Barbara Giamanco

HALF of adults in America judge people’s intelligence based on email content and format, reports GMX, a free email service for more than 11 million active users in survey research just released today.

Of the 1,002 US Adults surveyed who use e-mail for both work and personal reasons, 58 percent of Americans admitted they judge intelligence based on the writing style, tone and language used in email. You can bet they make the same sorts of judgments when you (or your people) send “tweets“, email newsletters, respond on blogs, chat on Facebook or comment in group discussions.

Words – what we say and how we say them – have always been an important factor in our ability to connect with others…or not. And in this new conversation economy your sales people must be acutely aware of what impression they create when communicating online. When contributing to the dialog in social networking communities, careful thought must be given to the words that are penned to the virtual paper. If you aren’t paying attention to what your people are saying – you put your brand at risk!

Here are 5 tips to improve how your sales people communicate online:

* Tell don’t sell. Storytelling is a way to create a picture in the mind of your buyer that will lead them to want to know more. In conversations avoid using common catch phrases that everyone else uses too. Who doesn’t think that their product or service is amazing, revolutionary, transformative, results oriented or cutting edge? Be more creative. For example, if your buyer plays tennis, you might say something like “when you work with us, we help you hit ace serves every single time.”

* Speak your buyer’s language. Sales people are often caught up in using jargon that makes sense to them and to their co-workers, but can completely turn off a potential buyer. This is about connecting with your next client, so drop the industry buzz words and get to know and use “their business language” not yours.

* Add value to the conversation. Demonstrate expertise by “adding more” to the conversation. Perhaps add a unique twist to how you would approach the situation being discussed. Resist the temptation to “talk about yourself and what you sell”. For several weeks, I’ve observed a Sales VP in one of my LinkedIn groups who just doesn’t understand this at all. In every question he poses and every question he answers, he talks about how great his company and their products are. He’s says he’s passionate, I think he’s arrogant and crushing his brand.

* Be transparent. In the online world (I would suggest in business in general), transparency is key. Although a lot of people use the word, I’m not sure they actually know what it means. Be crystal clear about your intentions, your affiliations and disclose anything that might be perceived as a bias on your part – up front. Way up front! For example, if you push a particular service and you earn an affiliate commission – say so. If you are trying to broker a partner deal then be honest about pushing them as a speaker at that next event you happen to chair. We figure it out anyway and you look bad for not disclosing your intentions ahead of time!

* Establish writing guidelines. It is very important that your sales folks get engaged in online conversations, and it is a wise idea to put some communication guidelines in place. Make sure you set expectations about what is acceptable when they are representing your company! Good rules of thumb are: leave your agenda at the door, manage your tone, be respectful, add value and be transparent when answering questions.

By the way, putting this topic front and center is a bit of a risk for me given you are judging my IQ at this very moment. Let’s hope I make the cut:)

So much of sales is about how you present yourself. I suppose you could say that’s true of most anything we do in life. Having sold professionally my entire career and managed large sales teams to boot, I can tell you that nothing will blow the sale more quickly than the inability to present yourself well. A strong presentation presence counts whether the audience is a few people sitting around the meeting table or a room filled with 1000.

Today’s post is from guest blogger, Joan C. Curtis, EdD. A popular author, Joan’s recent book Managing Sticky Situations at Work was just released. And…I have the pleasure of co-authoring an upcoming book with Joan called The New Handshake: Sales 2.0. Working with such an experienced writer is great fun for this newbie. I know you will enjoy what she shares as much as I did!

Please…stop UMing me to death!

Want to know what ruins a presentation quicker than spilling wine on the host’s shirt? As soon as you say, um. . . or ah. . . or one too many basically’s, your credibility goes down the drain.

I recently noted an entire book on the misuse of fillers in public speaking. Can you imagine that? Someone actually filled up 320 pages talking about um’s and ah’s and other verbal stumbles. Check it out: Ums: Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean by Michael Erard.

Yes, even the most famous among us have struggled at one time or another with those pesky filler words. At first we may not have noticed them. At first we thought we were as good a speaker as the next guy. Suddenly, however, someone pointed out our frequent, um or ah or basically. It doesn’t matter what the filler is, it’s still a word that fills up an empty space in our communication. For some reason our conscious minds do not hear those fillers. It takes someone pointing them out for the fillers to become loud, annoying interruptions.

