LinkedIn recently launched ProFinder to help 17 categories of service providers already on their main platform to connect with their customers in an effective way. You can locate ProFinder on LinkedIn in the Interests tabs drop-down menu. Although LinkedIn itself provides listings in its main database for some 475 million subscribers (in 200 regions), of which many are service providers, relying on this listing on LinkedIn to generate business (or do to business) can be chancy. For a potential customer a database search and then selecting from that search the most appropriate service provider can be both time consuming and error-prone, despite all the supporting back-up provided by the individual service providers credentials on their Profile. Yet another reason such an exploration can be a hit-or-miss in getting the right service provider to get exactly the service you want is because in most cases the client has not clearly thought through their own requirements until they start talking to the service provider. So, from an efficiency standpoint such an exploration can end up wasting valuable time for both parties in the process.
ProFinder is designed to make this process much more efficient in the following ways:
- Each category of 17-Service providers is curated by LinkedIn before a provider is listed in the right category. Key qualifiers such as the number of client Recommendations are highlighted to the prospect when they take a look at a professional service providers Profile.
- A prospect searching for help in any one of the categories is first asked to state their requirements as a part of the RFQ (Request for Quote) that the prospect submits to ProFinder. This simple strategy makes it easy for service provider to zero-in on only those RFQs that are of interest to them, without second-guessing.
- The RFQs are limited to only five responses. So, the first five responders to the RFQ reach the prospect, which keeps their review task limited to those five responses. This makes the process efficient.
- The prospect has the ability to have a phone conversation (up to 15 minutes) to flesh out the details as needed to validate the service providers claims. During that conversation they can further make their arrangement more specific to the prospects needs.
- Throughout this process ProFinder keeps the responders notified of the progress of their proposal via an automated system already set up, so the status of all submitted proposals is visible to the providers in real time.
I came across the ProFinder service offered by LinkedIn on December 26, 2016, when I signed up. Within minutes of signing up I was notified of my acceptance to ProFinder and I was in business. Within the next 24 hours I was notified of two RFQs for career coaching (my main service activity). Within the next 48 hours I had short conversations with both the prospects. Although ProFinder responses provide up to 15 minutes for this initial call, my calls with these two prospects were under 10 minutes because they had already vetted me before calling. They each signed up within the next few days after the calls. I am currently working with them as I am responding to more RFQs that pop up on ProFinder constantly.
Previously, almost all of my new prospects came through referrals. Most of them just called me without doing much checking on me (my LinkedIn Profile, website, YouTube videos, books, and my blogs), so I had to spend significant amount of time in the initial call before I could get them to sign up, despite the strong referrals. Now, with ProFinder I am able to respond to the RFQ in just minutes and when the interested prospect calls to explore further they have already checked me out, so I spend less time Selling myself. My time is now spent Telling them what I can do to get going.
The way ProFinder is designed it makes it efficient for anyone on either side of the equation to benefit from it: The Service Provider benefits from responding to prequalified leads that fall within their zone of expertise; the Clients interested in those services benefit by having access to a curated pool of five qualified Service Providers without going through an extensive vetting process before selecting the best Provider.
I suppose winning both my initial proposals in the first few days was more a beginners luck than anything else. I now have several responses in the pipeline with ProFinder and hope to close on few more of them soon!
If you have not tried out this new resource LinkedIn has provided check it out for yourself, either as a Service Provider (one of 17 categories) or as someone who wants a curated expert to help them with their specific needs in any of their lifes pursuits.
Good luck!
| About Author | |
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Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. |
Website: http://dilipsaraf.com/?p=2879
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