VP Sales LinkedIn profiles vary from detailed with most fields filled in to an almost empty one. Many sales teams, especially those in B2B, find great value in LinkedIn for forging new relationships and reinforcing existing ones.
Any VP of sales who wants to stay in the spotlight and represent the company brand can do it by completing the profile from head to toe beginning with the summary and ending with following others.
I browsed LinkedIn looking at a diversity of VP sales profiles for inspiration. Some may not be as complete as it could be yet it’ll give you ideas to apply to your own. You can get more tips to flesh out your profile from LinkedIn for Sales VPs.
Before you go on the profile tour, note that you may not have access to all of them. It depends on your membership account and your connection to the person. If you can’t find one of these people, go to Google and search on their name. Find the link to their LinkedIn profile and click through from there.
Marcy Campbell
Senior VP sales, Engine Yard
www.linkedin.com/pub/marcy-campbell/0/7/454
The summary highlights Campbell’s 20 years of experience in managing sales and marketing teams. Her detailed experience section summarizes each past position in one paragraph. She lists publications and personal interests. Reading the crisp profile, you can get a sense of her background and specialty without being bogged by details.
David Cassady
Executive VP global sales, Greenlight Technologies (Summary says why he’s on LinkedIn)
www.linkedin.com/in/davidcassady
I like Cassady’s first person summary, which closes with the reason he uses LinkedIn. He also covers this under the advice for contacting him. We all know LinkedIn serves a greater purpose than helping people find and fill jobs. The summary and advice for contacting a person are the best places to state what you’re looking for from people on LinkedIn. Consider including a call to action.
Mike Chasteen
VP sales and marketing, Lanvera
www.linkedin.com/in/mchasteen
Chasteen has a well-rounded profile with a one-paragraph summary giving the highlights of his career: “25+ years experience as an evangelist, strategist and teacher. Leading great sales teams as small as 5 and as large as 200. Successfully manages P&L’s, and drives attainment hitting revenue goals as high as $300M. Empowering good sales people to become great sales people leveraging traditional and non-traditional methodologies. Soon to be author of ‘Peeling Back the Onion’ a sales manager’s handbook.”
Greg Christian
VP of worldwide sales and marketing, Kubisys
www.linkedin.com/pub/greg-christian/16/679/628
Christian’s profile contains everything. He belongs to more than 25 groups and he follows influencers, news and companies. He has recommendations from people who reported to him, worked with him or worked at another company.
A strong VP sales profile has recommendations from direct reports, CEOs, clients and partners. Also try to have at least two from your current position.
Lori Harmon
VP Sales, Contrast Security
www.linkedin.com/in/lorilharmon
This profile has a nice header image, promoting her book and her LinkedIn group. Her summary reveals facts related to data breaches and answers: “What if you could …” with a list that communicates the end result of what her company does for clients.
She also takes advantage of LinkedIn’s media capabilities by including a video and slides. Harmon’s advice for contacting her includes her contact information, Twitter ID and links to a calendar so you can schedule a 15-minute call with her.
Dave Kent
VP director channel sales, Geocent
www.linkedin.com/in/davekent1
Dating back to 2002, Kent’s last five positions have recommendations. He has received more than 30 recommendations. The last one — as of this writing — is from 2010. It would boost his profile to have a more recommendation in his current position. Nonetheless, this is an exemplary profile.
More Inspiration
Kevin Kirksey
VP sales at Exinda Networks
www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-kirksey/2/829/262
Steve Milner
VP US enterprise sales, Rackspace
www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-milner/0/99b/b48
Mike Minelli
Former: Senior VP of sales, IntelliResponse Systems Inc; currently Global Sales Leader
www.linkedin.com/in/mikeminelli
Mike Montrose
VP marketing and sales, UniteU Technologies
www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmontrose
Dennis O’Leary
VP sales, east, SteelGlass Consulting
www.linkedin.com/pub/dennis-o-leary/5/913/763
Greg Petraetis
Global VP, big data, SAP
www.linkedin.com/pub/greg-petraetis/2/426/569
Jack Steeg
VP of business development, Ringdale Technologies, Inc
www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-steeg/2/aa/b89
Robert Wilson
VP global sales, EMC
www.linkedin.com/in/rwilson
What makes an effective VP sales LinkedIn profile? Please share a profile or two or describe what you’ve seen that has inspired you.