When should you hire a LinkedIn or Social Selling expert?

TLDR: Hiring a social selling or LinkedIn expert can be useful and help you get better results, especially if you've tried a few things and nothing has worked. I wouldn't personally hire someone starting a business because you need to get some experience with your services and what your client wants - it risks being an investment you cannot really benefit from.

If you're looking to hire a social selling or LinkedIn coach, it can be confusing about choosing which one, but at the same time, it is also for many a question of when is a good time? What do you need to prepare for? Is there such a thing as a bad time to hire a coach? 

That's what we'll explore in this article, I'll share with you signs it's time to hire a LinkedIn or social selling coach.

1. You've tried and struggled to get a result.

If you've tried a few things and it's not working, it's not the platform. It's often your strategy. This is where a coach can help you build a proper plan of how you'll build your authority, get leads and convert them. It's easy to say "LinkedIn doesn't work" but there are countless examples of people in your niche who are getting clients from LinkedIn. I've met a few people who've said this over the 15 years coaching on LinkedIn and can tell you the majority of the time the problem is a bad proposition and process - it's rarely LinkedIn is the problem.

2. You got a proven offer.

The last thing you want to do is get help launching something you've never sold before. This is risky because your social selling coach won't have any data and neither will you. So, you're coach will need to experiment with you to learn what works for your audience and your industry with you. When I work with clients who have untested offers, I have to be honest and tell them we are going to try a few things and some of them won't work - but together, we'll find what works. 

3. You're selling high value services.

When I work with a client where their average sale value is over $100k, they hire me for speed. Decision makers that buy $100k+ services take their time to research and engage. At the same time, the sales process is much longer than selling a $3k service to a small business owner. It could take 6-9 months to build a pipeline for a six and seven figure deal - the last thing you want is to find out 6 months down the line you've been wasting your time.

4. You're used to referrals.

I'm going to be as straight as I can be. If you've been used to selling to referred leads from friends and clients - you're going to find LinkedIn difficult. I am currently working with a client where every client they've had in 10 years has been a referral. Referrals are fantastic leads, but the message that got them to you, you didn't give them - someone else got them to you. When you are used to referrals, your messaging, value proposition and how you handle those leads is totally different to how you deal with leads from LinkedIn. If you take your referral way into LinkedIn you'll haemorrhage leads that would have converted. Getting a LinkedIn expert on your side for this is absolutely critical.

5. You are short on time.

Social media has a tendency to suck you in and waste your time. I recently spoke with a business owner who told me he was spending 3-4 hours per day creating content and commenting on other peoples posts. That is more time than I spend on LinkedIn - total overkill. He was following a content creators (which is a totally different business model). A good social selling coach will give you an action plan that fits your time, not prescribe a way of working which doesn't fit the realities of your life and work.

6. You're goals are clearly defined.

LinkedIn is like a sweet shop, full of ideas and ways to get results. Once you start you're feed will be full of people suggesting "do this" or "stop doing that" most of these posts are done to convert people into their funnel, leveraging FOMO to get you hooked. If you are not clear on your goals, you'll get blown around by every guru telling you this is the new way or the old way is dead. Set your goals before you hire a coach and ask the coach what is possible in 30 days, 3 months and 12 months. 

7. You're ready to build long term.

Can you get quick wins on LinkedIn? Of course you can, but to get the real substantial results, you need to build familiarity, authority and trust in the market. If you want inbound leads, most people will need to consume 7-11 pieces of content before they make the leap. If you hire a LinkedIn coach and you just want instant success, you'll be disappointed. Working with a LinkedIn or Social Selling expert for 6 months is where you'll really get the compounding benefits. As they say, people overestimate what is possible in 30 days, but underestimate what is possible in 60 days.

Finding a good social selling coach to help you get success can work, if you get the right one that understands you, your goals and your business. If you want to understand how to evaluate how to choose a good fit social selling expert, check out How to choose a LinkedIn social selling expert.