I don’t work out as much as I should. I never worked out much historically, and I definitely haven’t ever since my wife and I had a twin boys six years ago. My every free moment is spent with those cute little munchkins!
When I did work out, I loved the competition of it – even if it’s competition with myself. I loved constantly trying to beat my best time or reps (and becoming frustrated when I didn’t!)
When I ran, I used to mostly run on treadmills. I preferred treadmills to outside running because 1) I have bad knees from years of high school football and wrestling, and 2) I loved the ability to be able to see exactly how you are doing before your race is over.
On a treadmill, I can see that I’m running an 8 minute mile (too slow, pick it up!), and I know when I am on pace to beat my best time way before I actually do. I liked the instant feedback, and ability to control my own destiny before the final results were in.
Gauging success
With many companies, especially in the B2B space, the sales process is long and arduous; it may take months or even years to see the fruits of your labor.
So, how do you know you’re on track during that race?
The traditional way is to track the number of phone calls and emails you send on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. The challenge with this method is that I’ve been in this role before. If you need to make 10 phone calls a day, and you only have 9 names, that 10th one is going to either be made up, the pizza guy or a family member.
The new way is track success along the way is through a great tool LinkedIn created called the Social Selling Index (SSI). This Index is a combination of 4 factors that typically lead to success within social selling, which focuses more on quality than quantity.
LinkedIn originally had the SSI as a component of their premium services only, but last year, they released to everyone. My current score is above. You can see your score here. Go ahead check it, I’ll wait…
Is a high SSI a guarantee of success? Of course not, but it’s worked for a whole lot of other people to date, so there are precedents in place. LinkedIn research has shown that SSI leaders:
- Are 51% more likely to hit their quota
- Create 45% more opportunities per quarter
- Get promoted 17 months sooner
How it works
The Social Selling Index measures 4 key steps to success on a 1 to 25 scale.
- Establish your professional brand
- Find the right people
- Engage with insights
- Build relationships
For detailed descriptions on each of these, you can go here – it does a great job of explaining it.
Now, I know that some of you can’t do all these things because you work in highly regulated industries. That’s okay – as a result, maybe your target number isn’t 100, maybe it’s 60. At almost all companies, you can do parts of the SSI, but definitely check with your compliance department to see what your company’s guidelines are. All-in-all, though, it’s a great way to keep track of your progress, especially before you start generating the back-end sales numbers to show to the C-suite.
But that’s not my favorite part about the SSI…
The best part
My favorite part about the SSI is the number itself. The fact that LinkedIn realized how much people love games (Candy Crush, anyone?), and how competitive sales people are. So, they made a game out of LinkedIn!! Now, you can compare yourself to others in your team, your company, and your industry. This is genius, and a big motivator for people who like to win (like myself, and about 99% of salespeople out there)!
So check it out, see where you compare to those in your network. Get frustrated that you are not higher. Do better, and oh by the way, this will all help you be a more valuable partner for your clients, and improve your bottom line. So have fun, and start tracking your Social Selling Index today!
Key takeaways
- The LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) is a valuable tool to help gauge success
- Top SSI leaders are typically more successful
- The gamification of the SSI is a strong motivator
About the author
Robert Knop is a passionate helper of people, and Founder of Assist You Today, a company dedicated to helping companies get closer to their customers, build trust and drive sales by harnessing the power of social media. He’s always happy to talk about strategy, digital and social.
If you’d like to learn how to get closer to your customers, build trust and drive sales using social media and social selling, feel free to contact Robert at 323-972-3566, or simply complete the short form below.