Once a politician attended one of my public speaking classes. She was a city commissioner in a moderately-sized community. Her error was not just an um but a rather long sounding ummmmm. The um filled up the entire silent spot. Being completely unaware of this annoying habit, she spoke openly and frequently. Others cringed each time she approached the podium. During my class under the eye of a video camera, this woman finally heard herself. The expression of shock on her face told it all. Who is that speaking, she wondered? Clearly she’d never utter another um as long as she lived. The good news is she went on to a very successful political career as mayor of that city. I heard her deliver powerful presentations. Never again did she um us to death.

What are these fillers? The answer is simple. Fillers fill the silence between our thoughts. If you have to think a lot, the fillers increase. In other words, if you did not prepare for your presentation or if you are speaking extemporaneously, you will utter more than your usual quota of um’s. The more you prepare, the less your chances for um’s. Professional speakers and actors study their lines and practice them. That study and practice enable them to eliminate and eradicate the fillers. Have you ever heard an actor use a filler word, even in conversation, while acting? I bet you won’t hear a single one. The people writing the lines know that most of us prefer not to hear um’s and ah’s and like’s and you know’s. If, however, you listen to any actor interviewed by Letterman or Jay Leno or Oprah, you’ll hear plenty of um’s and ah’s. Without the writers and left to their own devices, even the most skillful actors falter and stumble. It’s amazing!

Here are some tips to rid yourself of the fillers once and for all.

• Hear them. This may sound simple. But, if you don’t believe you speak with um’s and ah’s and other such fillers, you will never correct yourself. Just like my mayor, she had to hear it first.

• Tape your end of telephone conversations or your end of teleclass presentations. Listen to yourself. Count the number of fillers you use. Next time concentrate on using fewer. Before long, they will disappear.

• Practice out loud your formal presentations. If you speak for a living or it’s part of your job (You are a CEO or a president or director of some organization), practice what you are going to say. If you can, audio tape your presentation and listen to it. Practice will make perfect.

• Plan and prepare. The better prepared you are, the less chance you have for filling in your thoughts with fillers. In fact, overuse of fillers tip off your listeners that you have not prepared.

• Relish and enjoy silence. If you use silence effectively, you will not fill up those golden silent moments with fillers. For some reason as speakers we hate those silent moments. Actors know the value of a strategic pause– That moment when everything seems to stand still. You can destroy that moment instantly with the simple utterance of, ah. Remember, as you speak, you make important points. People think about those points. While thinking, their minds are busy. You interrupt that precious thought when you toss in a filler. Relish and enjoy the silence.

Want to learn more???

To learn more about how to make powerful presentations, go to Joan’s website. She created a group of short MP3’s that you can download. Learn what it takes to become a powerful speaker! It may be the best $29 investment you’ll ever make in your career. Don’t let the um’s have it. Get rid of those pesky fillers!

Over on colleague, Joan Curtis’ – Say it Just Right blog, Joan posted information about an event hosted by Arbor Salon & Spa on July 12 from 1pm to 5pm. Salon doors will open up and the stylists will offer their services to those in need. They are calling it Job Fair for Hair. The whole idea is that people who are in job transition must continue to look their best. While it might easy to think that putting off that much needed haircut doesn’t matter. Appearance is important part of the interview/selection process.

Though you may not live in Athens, GA – this is still pretty cool, so I’d like to suggest that maybe you can get a salon or two in your own local community to consider doing something similar. Read Joan’s entire post here.

The effective use of social media to increase sales has tremendous potential for companies of all sizes, but notice that I started by saying “effective use”. Many executives fear letting their sales people use social media, because they have concerns that nothing will get done. And they will be right, if the approach isn’t well thought out, there aren’t guidelines in place for what’s OK and what isn’t, training isn’t provided, use isn’t monitored and there is no tracking mechanism to measure results. Venturing down the social media sales path requires these 5 things: purpose, plan, participation, persistence and patience.

Purpose - if you don’t know what you want to accomplish using online tools, you might as well stop right now. You will only flounder around. One of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind”. That’s what you need to do when you start thinking about how to best integrate the use of social media/social networking into your sales activities. What do you want to achieve? What is the message you want to communicate? How will you represent your brand? Questions like these and more must be answered.

