What Top Performing Salespeople Do Differently
Discover how to level up your sales game with LinkedIn Sales Navigator
What Top Performing
Salespeople Do Differently
What Top Performing Salespeople Do Differently
Discover how to level up your sales game with LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Discover how to level up your sales game with LinkedIn Sales Navigator
How do top performing sellers do what they do?
Salespeople's number one goal is to bring in revenue by hitting their sales target and closing deals. We all know salespeople that never fail to smash their quota, but how do they do it?
LinkedIn Sales Solutions set out to find out! We surveyed thousands of salespeople across the globe as part of our 2022 State of Sales survey, and compared behaviours between those who exceed their sales target, and those who just met it. Here’s what we found out.
Top performing sellers are 50% more likely to use sales technology every day
Top performers ‘multithread’ their accounts and see 16% higher win-rates
Top performers are twice as likely to do significant research before contacting a potential customer
1. Spend less time selling, more time researching
Weirdly, top performers don’t actually spend more time selling. 76% of top performers say they "always" conduct research on their buyers before reaching out, compared to just 38% of those who met target. Instead of simply hitting the phones, they devote more of their time to researching their buyers fully. This quality-over-quantity approach is central to a top performer's technique. LinkedIn is the second most used tool to research buyers, after Google.
2. Make more use of sales technology:
Top performing sellers are 16% more likely to use sales technology at least once a day, with 45% of them now doing so. What's more, top performing salespeople are twice as confident in their sales data, meaning they’re investing time making sure their sales tools are accurate and dependable.
3. Rely more on LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million professionals. So it’s no surprise then that top-performing sellers are placing greater emphasis on expanding their LinkedIn network, with 56% of top-performers saying they will significantly expand their network this year, compared to 26% of those who met their target.
In sales, your network is your net worth, and LinkedIn data shows that when salespeople are ‘multi-threaded’ (i.e. have multiple connections at an account), that they are 16% more likely to close a deal with that company.
4. Work closer with marketing:
Salespeople do not act alone, and top performers are more than twice as likely to describe themselves as working closer with marketing. 76% described the leads their marketing team sends them as ‘excellent’, compared with just 35% of those who met their target.
5. Put their buyers first:
OK, so this one speaks more to a sales culture than a practical step, but top performing salespeople were FAR more likely (72%) to report that they always put their buyer’s needs first, compared to just 40% of those who met their sales target.
Sales techniques that prioritise building relationships over spray-and-pray tactics are not only favoured by buyers, they are the preferred method of top performing salespeople.
Linkedin Sales Navigator has everything you need to crush your quota
Real-Time Sales Updates
See relevant sales insights on your accounts and leads.
Introductions
Get introduced to your prospect through common connections.
Lead Recommendations
Get recommendations to influencers and decision makers.
InMail
Send messages to people outside your network, even without their email address.
TeamLink
See who within your company is connected to your prospects.
Learn how top sellers take advantage of LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Lean on LinkedIn: Our network of over 830 million professionals is a wealth of information.
- Sales Navigator Alerts: Set up alerts to be informed about job changes, funding announcements, buyer intent signals etc.
- LinkedIn feed: Your LinkedIn news feed in LinkedIn Sales Navigator will show you the updates relevant to your leads, treat it like a source of intel.
Multithread your accounts: Future-proof your book of business
- Account Map: Map the full buying committee so you can multi-thread and build relationships with multiple players at an account. This will lower your risk if a single buyer leaves.
- Team Link: Find the best way with a prospect account by leveraging your organisations network and open new introduction opportunities with the TeamLink feature.
Make smarter use of sales tech: Create efficiencies that give time back to your salespeople.
- Data validation: Use Sales Navigator’s CRM Sync feature to automate your sales processes, and increase data accuracy.
- Sales Engagement Integrations: Leveraging sales engagement platforms will help you create a more streamlined process of engaging with buyers.
Learn how top sellers take advantage of LinkedIn Sales Navigator
What the experts have to say
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“Mindset. Elite sales performers train their mind to think differently. They maintain a willingness to learn, stay disciplined, and don’t chase short-term gratification.”
Natasha Vilaseca
Founder
SurgeFlow Digital -
Michelle Benfer
SVP of Sales
The Americas, HubSpot“What is smarter selling? Not just researching the company, industry, product fit, but also the buyer themselves, their team, understanding how they buy, how they evaluate. Research, question asking, education & learning, will always trump volume, clinical, cold outreach, and a “dialling for dollars” culture. And, it is a better buyer experience, which is the most important.”
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“LinkedIn is the native habitat of high-performing reps. LinkedIn is an ideal venue for reps to share their hard won insights and information that helps people – including their target customers – do their jobs better.”
Manny Medina
CEO and cofounder
Outreach -
Shaan Hathiramani
CEO
Flockjay“Top performers take the time to put the buyer first, and they also take the time to make the entire team better. Sales organizations should reward top performers for sharing best practices, and should invest in systems to centralize wisdom, so the entire team can win together.”
Target the right companies and people with LinkedIn Sales Navigator