....
• Entice the reader of your profile to want to
learn more about you and your sales
offering?

13. Typical headline
Dave Kelly
Director,
Dublin, Ireland
ABC Training Consultants
NBC Software Consultants
Trinity College, Dublin
Uk.linkedin.com/davekelly/1235*7/8
Question is ... What impact is it making?

14. The Headline Autopsy
Dave Kelly
Which profile will you be drawn
towards ..
a) One with a photo
b) One with no photo
c) An unprofessional photo (Such
as guy standing on a beach in
the distance))
Director,
Dublin, Ireland
ABC Training Consultants
NBC Software Consultants
Trinity College, Dublin
Uk.linkedin.com/davekelly/1235*7/8
Public URL not customised
3. There is no description of how he adds value to his
customers ... A wasted opportunity to get the
attention of the buyer.
2. Dave has described himself
as a director. The question is a
director of what ......
Sales? Marketing? Traffic?
His headline summary is based
on the title the HR dept have
given him. This is of no use to
the potential buyer screening
for a supplier. Drop the
resume approach!

15. Rules for an effective ‘Headline’
• State your role from the customer perspective
• Outline your area of speciality or expertise
• Headline the results you deliver to customers
• If you cover a territory - mention it!
• Write in 3rd party (No ‘I’ or ‘We’)
• It should be attention grabbing not a description of
your role as the HR dept see it!.

16. A Worked Example
1.Decent head shot photograph
2. Job title based on customer
perception of seller’s role
Dave Kelly
You are allowed 100 characters here.
B2B Telecoms Expert
Cork, Ireland
Helping companies in Munster get the best deals on
phone and data usage. dave@telco.ie
NBC Software Consultants
Trinity College, Dublin
Uk.linkedin.com/davekellytelcoexpert
3. Public LinkedIn URL address
edited to be consistent with role
description. This address can then
be used as part of Microsoft
outlook digital signature
You are allowed between 5 & 30
characters here.
3. Role description based on
results delivered to customers. Key
words included for search
optimisation purposes. You are
allowed 120 characters to describe
your role.
3. Email address included to enable
non 1st tier contacts to engage with
you.

17. Examples of a good headlines
1. B2B Social Media Expert specialising in driving
business opportunities to your website.
John@qbc.ie
2. Financial Planning Consultant: Specialising in
helping high net worth individuals set up
pensions, investments and family trusts.
3. Need a change of career? Recruiter specialising
in placing management in ICT /FMCG in new
roles. Average time for placement 30 days.

18. Magic Numbers: The amount of characters you
can use in your LinkedIn profile
•
•
•
•
Professional Headline: 120 character limit.
Summary: 2,000 character limit.
Position Title:: 100 characters.
Public Profile: Between 5 and 30 characters

19. Remember, its all about making your profile
Standing out from the
competition

20. “Fortune favours the brave”
www.evolve.ie
davemaloneinsidesalescoach