Plan - this is a topic covered in books and articles by writers more skilled than me, but bottom line – no plan is like deciding to drive from Atlanta to California with no map. You may eventually get there, but you are certain to waste time and get lost along the way. You need to chart a well thought out course and then follow it.

Participation - I hate to break the bad news to anyone naive enough to think that popping up a LinkedIn profile today results in an immediate sale. It doesn’t! The art of the sale has always been about building a relationship with someone who gets to know you and trust you..over time. When you actively participate in social communities by contributing to the conversation, you gain visibility and help people get to know you. For me, it’s a daily practice of weighing in on questions posed in LinkedIn groups, sharing information on Twitter, commenting on blogs or writing my own articles. The more active you are – the more you begin to stand out.

Persistance - in short, it is all about follow up, follow up, follow up. Over on the Hubspot Marketing Blog, Pete Caputa talked about the phenomenon of people attending networking events, collecting a lot of business cards and then doing nothing with them. The same is true of the online world. When you make connections on LinkedIn, as an example, stay in touch with people. Drop them notes, tell them about a question they may want to weigh in on because it fits their experience, make a connection for them, recommend their services to someone else. David Mason, author of Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits, told me during a radio interview that it is all about persistence and consistency.

Patience - just because you have something to sell it doesn’t mean that your potential buyer is “ready” to buy. That’s what far too many people totally miss. You must be patient, but not invisible. That is why it is so important to participate often in appropriate online forums. I’ve also had people tell me that they thought sending a newsletter twice a month was too much of an intrusion on people. It isn’t if you provide information that is of value to your readers. Buyers are not buying on your sales cycle, so you have to be top of mind when they are ready to purchase what you offer. Everyone these days has a short attention span, so if you are not front and center in their minds – you lose. I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting opportunities, referrals and more, simply because I’m active online, I give to receive, and I am patient!

Lately, I feel like the Pied Piper of social media tooting my little netiquette horn as a reminder to offenders of what not to do online. Granted, it’s just my opinion, but heck, that’s why it’s my blog:). Given the discussions I’ve had with other colleagues, I am pretty sure I’m not the only one who asks “if you always plug yourself, what value are you really adding to the community discussion?”

I was prompted to ask the question after watching several people over the last few days add one LinkedIn status update after another that talked about how great they are. And lately, not a day goes by that I don’t receive some sort of network invitation that is a thinly disguised sales pitch that isn’t all that great anyway. What’s up with that?

Stop Pitching – Create Value!

If all you do is talk about you, you, you…no one will care and they will just tune you out. Frankly, that’s what gives sales a bad rap. It isn’t the profession though, it’s the people who can’t comprehend that it is the sharing of “relevant” information, making connections for others, touting the horns of your colleagues and adding value to the conversation is what ultimately benefits you.

Listen, I’m a business owner with products and services to sell, and I consult with companies about how to use social media effectively to augment their sales efforts. Obviously, I believe that social media tools like LinkedIn are a great way to increase visibility for what you have to offer. My point is that it is OK to mention your services, but that should not be the ONLY thing you talk about.

What about your brand?

This is all about perception – your brand. What message do you really think you are sending to prospective buyers when every post, group comment or newsletter you send out is all about you? I can’t think of a quicker way to turn people off. When it comes to sending LinkedIn invitations, please stop trying to sell me before you know a thing about me. Here is an example of an invitation I received over the weekend that illustrates what I’m saying. I’ve removed the names to protect the hapless.

On June 19, 2009 2:27 PM, XYZ Salespersonwrote:
——————–
I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I have worked with XYZ Colleague in the past & she recommended you to me as far as someone who would probably benefit from XYZ company’s industry intelligence. Please call me as soon as possible at …, so I can help you grow & be THE most consultative person you know!!

- Sales person

So let me get this right? You don’t know me from Eve, but you are sure that you can help me be THE most consultative person you know? Now I don’t know about you, but this is both rude and presumptuous. What does this person know about my consultative sales skills? I’m kinda wondering if she might want to get some training in this area herself, but that’s just me. This is exactly why people are annoyed by vendors and their arrogant, untrained sales people who assume that what they have to offer is just what everyone on the planet needs. Not to mention that this individual was lazy. What if she had done her homework and then crafted a message that told Barb what was in it for her? Then I would have been paying attention. The problem with these types of emails is that the opportunity to sell what you offer is probably blown. Forever.

