Host Question - What is an SSI Score?

Jody threw us a curveball this week, with his own question.  He has heard Mike and I give each other a hard time about our individual SSI score, and finally asked - what is an SSI score?  This prompted a discussion and a Catalyst Sale Research Project.

There’s an old saying in business - “Be careful what you measure, because what you measure is what you will get”. In the sales profession, we measure a number of things - from booked revenue, which is a lagging indicator of success, to several leading indicators tied to sales process velocity and opportunity valuations based on sales process execution. 

We discussed some of these metrics on a previous podcast with Matt Ostanik

There are also a slew of other things we measure, many of which are activity based metrics. Ideally, these are things that if we complete them in a consistent way, can become predictors of our eventual sales success.

This final category can be the most daunting as we have to be certain that what we measure actually drives desired outcomes. For example, if we think that making a hundred outbound calls a day will result in our desired sales results, we will begin setting expectations and measuring outbound call activity. Or, we could measure the number of opportunities a sales development representative hands off to an account executive on a weekly basis. The possibilities are endless, and normally, the devil is in the details as a single metric rarely tells the whole story.

Not only do we measure certain activities, but we then model compensation plans and incentives around these metrics to ensure sales reps are focused on the right things. In some cases, we have gone as far as adding a “gamification” element into the mix to leverage our sales reps competitive nature. When done right, this can be a good thing. When done poorly, we can drive the wrong behaviors and ultimately miss our most important objective which is generating revenue.

LinkedIn SSI Score

Which brings us to a topic we have found very interesting in recent years. The LinkedIn Social Selling Index score. From a product perspective, it is a brilliant idea. Most sales leaders have bought into the fact that leveraging tools like LinkedIn to help drive social selling strategies is a necessary component of any B2B selling strategy, and the Social Selling Index score is designed to reward sales reps with a higher score if he or she engages with the platform. Due to our competitive nature as sales reps, we seem pretty motivated to obtain a higher score. In fact, for some people, it has become a badge of honor - many “social selling experts” often tout their scores, and mention how they rank among other gurus.

So this begs a few questions - and the reason for the Catalyst Sale SSI score survey. We want to answer the following question: Is there an optimal SSI score?  Some would suggest that the higher the better, but in our own experience in managing sales teams, we hypothesize there is a point of diminishing return in attempting to elevate your SSI score. 

On this week's episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast, we discuss a research project we are kicking off at Catalyst Sale.  We are interested in gathering industry data on the LinkedIn SSI score.  Is there a direct correlation between the SSI score and individual or team sales performance?  Is there an ideal SSI score?

Important Links

• What's your SSI score? - Click here to find out
• What is the SSI?
• Catalyst Sale SSI Survey for Sales Professionals
• Catalyst Sale SSI Survey for Sales Leadership
• Catalyst Sale SSI Landing Page - Fill this out if you would like the results.

Thank you for participating in the survey.  We will share the results with all participants who provide their contact information.  Data will be reported anonymously.  

Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. Please send listener questions and feedback to hello@catalystsale.com or contact us directly on twitter, facebook or LinkedIn.

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Catalyst Sale

In every business, in every opportunity, there is someone who can help you navigate the internal challenges and close the deal.  There is a Catalyst.  We integrate process (Catalyst Sale Process), technology and people, with the purpose of accelerating revenue. Our thoughtful approach minimizes false starts that are common in emerging markets and high growth environments. We continue to evolve our practice based on customer needs and emerging technology. We care about a thinking process that enables results versus a process that tells people what to do.  

Sales is a Thinking Process.