When was the last time you read a LinkedIn summary of a person and felt like scrolling to the end? Or hit the back button from abhorrence?
This proves that a LinkedIn summary can make or break your lead generation efforts on LinkedIn.
But writing a LinkedIn summary doesn’t come easy to all. Most people struggle to attract prospects with their LinkedIn summary.
Being a sales professional, this is a tremendous loss.
So, how can you make it by crafting an appealing LinkedIn summary?
Let’s learn the tips to write your perfect LinkedIn summary and get inspired from the best creative LinkedIn summary examples for Sales.
What is a LinkedIn summary?
LinkedIn summary is the block of information you see on the top of your LinkedIn profile just after the headline.
Treat it as your business card that gives a chance to engage with your audience right off the bat.
To be specific, LinkedIn gives you about 2,000 characters in the summary section to play with. Besides your profile photo and the LinkedIn headline, it’s the first thing visitors to your profile will see.
Therefore, your LinkedIn summary can be an effective tool to drive sales.
However, I’ve noticed many people leave it blank or write it crap.
But if you are trying to attract prospects on LinkedIn, you must write an effective LinkedIn summary.
What are the benefits of a LinkedIn summary?
A strong LinkedIn summary can bring you a host of benefits, especially when you are using it as a part of your lead generation efforts.
When written right, your LinkedIn summary can give you an edge over others to attract new business.
Here are a handful of its benefits:
- Attract attention to your business or key metrics of your professional achievements
- Promote your unique selling point by outlining how you stand out from other sales professionals.
- Trigger a response from a prospect by including a good CTA in your LinkedIn summary
- Using keywords relevant to your industry in the LinkedIn summary increases the chances to show up your profile in search
So, taking time to craft a strong LinkedIn summary is worth it. But how to go about writing yours?
Follow these best practices to write your LinkedIn summary!
7 Tips to write your LinkedIn summary
1. Follow a logical structure
Before you sit down to write, outline the things you want to say and the order in which you want to say them.
Don’t make your LinkedIn summary sound boring like an academic essay.
Use this format to structure your LinkedIn summary:
- Hook
- Mission
- Expertise and skills
- Proof of your expertise
- Call to action
2. Start with a strong opening line
The first sentence of your LinkedIn summary should hook the readers and force them to read further. Pique their interest early with a strong opening line.
For example, It took me X years to learn the secret about Y, and since then something unexpected has happened.
3. State your mission
People connect more with your stories rather than the straightforward ‘What you do’ Though the ‘what’ part is important, also answer the ‘why’ part.
Tell people why you do what you are doing in your profession, and what is your mission in the role. That helps in forming an instant connection with your audience.
4. Speak off your industry expertise
Speak off your expertise in your industry, and your interest in helping people achieve results.
Describe your background and qualifications in 2-3 sentences.
5. Tap on your specialities and skills
As a sales professional, you have to deal with a variety of buyer personas. Mention your skills and specialities, things that you do well to attract your prospects.
6. Backup your data
No need to give your prospects a grocery list of your accomplishments in the LinkedIn summary. Instead, weave a few of your most impactful data points with proof to impress your readers.
7. Conclude with call to action and contact details
Tell the readers what you want them to do after reading your LinkedIn summary, like to get in touch with you, sign-up for your services, etc. and how they can contact you.
Avoid jargon while crafting your LinkedIn summary and use keywords related to your industry.
Your LinkedIn summary should sum up your biggest value propositions for the outcome you hope to achieve from it. It should be free of cheesy words like ‘guru’, ‘master’, typos, and grammatical errors.
Best LinkedIn Summary Examples for Sales
Now, let’s see how the above tips to write your LinkedIn summary look in action. These LinkedIn summary examples for Sales will help you craft or hone yours.
1. Show your passion
Adam Buchbinder, Director of Sales at ListenWise, draws attention by describing his passion for improving listening difficulties and removing educational disparities.
He narrates his own story behind this passion and links it to his mission of making education accessible to every student.
2. Speak to your prospect’s pain point
When you speak directly to your prospects with your LinkedIn summary, it helps to establish an active connection.
However, position yourself as a solution provider rather than a product seller.
Darrell Evans does this right by calling out the problem, (If your business has struggled to increase sales since the pandemic started…) along with four potential reasons.
3. Indicate they are in the right place
By calling out your target audience, you can get them to self-identify with your message. By indicating whom you’re talking to shows the audience they are in the right place.
Business and career coach, Joyce Guan West does this in her first sentence when she says, "I love being an early stage employee at fast growing and innovative companies where I can make an impact."
4. Make yourself seem approachable
Some might take it unprofessional to mention your hobbies in the LinkedIn summary, but it’s a good way to make yourself more human off the bat.
A prospect reading Fernando Silva’s summary might think, “Oh! I also love to travel and find new adventures.” They’ll immediately feel more connected to him.
5. Tell a story
It’s worth restating that stories resonate with people. While your LinkedIn profile includes where you’ve worked and the skills you have, your LinkedIn summary gives them an actual glimpse of you. It gives them a sense of real you behind the job history.
Nikki Ivey, a leader in B2B and sales space, tells a short story about her job role, which helps the readers to know her mission and values as a professional.
6. Engage your prospects
An account Director at Vimeo, Jonah Silberg opens with his mission: Helping businesses make their marketing & sales more human with video
His next sentence helps you to know him on a personal level.
Though short, Silberg makes every line in his LinkedIn summary count. He makes you interested to know more about him.
Now, over to you!
With these simple tips and the best LinkedIn summary examples for sales, do you still have a reason to write a bad one?
So, take inspiration from these LinkedIn summary examples and craft yours. Make it personal, unique, and engaging.