I was feeling charitable, because it pains me to see sales people do such dumb things, so I responded with…

XYZ Salesperson,

I am not including you in my network and have already passed along my feedback to XYZ Colleague. Your email is offensive in that you know nothing about me, yet assume you can make me a better consultant. Why would I call you? You have provided no value to me as a business owner at all. You may have a great product, but your sales approach and netiquette may lose you more sales than you gain.

To this person’s credit, they got the message loud and clear and responded with an email that apologized for their thoughtless words and asked for another chance. I haven’t decided if another chance is warranted or not, because at this point the product better be awfully damn compelling and something that I cannot purchase elsewhere.

As for the guy in one of my LinkedIn groups who complained about the arrogance of someone who wasn’t interested in his product and then kept justifying to everyone why he and his company were so great, I have two words for you…dumb ass.

During these challenging economic times, I’ve more than once heard a business owner or sales person tell me that they didn’t connect with their current customers, because “they probably weren’t going to buy anyway.” Not only might their assumption be wrong, since when did the customer relationship become only about today’s sale?

The social web has changed the way that your customers purchase products and services! If you aren’t visibile to them, you put yourself at significant risk of losing sales opportunities. Buyers proactively educate themselves about what is available, which means that the sales process has been transformed into a “buying process.” Unfortunately, many sales people fail to realize that things have changed. Sales people must stay visible, stay on top of trends, see into the future and position themselves as a well-educated navigator who is an open influencer instead of a convincer. That means staying front and center in the mind of their customer regardless of the economic situation.

Three 3 Tips for Reconnecting

1. Evaluate your communication process with your current customers. When is the last time you talked to them? Are they aware of all that you have to offer? Don’t assume they know. Ask yourself what you can do for them…can you make a connection for them or share a valuable piece of business information that helps them seal a deal?
2. Use tools like LinkedIn to expand your reach with an account. Who else in the company has a LinkedIn profile that you can get to know? If your current contact has moved on to other things, you can use the LinkedIn “Companies” feature to search out new connections within the account.
3. Create newsletters using email marketing products like Constant Contact. Share revelant business content to keep your customers informed about industry trends, market opportunities and the newest in what you have to offer.

Remember that your existing customer base is a gold mine of opportunity; a competitive advantage that is often overlooked. Stop randomly chasing new opportunities when “acres of diamonds” are sitting right in front of you!

Most of the time, I blog about issues related to sales, social media, leadership and business in general. Though my topic has applicability for business, it is spawned by something that is very personal indeed.

Three years ago, my mom – who lives in Phoenix – fell and broke her hip. If that wasn’t bad enough, she hid it for several days until my neighbor – who had a key thank goodness – came to check and determined a serious problem. I found out on a Thursday evening, one week after the fall had happened. I learned that she was being wheeled into surgery the very next day. Living in Atlanta made the situation tough enough, but I had been called to jury duty (that I couldn’t get out of) and was required to appear that Monday. I did get to Phoenix a few days later and spent several days with mom at the rehabilitation facility. A testament to her toughness and maybe a realization that she might lose her freedom, she worked hard to get herself back in shape. She made remarkable progress.

Since that time I began to notice that my mom’s speech pattern was changing; she was struggling with words. I would ask her about it, but she merely said that the doctor had her doing word problems to help her keep up. I did my best to be very patient. She’d tell me something and then forget. Asking questions was a challenge – sometimes she’d get upset or demand to know why it was my business. I’ve since learned that these are all signs of Alzheimer’s.

As things progressed, I kept asking mom if she had met with her lawyer to put a Power of Attorney for both her medical and financial affairs in place. Though there was a limited health instrument in place in case of problems with her surgery, I knew that didn’t cover anything after that. Mom would sort of giggle and say she kept meaning to do it and promised to get it done soon, but somehow that never happened. Then, the unthinkable. My mom completely lost it, had to be hospitalized and was subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in early May. She is now in an assisted living facility and finally safe from hurting herself.

Procrastination means to put off till another day or time; defer or delay action.

