LinkedIn is best known as a tool for job seekers and recruiters, but it's also a burgeoning platform for "social selling," a business it hopes to boost with a new entity called Sales Navigator.
Sales Navigator, which is designed for salespeople, leverages LinkedIn's network of 316 million-plus members to expose sales leads. If you work in a company with 500 employees, for instance, LinkedIn will let you know if one of those employees is connected with someone at one of your target companies. This reduces cold calling and leads to more sales, according to LinkedIn; a February survey from the company found that "social sellers" -- those that used social media to interact with their prospects -- were 51% more likely to beat their quota than traditional sellers.
[seealso slug="linkedin-etiquette"]
In addition to making connections, Sales Navigator also sends "insights" about sales targets, including notifications about when they switch jobs and instances when they are mentioned in the news (via LinkedIn's Newsle acquisition).