LinkedIn Launches Sales Navigator As Stand-Alone App

For The Dedicated Salesman, A Powerful New Tool

In a world where interpersonal contact occurs primarily online, even more so in the world of business relations, it is easy enough to forget that the foundation of successful enterprise is the building of real relationships with both associates and customers.

LinkedIn’s latest move is a reminder of this. Last week they launched Sales Navigator as a stand-alone app, a tool designed for salespeople to take advantage of the professional social network’s 316 million members. While LinkedIn built its reputation as a recruiting tool, this move demonstrates an intention to become an essential aspect of all strata of business.  The question then becomes whether this development is a genuinely useful tool or simply another way for the company to encourage people to subscribe to their premium service.

In the ever-expanding world of globalised business it is not enough to be, in the words of Willy Loman, simply ‘well liked.’ One must be connected, and to see the potential avenue of new connection in every professional relationship. This is perhaps the most useful aspect of Sales Navigator: it leverages its vast database of employee information to let users know whether they have an existing connection with a potential sales lead. It will, for example, let you know whether anyone at your company is connected with anyone at a company you are targeting.

The advantage of this is the supposed reduction in cold calling that will result. Rather than blindly reach out to individuals and departments which may or may not prove fruitful, Sales Navigator will allow you to sell smarter – to narrow down your list of potential leads to those which you can approach with knowledge and confidence. One of the advantages of subscribing to Sales Navigator is the ability to send private InMail messages to those not in your network – obviously a vital asset for the ambitious salesperson.

On an organisational level, one impressive feature of Sales Navigator is the Lead Builder. This is a database function which allows you to build a list of leads organised by industry, geography, seniority – any one of a number of variables. This is the best improvement yet on the old Rolodex with scribbled annotations and half-readable corrections, and because it is based on those individuals’ own profiles any updates which they make will appear on Lead Builder.

LinkedIn’s acquisition earlier this month of Newsle, the start-up which develops technology to help better filter the constant stream of information across social media, indicates that they are serious in moving the website beyond being a simple professional social networking tool into something more concretely business- and sales-orientated. The knowledge they gained from Newsle is clearly at work in Sales Navigator, paring down potential contacts to ensure the most profitable and likely candidates are easily available.

At $75 per month for an annual subscription, this is not a tool for the casual user. If, however, one is a dedicated salesperson, one who wishes to follow Willy Loman’s dream of walking out of the jungle rich, then the potential rewards of Sales Navigator are well worth the consideration.

Douglas Clarke-Williams

Douglas is an English Literature graduate who has written about everything from music to food to theatre, now a content creator for Social Media Frontiers. No topic too large or too small. Follow him @DouglasAtSMF.

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