I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
Salesforce Launches Agentforce Operations to End Back-Office Bottlenecks
I covered Salesforce Agentforce in New York this past month. This event was organized to showcase Salesforce’s Agentforce. Agentforce is DIY AI in action. Agentforce is a customer service agent built by Salesforce customers and integrated across industries and across the customer journey.
In the keynote, Patrick Stokes, President and CMO, Salesforce, announced the launch of Agentforce Operations.
Agentforce Operations uses AI to turn manual and outdated back-office processes into clear tasks so that Agents can do the work instead of humans. Agentforce Operations can automate tasks such as process coordination, data verification, ensuring compliance, obtaining approvals, and more.
Using Agentforce Operations pays big dividends with cycle times reduced by 50 to 70 percent, improved accuracy, and manual data entry cut by 80 percent. This leads to better outcomes and experiences. With Agentforce Operations, Agents complete work beyond organizing tasks for completion.
Salesforce also announced the creation of a Slack workspace and Slackbot, which is being offered free to every new Salesforce customer. Sales and Service Teams can use AI and Apps across their tech stack, moving from Slack to Microsoft Teams, Gmail, and more, to increase their productivity. Slackbots can turn customer conversations into records, capturing updates and keeping data current.
I saw demos for use cases across industry verticals and the customer journey in Sales, Service, and Marketing functions with Canada Goose, Engine, and Dell.
Leah McGowen-Hare, SVP at Salesforce , Demos How Canada Goose is an Agentic Retailer using Salesforce and Data 360
Rob Seaman, SVP & GM Slack shows how Engine became an Agentic Travel Company using Salesforce
MaryAnn Patel SVP, at @salesforce , shares how Dell is an Agentic Enterprise W/Agentforce Operations
There were panel discussions, and leaders discussed Agentforce Operations. Panelists also shared how they would like Agentforce and DIY AI to evolve to improve productivity and outcomes.
Hayley Advokat, MPS, Head of AI Product & Executive Communications at Salesforce, led the Agentforce Operations Deep Dive with Sanjna Parulekar, SVP of Product Marketing at Salesforce.
Maha Neouchy, Director of Communications at Salesforce, moderated the panel discussion with Muddu Sudhakar, SVP and GM of Salesforce IT Service and HR Service, and CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand, who discussed how Salesforce is transforming front-office operations in HR and IT, improving the employee experience with Slack and Teams.
I built AI Agents with Agentforce, Vibes, and Claude Code, using them to start building Sales and Marketing analytics and strategy.
Agentforce Tour was a great event. I learned a lot about AI Agents, DIY AI, and how it can transform the worker and customer experience.
If you want to be on the cutting edge of DIY AI, attend Agentforce in your city.
Trends in the US Auto Industry: Key Insights from the 2026 Auto Forum New York
I covered the Automotive Forum New York, the day before the New York International Auto Show. This event connects Automotive thought leaders with Manufacturers and Dealers. Attendees learned about trends and insights in the Automotive industry that focus on the dealer side of the business.
The auto forum started with an economist who analyzed the US Economy as a whole, followed by Thomas King, President, Data & Analytics Division, Chief Product Officer at JD Power, who analyzed the US auto industry, addressing the issue of disappearing EV Tax credits, a surge in lease returns that will reshape the inventory and demand planning. Thomas also addressed the issue of softening trade equity and the rise of subprime lending.
The State of the Automotive Industry
Thomas shared some interesting statistics and analysis.
The total and retail vehicle Sales in the US for the first quarter are 3.7 million, down from a year ago on a retail basis are 2.9 million or 9% per week.
Vehicles were sold with larger discounts than the previous year at $3300 per unit. This has a negative impact on manufacturer profitability. In terms of new vehicle sales last year, the industry set an all-time high for money spent on vehicles. A great result, but a 7% decline. In terms of retail confidence on a per-unit basis, it was down $50 or $2. Retail volume was $6.1 million, a strong number that was down 10% from a year ago.
The Automotive Industry is in good shape based on the data.
