Back in 2014 LinkedIn rolled out the Social Selling Index (SSI). The purpose of the Social Selling Index (SSI) is to measure the activity of LinkedIn’s member’s activity on LinkedIn.
Based on research by LinkedIn social sellers create more opportunities and are 51% more likely to hit their quota than peers with a lower SSI.
How is your SSI score calculated?
The SSI score is calculated using the following four pillars of social selling on a scale from 1 to 100:
Establish your professional brand
Find the right people
Engage with insights
Build relationships
How do you improve your SSI score?
Above all statistics show the high your SSI score – basically, the more you are engaged with social selling the better your sales results will be. So, the big question is how do you boast your SSI score?
By taking 10-15 minutes a day focusing that time on LinkedIn and following these four ways to improve your score you should start to see your social selling index score (SSI) increase.
1 - Professional Brand – Boost with a richer and stronger presence
First things first if you haven’t fully completed your LinkedIn profile that should be the first steps as that will help towards increasing your SSI score straight away. Even that LinkedIn’s algorithms look at profile completeness even your prospect clients expect to see a complete profile as well. Remember for prospect and buyers that haven't met you in person, trust is key to whether they will connect and build a relationship with you.
One area you should focus on is showing how you are an expert in your industry/domain. Your complete profile should walk the prospect through your experience and accomplishments but talk less about you were the salesperson of the year and won the trip to the Bahamas as they don’t care about that.
The next steps are to post engaging and relevant updates that showcase your professional brand. Follow these steps not only will drive the prospect to more than likely want to reach to you when they need assistance but it will also help you SSI score increase as well.
2 - Find the Right People - Searching for the right decision makers
One thing we know is that LinkedIn is about building connections, but from an SSI score standpoint searching for the right decision-makers will a go towards increasing your score. So this piece is dependent on two things.
By viewing accounts and seeking second- or even third-degree connections – the ones that could be next round of prospects. Make sure to use the advanced search function to increase your targeted results and also take time to view who is looking at your profile and make sure to engage with them.
The next consideration that goes towards your SSI score is making sure you are looking for influencers and decision-makers. The ideal situation is to connect with senior level executives – the ones who can help you when needed.
3 - Engage with insights – Engage and share content
When you’re looking to share content make sure it’s interesting to you as more than likely it will be for your prospects as well. But make sure it's still relevant to your industry/domain so you can continue showing you’re the expert who knows what going on with the last happenings in your industry.
Another area is to look at joining LinkedIn groups. This will allow you to find the right people you should be connecting too. Make sure to share and get involved in discussions with the group. Always make sure you enjoy sharing content as that will show through in your conversations. And remember to keep posting regularly as it all counts towards your score as well.
4 - Build relationships – Build trust and value to your connections
Look to connect with your trusted relationship and once connected make sure to bring value to those relationships.
Just because you’re building a relationship online doesn’t mean you don’t continue to incorporate the same principles you would offline. LinkedIn measures it as part of the SSI score process.
Remember nothing changes because you’re online it’s all about knowing the right people. So take into consideration that LinkedIn SSI score is also based on the acceptance rate of your connection requests. Now it’s good to keep making new connections but remember to make sure they fit your network.
As we wrap up it’s all about adding value on the LinkedIn platform so when the prospects are ready to reach out to you as the expert.
Now the SSI score is just a number that shows your engagement related to social selling. What counts is results. But when you become a better social seller naturally your SSI score will increase.