I’m as guilty as anyone in putting things off that I feel are too difficult or unpleasant to deal with at that moment. I secretly hope I can avoid it all. Sadly, the consequences of such avoidance can be severe. In my mom’s case, paperwork that does not clearly define who she wanted to manage her affairs means that the legal system steps in. Maybe that’s good; maybe it isn’t. We’re lucky! An excellent attorney is working on my mom’s behalf, but the job is made cumbersome trying to track down paperwork through a brother who realizes he gains nothing and so does nothing to help. This will all be set right soon enough, but it certainly makes me realize how important it is to take care of paperwork that ensures that the people who care about you can help you. I’ve download the paperwork for a more current will and a durable (this is important!) Power of Attorney. What about you – are your papers in order?

What do you lose every day in business when you procrastinate?

The negative implications for procrastination on the job is high and not without consequence. How many times have you let a potential sales opportunity slip through the cracks? What stops you from making those follow up phone calls to people you just met at a networking event? How many times have you avoided calling a prospect to follow up that proposal you wrote, because you were afraid that the answer might be no. How many times have you been reluctant to have a tough conversation with someone, so you kept putting if off even when dialing the number and getting it over with would have freed up so much wasted energy? You see. That’s the problem. Procrastination just delays the inevitable and sometimes (as in the case with my mom’s health) makes it worse. And the more we wait, the more energy is wasted and the more compounded the problem can become.

Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching tells us that we must take action and do things when they are small, and reminds us all that the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. Whatever you are procrastinating about at this very moment whether it is business or family – PLEASE handle it now!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the grasp of the netiquette do’s and don’ts of communicating online is critical to your success. One misstep can be all it takes to sink your ship. Whether you are posting in LinkedIn groups, talking to friends on Facebook, participating in blogs or tweeting on Twitter, you need to understand that netiquette covers both common courtesy and the informal “rules of the road” of cyberspace. In this world, you must be even more conscious of how and what you are saying; otherwise you run the risk of tarnishing your brand, tearing down your credibility or offending people who not only won’t take it kindly, but will vigorously pass on their displeasure to everyone they know.

I watched an example of a meltdown of ego’s in a LinkedIn group discussion today. A colleague alerted me to the situation and frankly, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is exactly the kind of thing that in an instant can destroy your credibility as a professional and put your company’s brand at risk. It started innocently enough with each person putting their opinion forth…and then it got nasty. Here are a few of the excerpts:

Guys, I don’t want to rain on your parade but…. this happens to be my area of expertise for the last 10 years. Dolly, it has nothing to do with the intended audience or whether it is formal or informal learning. Roger, when I refer to hard baked I am referring to static content which is a blob and not easily maintained or all that intelligent. Roger, I will need some time to educate you. I am not sure there is enough space in this forum to do so.

Rule # 1 – Don’t insult other people by making it personal. Everyone has their opinion. Be careful not to confuse your sales agenda with contributing ideas to the discussion. This isn’t about winning or insisting that people believe in your point of view.

After those thoughtless comments, as in everyone else is wrong but her, the game is now on. It was painful to watch, and I’m only giving you the highlights. Believe me, it was much, much worse!

Sorry Brenda, It looks like you haven’t been paying attention for the last ten years. Maybe you should find a new career. Your ideas are strictly 1997, and you clearly haven’t been looking closely at the online collaboration and learning repository technologies that have evolved in online tools such as ours, or in Rapid intake’s new online version, or in Atlantic Link etc.

As I stated Roger, there is not enough room in this forum for me to educate you. I know your system; I know Atlantic Link and the many other online authoring tools. I don’t think you are a smart as you give yourself credit for. Do your homework. LCMS’s have matured over the last 10 years. You don’t have a clue what you are talking about. Duh, what do you think tools like Lectora and yours for that matter use to animate objects in a browser? Scripting Languages or proprietary authoring tools like Flash. I know more about web services than you could even imagine.

And it kept going…

Wow, Brenda, I really hadn’t intended to turn this forum into a personal vendetta, your arrogance is as deep as your ignorance. You are the classic case of the salesperson becoming indoctrinated by their own BS.

And going…

Dude, can I have some of whatever it is you are smoking. It is not productive to go point on point because clearly you know I am right. I am so far from just a salesperson. You have no idea who I am otherwise you would not be so arrogant. Right, Boeing, World Wide, Enterprise Wide is my customer. They are building and managing many thousands of courses and deploying that content to 160,000 world wide employees. How many Boeing employees are you serving, LOL. Lets not even go there.