Prices are rising for vehicles. On average, a new Vehicle costs $46000, up $1000 from last year. Tariffs did not impact pricing because manufacturers absorbed them, as passing the cost to consumers would decrease sales. Manufacturers’ profitability remained stable. Manufacturers are planning to increase Sales and Market share.
EVs are not driving Sales. With EV incentives gone, consumers are shifting to Gas Vehicles. Manufacturers are shifting back to more gas vehicles to meet consumer demand.
In terms of lease payments, the average last year was $636 per month, and now it is $650, a modest increase for 36-month leases. With rising lease prices, dealers have a chance to convert lessees to new car buyers with 2.4 million leases ending this year. 13 percent of financed leasing sales are on loans that are 84 months or longer. Subprime lending can help increase sales if it is monitored and controlled. Subprime lending increased in the 1st quarter.
Trade-ins were a selling point for dealers with the supply constraint back in 2022, with the average price being $29000. Vehicles traded in have lower equity because customers paid above sticker price back in 2022.
Rising fuel prices will hurt new vehicle sales on leases because, as lease payments go up, the amount spent on gas decreases. However, people whose vehicle costs $46000 on average are less sensitive to rising gas prices. Car buyers who do not lease cars are less affected by rising gas prices. 2.8% percent of income is spent on fuel.
Lower interest rates will make car buying and leasing less expensive.
Consumers are on track to spend $623 million on new vehicles. Consumer spending predicted to be at an all-time high. Retailer profits are expected to be $25.4 billion, down from $28.9 million a year ago.
Volume is the same as last year, with the total number being 16.3 million and 13.6 million for retail.
Improving the Customer Experience at Auto Dealerships
A panel discussed how to improve the customer experience. Liza Borches and Rob Cochran shared their insights. The panel suggested being transparent to build customer trust, especially with pricing. Customers want to know how much a car will cost. Transparency also applies to service. Service is a profit center for dealers; this is an opportunity. Currently, there is a shortage of technicians. When customers see a price, they want to know if this is the final price. OEMs can improve the customer experience for customers by listening to and providing customers with what they want based on their needs.
The panel also shared that dealer must use AI to automate their processes without losing a human touch.
AI’s Impact on Car Buying
A panel AI in Auto discussed how AI is transforming vehicle buying and dealership operations. Jason Goldberg, GM, Global Client Development, The Trade Desk, Liam Golightley, Vice President, Customer Success, Podium, Jenni Newman, Editor-in-Chief, Cars.com, Brian Abrams, VP, Product Management, CDK, shared their insights. Brian Abrams moderated the panel.
47 percent of consumers are using AI to date, and 64 percent of consumers use AI in their car shopping journey, but they want a human touch at the dealership, according to Cars.com. 70 percent of consumers are undecided on the make and model of a vehicle, according to Cars.com. AI is shortening the buying process by helping consumers become more informed faster. 67 percent of auto dealers are using AI, and their Business Development Center. AI is transforming the way consumers buy vehicles and how dealerships operate.
What’s next for OEMs, Dealers, and Manufacturers?
Senator Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer, advised dealers and manufacturers on improving relationships with one another and the US Government in the One on One with Senator Bernie Moreno panel. John Fitzpatrick, CEO, Force Marketing, moderated the discussion.
He shared about affordability in America. The Senator shared how the administration stopped California from submitting its own set of emissions standards. The goal is to have one set of emission standards to sell more cars abroad. He discussed removing the market distortion that EV mandates imposed on the auto market. EV mandates cost the industry 100 billion dollars. This is money that could have been spent on innovating cars and the industry as a whole.
Bernie discussed allowing US automakers to collaborate on expensive new technologies to compete with Chinese Automakers. He described having Chinese cars here as a national security issue because they have cameras and would need to be connected to US infrastructure, a big risk.
The Senator discussed making more affordable cars, offering a $25000 car as Honda does. He also discussed service in the dealer franchise model. Dealers and Manufactures need to improve how they handle warranty issues for customers.
It was a great event with many great panels. I learned a lot about the automotive industry.
I want to thank J.D. Power, NADA, and the New York International Auto Show for having me as their guest.
Posted 4 weeks ago
Improving Traffic Safety at the 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium
I covered the 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium at the New York International Auto Show this April. The symposium discussed the holistic safety and mobility of motor vehicles.
