Let me start by saying that there is no right or wrong way to write your LinkedIn summary – and no two LinkedIn trainers will tell you the same thing. But, my philosophy is that if you are in business development, than your profile shouldn’t be your resume; it should be a resource. This begins with your summary and you only have 2000 characters, so use them wisely.

Here are the 5 elements that I recommend every LinkedIn summary should possess:

1. Begin with your contact information. Make it as easy as possible for your audience to get in touch with you. example:
✆ 215.499.0499 |  ✉ BTillman@PeopleLinx.com |⌨ ScheduleaCallwithBrynne.com

2. Next, bring their gaps, pains and frustrations to the surface. Get them to relate and show them that you understand the challenges they are facing. example:
The buyer journey has changed. They are researchers, explorers, self-educators and collaborative decision makers and it is significantly impacting the traditional sales process. The Know, Like and Trust mantra is now Attract, Teach and Engage. If you are not breaking through the noise, gaining access to stakeholders through your warm market and positioning yourself as a thought leader and subject matter expert, your competition will.

3. Now that they know you understand their situation, offer them something of real value. Offer them vendor agnostic, implementable take-aways. Things they can do without you. This is how they will begin to see you as a thought leader and subject matter expert. example:
Here are Core LinkedIn & Social Selling Strategies That Work:
✔ Convert your LinkedIn profile from a resume to a resource. Provide significant value. Attract, teach and engage in a way that has an immediate impact on the way they think about their business. 
✔ Receive targeted introductions from your clients and centers of influence. Before a meeting bring a list of who they are connect to that you want to meet, and invite them do the same.
✔ Be seen as a thought leader and subject matter expert. Write and share powerful content that gets your buyers thinking differently about their current situation, company or industry in a way that gets them begging to talk with you.

4. Once you have provided value, you have earned the right to talk about you and your business, however, it should still be about how you can help them, not just what you do.example:
Being well trained is important, but only if it is driving revenue. Through the PeopleLinx guided social selling platform we teach sales professionals how to leverage social selling throughout the entire sales process from lead generation to appointment setting, overcoming objections, nurturing, creating a consensus yes, closing and post-sales referrals. We then reinforce the right activities at the right time to maximize adoption and get real, measurable results.

5. Lastly, end it with a call-to-action. Something for them to do now that you have peaked their interest. If you don’t engage them here and now, they will mostly likely move on and forget about you and your LinkedIn profile completely. I tend to ask for a phone call, but you can offer a video or white-paper to download if phone calls aren’t important to you. Just make sure you offer them a next step. example:
If you are in need of leveraging LinkedIn for sales I invite you to have a conversation. Whether or not we decide to do business together, I am confident that our call will be full of insights and actionable steps that can help you grow your business. Here is a link to my calendarhttp://ScheduleacallwithBrynne.com please pick a time that works best for you.

Your summary has a vital role on whether or not your audience is interested in taking your call, so be sure to spend some time taking it to the next level.

Interested in becoming a social selling expert?  Join PeopleLinx as my guest and learn how to build an effective profile and leverage LinkedIn to grow your sales.