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Startup PeopleLinx automatically guides salespeople to take the right actions on social networks at the right times. PeopleLinx guides sales professionals to build relationships, attract qualified leads, and drive up-sells using social media. With $8.16 Million in venture capital funding, PeopleLinx is changing the landscape of social selling. Here is our recent interview with Josh Druck from PeopleLinx team:

Q: Josh, for those who have never heard of it, how would you describe PeopleLinx?

A: PeopleLinx automates social selling. Our platform automatically guides salespeople to take the right actions on social networks at the right times. Think of it as GPS for social selling: we tell you what to do on your profile, who to connect with, what content to share. For sales leaders, we report on the social selling activity of the team, and then correlate it to actual sales outcomes for real ROI analytics.

Related: Wayin Brings Clarity To Every Aspect Of Social Business

Q: Social networks are transforming the way people buy and sell, how do you see your role in the game?

A: Today’s buyers do more and more of their research online, and salespeople have to leverage social networks to influence buying decisions. The problem is, sales reps are struggling. Social selling isn’t part of their process and they’re not using the social networks to create or advance opportunities. Sales managers aren’t doing much to help them. It’s a mess.

We solve that problem by embedding social into the sales cadence. Our platform automatically guides salespeople to take the right actions at the right times. It automatically tells them what to do—what to change on their profile, who to connect to, what content to share. Because we integrate with CRMs like Salesforce.com, the guidance is personalized to the individual salesperson based on their book of business.

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Q: What differentiates PeopleLinx from the competition?

A: Our focus is on sales and salespeople. Today’s landscape of social media tools is dominated by marketing technologies: tools to buy ads, attract followers, analyze sentiment, listen for complaints.

Those marketing tools don’t work for Sales. Sales is about cultivating 1-1 relationships with buyers. Salespeople need something simpler and more action-oriented, something that will quickly give them a competitive advantage in cultivating personal relationships and closing specific deals.

PeopleLinx is by salespeople and for salespeople. We were founded by salespeople and we understand sales process, culture, and psychology. We help sales reps take a few simple, targeted actions to move deals to “closed won” status. That’s a foreign concept to most of the social media world.

Related: Reachpod – Social Media Management For Professionals

Q: You’ve recently launched a new social selling app in the Salesforce AppExchange. Tell us something more.

A: David DiStefano just joined PeopleLinx as our new Chief Revenue Officer. For the last seven years, he’s been the CEO of Richardson, one of the world’s top sales training companies. David is a highly respected and a well-known leader in the sales performance world. His decision to join PeopleLinx speaks volumes about technology’s growing role in the sales process. Also it’s yet another leading indicator that social selling is going to be huge.

Related: Startup QuickShouts – Connects Businesses With Social Media Influencers

Q: How would you convince the reader to start using it?

A: Are your reps making quota? Is social selling part of their sales cadence? If you answered “No” to both questions, you need PeopleLinx.

Last Updated on January 31, 2016