And going…

Your too funny with the founding father thing. I challenge you to find out who I am. Roger, you are smoking your own crack. No one is locked into our own authoring capability. There you go again. Do your home work, old fellow.

OMG – someone please tell this woman to shut up is all I kept thinking. She is rude, arrogant and evidently has no social graces whatsoever. This is a classic case of a sales person who ventured far, far off the reservation. She was so caught up in winning that she evidently lost her mind. Trust me, I scaled it back significantly. I can’t imagine what would possess anyone to behave that way, but clearly she was too caught up in making sure that everyone else knew she was the smartest person on the planet. She isn’t. Giving no thought to the fact that she risked damaging the reputation of the company that she represented, she kept mouthing off. Actually, she did do harm to her employer and more. For anyone reading, I have to believe that her image was forever tarnished in their minds, as it was in mine. I know whenever I see her name I will say to others – buy from someone else. That does significant damage to her company.

What happened today is a company’s worst nightmare. Some idiot employee mouthing off doing damage to the company brand. Instead of running away or saying that this is why social media should be avoided, it is an opportunity for a company to ensure that they have some guidelines for their employees to follow. I stress guidelines that come tethered with accountability. Don’t hamstring people with oversight, rigid control and micro-management, but do insist that certain types of behavior will not be tolerated.

Respect and appreciation for the diverse viewpoints of others is as critical in the online world, as it offline. I wonder, would she have really said those ignorant, stupid things if she was talking to him face to face? Would he have said those things to her if they were standing toe to toe at a networking function? My guess is not. And that’s the moral of the story. Loose lips definitely sink ships. Be careful what you say online!

Without question, LinkedIn has become pretty darn popular and certainly widely recognized as THE social networking tool for business. That’s good news. But what isn’t good news is that far too many people still don’t seem to understand the serious power of what LinkedIn can do for them. Every group I speak too confirms what I already knew – people have profiles on LinkedIn, but they totally don’t have a clue about what to do next. As I am fond of saying, a passive LinkedIn profile that is incomplete, poorly written or sitting alone in the corner waiting for someone to stop by and visit them gets you nowhere.

The Power of Search

One of the most valuable elements of LinkedIn is the ability to create searches. This is the way that I create prospect lists. Of course the key is to have a network that is rich enough to be able to pull substantive data from and that all depends on your ability to create a network that is quality AND quantity. My 500+ connections gives me access to roughly 5.2M people. That’s what I like to call leverage.

Every workshop or speaking engagement I ever conduct, I like to whip out my favorite LinkedIn party trick. It goes like this. Regardless the group, I always ask a few people in the audience to tell me who their “ideal” client is. Then I run a quick search of my network to find out if I know anyone. In every case, 100% of the time, I have that ideal client in my network. Needless to say it wows the audience.

Working with Joan Curtis, my book writing partner (we are writing The New Handshake™: Sales 2.0), we experimented with this today. Joan asked me who I knew at Wells Fargo. She has a client that focuses on the banking industry and thought it would be fun to test my theory. All I did was run a search on Wells Fargo and got back a list of 70,939 names! Now that’s the power of a network.

Savvy salespeople can use search to define their ideal targets and create a list to follow up on. The idea is to look for people connected with you and connected to you at the 2nd level. Then you leverage your first line connection for an introduction. That’s one of many ways to use LinkedIn to increase your sales. To really be able to tap the power though you must build a business network that combines quality connections with quantity. That leads to the kind of serious access you are looking for. If you only have 20 or so contacts and they are so-so at best, you aren’t going to get far!

— Here’s how you Search People – Search for specific names or use advanced search to narrow your search.

* Use additional fields to filter your results (e.g., title, company, industry, language, school, etc.).
* Create saved searches that dynamically update as new people matching the criteria enter your network.
* Receive weekly email alerting you to changes/updates to your saved search.

— Search Jobs – Search for general position or use advanced search to narrow your search using additional fields to filter your results (e.g., job title, company, job function, industry, etc.).

— Search Companies – Type in a company name and get results of people you or your connections know at that company. Your search results will show who your 2nd and 3rd level connections are within that company. They can help you secure introductions to others within that company.

Colleague Troy Johnson once said that you are either LinkedIn or linked out. I couldn’t agree more!