For years, the executive team of the ABC Company has felt that LinkedIn was only for job seekers. However, they’ve been reading articles and hearing stories about how LinkedIn can be used for business development too. Now, they have embraced this social media platform and want the sales team to use it to generate leads.

Great idea, but no one in the company has any experience in using LinkedIn that way. As the sales manager, you have been tasked with developing a plan that the salespeople can follow for LinkedIn business development.

Like the other executives, you also have no experience using LinkedIn for business development and are researching strategies. And, of course, the executive team wants the plan developed and executed … yesterday.

What recommendations do you have for the sales manager tasked with putting together a LinkedIn business development plan?

How should the salespeople be counseled relative to the content in their LinkedIn profile?

How can salespeople interact in groups for business development?

How can they build their connection networks?

What LinkedIn policies and procedures should be set for the salespeople?

What metrics would you use to gauge success of this campaign?