What do selling tompouces at HEMA and LinkedIn have in common? Quite a lot actually. At least if you ask Bart Robben from Team Rockstars IT. And honestly he has a point.
Last week I gave a LinkedIn Masterclass to a group of true Rockstars. Not the air guitar kind but professionals who take their craft so seriously that they were even willing to polish up their LinkedIn profiles. We worked on personal branding social selling making smart lists and figuring out what you should actually write as a Solution Architect. And of course how a Sales Manager can present themselves without sounding like a walking brochure.
The vibe was great. A buzzing office a delicious lunch but most importantly people who were even more vibrant than their surroundings. For a moment it almost felt like being Jim Morrison. Not with a microphone and leather pants but with a flip chart and a clicker.
And then came the tompouce. Bart shared that he once worked weekends at HEMA selling pastries. The challenge? A lot of theft. And no a pastry fork is not the best tool to stop shoplifters. So he arranged a training. The result? From weekend worker to Sherlock Holmes of the pastry section.
That story is exactly the lesson for LinkedIn. You don’t want employees standing untrained with nothing but a fork in the digital world. You want professionals who know how to profile themselves position themselves and share value. Not for likes but for real impact.
So if you want your people to truly rock on LinkedIn don’t hand them a tompouce fork. Give them training.
Thanks to the entire Team Rockstars IT you were pure gold.
