Women Are Using Social Media To Close Business Deals

If you’re an entrepreneur looking for another reason to ensure your social media profiles are top-notch, this is may spur you to make further use of your online presence. According to a new study by The Telegraph, millennial women are most likely to embrace social media to close business deals.

Just under half of women surveyed (all aged under 35) agreed it enabled them to improve relationships with customers and prospects – this was in comparison to just 41 percent of men.

Out of more than 1,000 professionals surveyed by LinkedIn, 21 percent said they spent five to 10 hours on social media each week, which for any busy professional is a significant amount of time. Social selling is now a huge trend being embraced, with 98 percent of salespeople saying this was extremely critical in terms of closing a business deal.?It also found that social selling tools are now more widely used than customer relationship management tools, favoured by 60 percent of respondents, compared to 30 percent for the latter.

The takeaway here? Spend time productively creating a standout online profile, on Twitter, Facebook, and especially LinkedIn. We recently spoke to Wendy Murphy, Senior Director of HR for LinkedIn, EMEA, who stressed that many people aren’t taking enough time to build their ‘personal brand,’ and as a result, they could be inadvertently damaging future career prospects and vital connections.

“People are not using their LinkedIn profiles in the right way; they’re not thinking about their personal brand which means that employers like me and other potential employers can’t find you. If you don’t have your skills listed out, and taken the time to share your achievements, you haven’t positioned yourself in the right way,” she said.

What’s more, if you’re using or intend to use your social profiles to close crucial business’deals or enhance client relationships, your profiles must stand out for all the right reasons. “Your profile has to tell more about you and create a more authentic picture of you than the old traditional application process ever could. The data is always live and up to date; people tend to update their profiles far more regularly than they ever would their CV.”

“LinkedIn can be hugely useful because it’s not just about getting jobs; it’s about building out your profile so that you can connect with other professionals. You can also be a thought leader in your space. You can have input into the profession that you’re in and maybe make it better as it develops,” she added.

And as the study also found that 69 percent rated the ability to quickly build trusted relationships as more important than a prospect’s willingness to buy when it came to winning new business, this point is especially important. You essentially start forming the basis of some relationship the moment you connect with others using your LinkedIn, so why not start yours on the right foot. Don’t be afraid to detail all your accomplishments; you’ve worked long and hard for them. Put yourself out there. The better the social profile, the easier it might be to close the business deal that just might change your life and career.

Read more of Wendy’s tips for nailing your LinkedIn profile here.

Via The Telegraph