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LinkedIn Sales Navigator Training – Yes or No?

You’ve just purchased or you’re about to purchase LinkedIn Sales Navigator licenses. And like any new tool your sales team is unfamiliar with, you’re going to need LinkedIn Sales Navigator training.

Adoption of the tool by your sales team is very important and key to generating more leads and sales. But, and this is a big “but”, your sales team won’t use it unless you give them outstanding in-person LinkedIn Sales Navigator training.

Conduct Your Due Diligence

I hope you found this blog post because you’re conducting your due diligence for rolling out your new Sales Navigator licenses. If you’re smart, you’re anticipating and planning for  adoption issues i.e. your sales team not using Sales Navigator.

You need to make sure that your investment in Sales Navigator pays off since the licenses are expensive. Far too expensive to have them unused. Don’t fall into the “shiny new tool” trap where your licenses go unused after a few weeks. It can easily happen.

As sales people and sales enablement professionals, we want quick results from the tools we use. LinkedIn Sales Navigator doesn’t spit out leads, but it’s powerful nonetheless. And with any powerful tool that has multiple features you’re going to need on-going and deep training.

In-Person LinkedIn Sales Navigator Training is Key

I’ve trained thousands of sales reps how to use Sales Navigator. In my experience, the exact training your sales team needs is in-person, onsite training. Good in-person training is the key to adoption and long-term use, which means success for you and your sales team.

By demonstrating the powerful features of Sales Navigator and having your sales team actively follow along over the course of a half day, for example, you’ll be able to show them tactically and explain to them strategically how they can use the platform to get more new sales leads.

Ok, quickly about me and why you need to continue reading this post. I’m the administrator and manage a significant amount of LinkedIn Sales Navigator accounts for my company and have been conducting LinkedIn and social selling training since June, 2013.

I’ve trained thousands of salespeople how to use LinkedIn. The most effective part of my training is in-person, onsite LinkedIn Sales Navigator training. Let me say that again. The most effective and successful part of my training is in-person, onsite LinkedIn Sales Navigator training.

Don’t get me wrong. LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator on-demand video and live webinar training provided by LinkedIn is good. It’s thorough and leaves no detail uncovered. The problem is, a lot of sales people won’t find the time or don’t have the time to sit through the training.

The result? A lot of your licenses will lay dormant…unused and that would be a catastrophe for you. Sales Navigator has a high success rate potential for prospecting, but you’ll need a good plan to roll it out so that your sales people use it and continue to use it.

Simply put, bring your team together in one room. Have them bring their laptops and keep LinkedIn open with email and other programs closed.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Training + Social Selling Training

In my experience and the feedback I’ve received, is that in-person live LinkedIn Sales Navigator training makes the difference. You need to bring your sales team together onsite and have them do your training in-person. Think about integrating your Sales Navigator training with other elements of prospecting training. Help your sales team connect the dots.

The downside of LinkedIn Sales Navigator training by LinkedIn is that it’s function and feature training only i.e. this button does this and that link goes there. LinkedIn’s online or live webinar training does not teach sales people the strategy of how to use the platform for growing and nurturing your prospects. The training is conducted from a new shiny tool perspective only. Other than sending an InMail, there is no other elements of LinkedIn’s training that teaches a “hunter” all the nuances and techniques to build their brand and establish their credibility. That’s where social selling training comes in. Seriously consider mixing LinkedIn Sales Navigator training with social selling training. Together, you’ve got a powerful combination that will fill the top of your sales funnel.

If you’re lucky enough to have an in-house training team, work with them to conduct in-person training. You can definitely follow it up with webinar training too. At least with webinar platforms you can monitor and track who’s participating and how much they’re paying attention.

Develop an effective in-house curriculum or work with an experienced and proven social selling trainer. Do not rely on your sales people taking their time to watch on-demand videos. Most of them won’t do it.

Questions to ask yourself before you begin training:

1. What will success look like after the training?
2. What metrics can we use to determine that sales people “get it.”
3. If we hire an outside trainer, how will they prove that their training works?
4. What credentials does the trainer have?

Contact me to if you’d like to learn more about Sales Navigator training. I’ve trained thousands of sales people how to use Sales Navigator to prospect and grow the top of their sales funnel.