Achieving a 70+ SSI score often sparks a moment of celebration but social selling success requires much more than vanity LinkedIn Sales Navigator benchmarks.

Employees are often given a licence but aren’t taught what to do with it or what good looks like for their role. (Not everyone needs an all-star SSI score!) And LinkedIn Sales Navigator is often reserved for business development-focused sales professionals only, when social selling is about much more than just sales - it's also about nurturing relationships and listening to what your buyers want and need.

Marketing, Key Account Managers, Business Development Managers and Sales Managers all have a role to play in your social selling program’s success but the actions and benchmarks they should aim for should be tailored to them (and with training to help them achieve them).

So we’re sharing how different roles should use LinkedIn Sales Navigator and the action points and benchmarks to aim for. 

Marketing

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a potent tool for researching buyer persona and competitor information, social listening and identifying industry-wide and influencer trends. And with the growing importance of sales and marketing alignment and account-based marketing, most marketers will benefit from the features that help them identify strategic accounts and drive buyer-centric content and conversations.

Action points

• Save target accounts and respective leads
• Save key competitors and distributors
• Save key influencers
• Share lead lists with sales
• Continuously monitor and improve SSI score

(Read how to increase your LinkedIn SSI score to 70+ here.)

Benchmarks

• Save all accounts on your radar
• Save 5 leads per account
• Have an SSI score of at least 55
  
  
  

Business Development Managers

Business Development Managers can use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to quickly research and connect with relevant accounts at volume to ensure a good pipeline for prospecting and lead generation. Their activity will also need to support Key Account Manager’s strategic engagement activities. To stand out and establish credibility with target accounts, it’s essential that BDMs also use LinkedIn to share their expertise and market knowledge.

Action points

• Save multiple leads and accounts
• Regularly engage with saved leads and accounts
• Post regularly on LinkedIn to share your expertise and market knowledge
• Continuously monitor and improve SSI score

Benchmarks

• Save at least 15 accounts
• Save at least 4 leads per account
• SSI score of at least 60
  
  

Key Account Managers

Key Account Managers (KAMs) should also use LinkedIn to identify and attract prospective customers and expand their network of contacts within existing key accounts. Their focus will be on strategic accounts rather than the volume required for BDMs. Successful social KAMs also use LinkedIn to deepen their relationships with existing customers by listening to and addressing their specific needs.

Action points

• Save all key accounts
• Save competitors and suppliers
• Save all people from key accounts as leads e.g. budget holders, influencers, champions and detractors
• Engage on LinkedIn regularly with stakeholders from existing accounts
• Continuously monitor and improve SSI score

Benchmarks

• Save 5 key accounts
• Save 10 leads per account
• SSI of at least 55
  
  

Sales Managers

Sales Managers always need to be ahead of the curve, looking for ways to bring in new prospective strategic clients and spotting gaps in the market. They also need to develop and maintain long-term relationships with customers and open doors for their team by connecting with senior leaders at target accounts. LinkedIn is an obvious tool for them and, if your social selling program is going to be a success, they'll need to be on board with it.

Action points

• Save all existing accounts
• Save all stakeholders at existing accounts as leads
• Save their employees to a lead list to encourage and amplify their LinkedIn activity 
• Save new leads and accounts
• Regularly post on LinkedIn to establish thought leadership
• Continuously monitor and improve SSI score

Benchmarks

• Save at least 10 key accounts
• Save at least 10 leads at key accounts
• Have an SSI score of at least 60

Our LinkedIn Sales Navigator benchmarks can only ever be helpful guidance. What to aim for will always depend on your goals and how socially mature your employees already are but we hope they help guide your strategy and see what’s realistically achievable.

Do you want to see an example of what can be achieved on a social selling program in just four months? Discover how CommVault achieved 61% more pipeline with their social selling pilot program.