9 Tips to Make Sure Employees Look Trustworthy on LinkedIn
“Virtual and remote work changed how we look at employees”
With so many employees working virtually it’s more important than ever to make sure your employee’s profiles are authentic, professional, current, and represent their joint branding with the company.
HERE’S MY STORY OF EMPLOYEE TRUST AND CREDIBILITY
On two occasions recently, I was working with banking sales/customer service representatives whom I checked out on LinkedIn and Google as I was talking with them.
In both cases, the employee’s profiles were not current. They didn’t look trustworthy or even like legitimate employees, based on their LinkedIn profiles. The profiles were not updated. Neither had photos or summaries, and their current jobs were not connected to the current Company Pages. In the About section, they looked like they were seeking new jobs and not representing the company.
Because one Representative asked me for my SS# and other for financial information I asked them for their boss’s name. I wanted to confirm that they were with the company.
When I searched their bosses, their profile looked worse than the employee’s LinkedIn profile. The boss’s profile showed they were with a former company, a competitor. This didn’t give me comfort or confidence.
So, I took it one step further and contacted an HR department to confirm that these two people were indeed current employees of the company.
92% OF BUYERS ARE CHECKING OUT YOUR EMPLOYEES
Don’t let this happen to your company. According to Salesforce.com 92% of buyers start their decision-making research online and Forrest research shows 100% of decision-makers use social media, as I did.
MY 9 TIPS TO ENSURE EMPLOYEES LOOK TRUSTWORTHY ON LINKEDIN
1) Current headshot — make sure it’s professional, friendly, and trustworthy looking. No fish, kids, avatars, or grandkids.
2) Professional Headline — add the current title and the company name. Add a brand statement that represents what your company does for customers/clients. NEW: now there are 240 characters instead of 120.
3) Tell a story in the first 40 words, add an About section — they are all people see when they open your profile. The first sentence should include the title, passion, and how the employee can help the customer. NEW: no there are 2600 characters in the Summary About section.
EXAMPLE: Award-winning Shopper Marketing Analyst and Customer Service Manager, passionate about helping my retail clients provide exceptional service and flawless onboarding for shopper marketers.
4) Add Current title in the title line — make sure it pulls from the drop-down box.
5) Add a Job Description in the section under the title, including information about current responsibilities, the company, and contact information if you are in sales, customer service, development, or marketing position. Add key accomplishments in past positions.
6) Make sure the Current Experience is Connected to the correct company page.
7) Add Additional information including Volunteer experiences. This provides information about personal causes and activities the employee is interested in. This gives the potential client information to connect around. This area can be found under the blue rectangular box Add Profile Section, click Accomplishments.
8) Add Skills, Get Endorsement, and Recommendations — this shows current skills and the recommendations area is the only place on LinkedIn that shows a person’s character from a colleague’s perspective. Here are my tips on writing a great recommendation. (Attorneys in NY can’t have endorsements or recommendations and I recommend caution to all attorneys with recos and endorsements.)
9) Show relevant value and media in the NEW Featured section. Add the company website, certifications, product information, and relevant videos.
I am still waiting for a call back from HR to confirm that the employee is legitimate before I move forward in purchasing the product. I’ll update you when I hear from them.
Let’s all look good,
Anne
Anne Pryor is a LinkedIn Authority, known as the “LinkedIn Whisper”, an Inspiring Speaker, she is recognized as a Top 10 LinkedIn Trainer. Providing coaching and training to more than 150,000 people she has personally written more than 20,000 LinkedIn profiles to help people manifest desires, find great jobs, attorneys, and sales and marketing executives to make meaningful and profitable connections. She provides practical and relevant information that people can use to do their soul’s work. She provides employee/employer branding training to companies and employees on how to Look Great on LinkedIn and to sales teams on how to use Sales Navigator for business success.
She is also the creator of Lovitude™ and a Soul Painter. She was a featured guest on the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family Show sharing Lovitude Soul Painting. They found her on LinkedIn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmCB8BefH0s. Her unique process includes dripping ink on plastic and blowing it with her breath. She was guided to paint through After Death Communication messages with a former colleague. She provides workshops and speaking on “Bringing Your Lifeforce — Mind, Body, and Spirit to Work.”
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