Markus Fleischer is a Digital/Technology Management Professional with +10 years of building new businesses, investment and business transformation experience in the IT/software-, pharma- and consumer goods sector. His special interest and passion is to leverage Artificial Intelligence on an executive level to create business value for organizations and the broader economy. He’s convinced it is the general purpose technology, that will shape our generation. He has developed various AI Frameworks and specific strategies for different multinationals to transform their core business into a fully data-based operating model. At A1 Digital he takes care of Strategy, Corporate Development and M&A. Markus was one of the participants in the A1 coaching program of FRANSCHA.

I had used LinkedIn in the past to connect with people I already knew. I consumed content passively and followed individual career progressions. I was not aware of the relevance of personal brand building and social selling in the context of business development and that oftentimes 70 % of the purchase decision already happens before the first contact. With the coaching, I have now acquired profound knowledge and the toolkit to really “get to work” on LinkedIn. I was surprised how fast I was able to celebrate personal successes and harvest professional fruits with a few changes!

Building a great network

In order to selectively expand my network, I took a strategic approach: I thought about who would be interesting for our product portfolio or our positioning, but also from whom I would like to hear and learn more. My personal list included contacts in the areas of AI (Artificial Intelligence) start-ups and entrepreneurs, digital transformation professionals, but also executives from medium-sized companies.

As I had recently published a whitepaper on AI strategy, I used this as a natural conversation starter.

I am also a member of alumni networks of IESE Business School, one of the most respected business schools in Europe. So I thought, why not get more engaged with the alumni network. I have received great responses from peers that  actively wanted to exchange ideas with me. I was also able to create win-win situations between different age groups, according to the motto "young learn from experienced & vice versa". My response rates were well over 50%.

There were quite a few! This can be measured very well with the help of KPIs: Profile visitors, post views, comments & engagement. I had around 100 profile visitors in the last 90 days before the coaching, and was able to increase that number to 400 after the training! That is an increase of 300 %! My posts now receive between 1000-3000 views with appropriate engagement! I was also able to significantly expand my network well beyond existing contacts and colleagues.