LinkedIn Is A Sales Tool. Start Treating It Like One
Summary
Before prospects pick up the phone they’ve usually already read your LinkedIn feed. Kellie Walenciak argues that many CEOs treat LinkedIn as an obligation, handing content production to communications teams and AI—and losing the distinct, judgment-based thinking that convinces buyers to engage. The piece urges leaders to treat their LinkedIn presence like a sales asset: brief comms teams the way you brief your salesforce, share raw thinking, and insist posts contain insights only you could produce.
Key Points
- Personal profiles drive far more engagement than company pages—LinkedIn rewards people, not logos.
- Delegating content to comms teams and AI often creates polished but generic posts that lack your unique judgement.
- The essential asset is the executive’s raw thinking—friction points, trade-offs and in-room lessons—that AI cannot invent.
- Treat briefing comms like briefing sales: give market reads, proof points and the real arguments you use with prospects.
- Before publishing, ask: could this have come only from me? If not, don’t post—it’s not doing revenue work.
Content Summary
Kellie draws on nearly 25 years in communications to highlight a simple shift: see LinkedIn as top‑of‑funnel sales rather than a PR chore. Many executives rely on teams and AI to produce content, but that approach strips posts of the very texture and authority that make them persuasive. AI can polish tone, but it can’t supply the lived judgement gained from making hard decisions. The remedy is low‑friction: regular conversations with your communications lead focused on what’s keeping you up, the customer moments that reframed a problem, and the decisions you’re still turning over. That raw material turns a feed into a reputation engine that helps win conversations before calls are made.
Context and Relevance
This is timely because platform behaviour and AI tools are converging to make authenticity harder to fake and more valuable when real. Research shows organic company reach has fallen and audiences favour individual voices. For CEOs, sales leaders and heads of comms, the article connects two ongoing trends: the migration of buying behaviour earlier in the decision process (driven by social validation) and the proliferation of AI-generated, homogenous content. The recommendation maps directly to commercial outcomes—better feeds help you build credibility and create warmer sales conversations.
Why should I read this?
Short version: if you want people to pick up the phone to talk to you, your LinkedIn feed matters. This isn’t about posting daily for vanity; it’s about handing your comms team the real stuff that helps you win business. Read it to learn a quick, practical tweak—treat LinkedIn like sales intelligence, not a digital chore—and actually get value from the time your team spends on your profile.
Source
Source: https://chiefexecutive.net/linkedin-is-a-sales-tool-start-treating-it-like-one/