Although I don’t sell to big companies, I enjoy reading Jill Konrath’s blog called Selling to Big Companies. She recently posted a question on her blog about LinkedIn, a social networking tool. Jill’s question:

“As a seller, how do you use LinkedIn to increase your sales?”

One of the people she interviewed to answer this question is Scott Allen, co-author of The Virtual Handshake. I’ve known Scott for 4 years now and he’s a speaker at the Social Media Telesummit. He will lead a session at the Telesummit on how to price, promote and position your social media services.

While Scott said that LinkedIn is great for generating leads and finding partners, he said that LinkedIn is best used to accelerate sales. In fact, Scott says:

“Search for people in your prospect’s company who are not closely involved in your deal – preferably 2nd degree contacts, not 3rd degree. Ask for an informational interview. Ask your interview subject about the priorities that are going on at the company — what are the high-level factors that might be influencing the buying process. Be completely open/transparent.”

This is a great way to eliminate the cold call. Well, you are calling, but because you’re linked to a friend or colleague to that person in LinkedIn, he or she will more readily be open to speaking with you.

How are you using LinkedIn? If you’re not, why not? Share your comments below.