If you’re in business, adding your phone number to your LinkedIn profile is essential.

There are many reasons why:

Catch people in buying mode. If they want to purchase your services, they are eager to get hold of them the soonest possible. Don’t let that lead go cold by only giving them one option, that is, to send you a request to connect. The possibilities of losing that customer are endless:

First, it might take you a few days to reply, especially if you don’t log in frequently. By then they have gone elsewhere and have lost interest in your business.

Second, they may not be warm to invitations from people they don’t know, Or they may have missed your which could go unseen. You might just end up ignoring their enquiry all together and not realise it.

Third,  prospects left hanging  will likely run a Google search for your number, and that runs the risk of passively leading them to a competitor. Don’t assume you’ll come up first in the search results. Chances are they would get distracted by another advert.

Capture their interest hot on their heels by making it easy for them to get in touch. 

Not forgetting, if people you already know want to get in touch but can’t find your business card, they will turn to LinkedIn for help. Motivated to only speak to you, they will spend more time looking for your number than a cold prospect would, but that might work them up. You would not want then frustrated over the arduously simple task of getting your number.

Here are some dos and don’ts:

Do:
– Add it to your contact information (this can be restricted to those you are connected with);
– Add it to your Advice for Contacting (if worried about exposure, add a landline that is answered by a call service);
– Add it to the Experience entry for the position/company you want to be contacted about (ideally, this will be the first on your experience list);
– If you have room, add it at the end of your Summary as part of your call to action;
– Add it to your Rich Content Media (it won’t necessary get seen by someone looking around your profile for your number, but it will engage a prospect who has digested your content as part of his/her research);
– Make sure it’s part of your company page information. There isn’t a designated slot for this so put it in the description, ideally as part of your call to action.

Don’t:
– Put your phone number in the headline. It’s way too forward and way too soon in the relationship;
– Lead with it in your summary as you’ve not given a person a reason to call yet.

Like our graphic? Wait for our next post where I share with you how Barak Obama actually did want to call my friend.

To stay in the loops follow our LinkedIn Company page