Jan Lommatzsch is Channel & Alliance Manager IoT at A1 Digital. He is responsible for the sustainable development of an IoT Partner Ecosystem and the associated partner management. The Ecosystem includes consulting services, the IoT platform Cumulocity (Software AG), and the manufacturer of sensors. In his role, he acts as an overlay (staff position) function and close cooperation with sales colleagues is a matter of course to screen new trends in the market and derive direct solutions. New partners for Ecosystems are always being sought and Social Selling offers a possibility for Jan to make contacts. He was one of the participants in the A1 coaching program of FRANSCHA.

At the beginning of the coaching, Jan, like many others, had a LinkedIn profile but did not know exactly how to use it to increase his own brand equity. When he heard that his company was investing in social selling, he was initially reluctant but excited, because he had little contact with the content of the 6-month program so far, but it sounded quite exciting. And from his previous work with start-ups, he also knew that it was worth "being convinced" and never saying "this can't work".

The journey

At the beginning his profile was unmaintained and incomplete. If he was active on LinkedIn once a week, it was a lot. Jan used it more as an information tool, had never posted anything himself, and felt it was more of a necessary evil.

But that changed quickly: His user behavior changed completely. With LinkedIn & a coffee, he now starts the day. He is online every day, posted 2-3 times a week, and has expanded his network by 300 more exciting network partners. Jan really enjoys getting the latest industry news right at the start of the day. But it's also a bit of a curse & blessing because the large network also wants to be maintained. That's why he has his morning digital lesson firmly anchored in his diary. Jan is totally excited about what you can do with LinkedIn.

"It's amazing what 6 months of coaching can do to you! I once turned completely around my own axis! A 180-degree turn! And I can't even imagine anymore, how I can live without LinkedIn for 1-2 weeks on vacation (laughing)!”

It was work, of course. First, he had the goal to reach the magic 500 limit, that means to have more than 500 contacts because on the one hand, it shows a "500+ contacts on" at the top of the LinkedIn profile, on the other hand he heard from colleagues again and again that everything would suddenly change then. Starting from 250 contacts, he had a long way to go. He made it his business to scan various business cards he had accumulated and to gain valuable contacts through strategic network expansion, as he had learned from the FRANSCHA team. After all, quality should not be lost! And indeed, when he crossed the border, he suddenly had far more profile accesses, it started to live! And he began to love it. Now he doesn't want to do without LinkedIn anymore.

Jan has recognized: LinkedIn is clearly not there for fun, but very valuable to build your brand and market yourself permanently. Social Selling also has a big impact on sales.

"I am sure that Social Selling will be the absolute standard in 2-5 years and will replace sales tasks such as classic acquisition, especially the mostly unpopular cold calling in the future. It is a great solution for sales and I am excited about what it can achieve.”