Mark Scheinberg, President of the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association and the New York International Auto Show, opened the symposium.
Guest Speakers included:
John Bozzella, President & CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Jennifer Homendy, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, former NHTSA Administrator, John Adkins, CEO, Governors Highway Safety Association, Mark F. Schroeder, Commissioner, NYS DMV, Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety, and many others.
Jennifer Homendy, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board, shared that there are 110 deaths per day in the United States from automobile crashes and that 95 percent of all deaths from planes, trains, and automobiles are from automobiles. I was shocked to hear this statistic! Some of the crashes were caused by the NTSB’s safety recommendations being ignored.
To help remedy the situation, the NTSB chair advocated for the implementation of safety technology in automobiles, such as alcohol detection and speed monitoring. Alcohol use while driving accounted for 12,000 deaths in the US. 11,00 deaths are the result of speeding, and 3,000 deaths are the result of distracted driving.
The NTSB chair stated that drug use while driving has skyrocketed with the legalization of Marijuana in some states. The NTSB chair recommended bringing driver safety education back. She said that people don’t read owner manuals in cars, and they don’t know about the operating mechanics of automation in cars. The more you use automation in a car, the more distracted you are. 97 percent of traffic crashes are caused by human factors. Auto deaths have dropped to 39500, but it is still too high! This is a 6 percent decline despite vehicles being safe.
Dr. Runge said that automotive safety is a team sport with automakers, auto dealers, states, law enforcement, and traffic enforcement working together to address the problem.
Jon Adkins highlights that bike lane advocacy in NYC has led to a decrease in bike fatalities over the past 3 years.
Marketing Schroder, NYS DMW Commissioner and CGTSC Chair, shared his commitment to road safety in New York State. He described the various task forces working to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians. He also shared his work making the NYSDMV more efficient.
A new computer system was implemented at NYS DMV over a 4-year project, replacing 96 data lines. Since the Rockefeller administration, there has been only 1 dedicated data line used to process information and transactions. This also improved the customer experience at the DMV, reducing wait times from 2 to 3 hours to 15 minutes to do a transaction. Auto dealers do 1 million transactions with the NYS DMV.
Marketing Schroder, NYS DMW Commissioner, shared how New York is applying stricter enforcement against dangerous drivers
Alcohol and drug convictions now carry an 11-point penalty on your license, with an automatic suspension; previously, no points were added.
Teaming up with law enforcement and the community to reduce drug and alcohol impaired driving, the NYS DMV, DOT, and NYSP are coordinating and improving traffic safety.
The 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium highlighted issues, insights, and solutions to improve traffic safety.
Posted 4 weeks ago
Press & Industry Highlights of the 2026 New York International Auto Show
I covered the New York International Auto Show on press and industry days. The show opened with the World Car Awards Breakfast.
Congratulations to BMW on winning the 2026 World Car of the Year with its all-new iX3!
Congratulations to the other finalists and winners as well!
You can see what it is like to be at the Auto Show on Press Days in this show floor preview.
I rode along in the Ford Mustang Mache E, Ford 150 Lightning, Kia EV 9 on one of the multiple test tracks at the show. It was a great experience!
The show consists mainly of EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are two levels of EV test tracks where you can do a ride-along. You can also ride along on the Jeep off-road mountain track. I rode along on all of the EV Tracks.
There were also some new vehicle rollouts and major press announcements from Kia, Hyundai, Subaru, Chrysler, VW, FastPort a B2B Honda company and many others.
You can see some of them below.
You can find additional pictures posted on Instagram.
The show is open to the public at the Jacob Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue New York, New York 10001. How to get to the Auto Show. The Auto Show runs from Friday, April 3rd, through Sunday, April 12th, 2026. The hours are Monday—Thursday from 10 am to 8pm, Friday and Saturdays 10 am to 10 PM and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. General admission tickets are $22 for adults and $8 for children. Tickets can be purchased here.
What are you hoping to see at the auto show?
If you have attended the auto show, what was the most exciting thing you experienced?
Share your thoughts.
Thank you to the New York International Auto Show for having me!
Posted 5 weeks ago
What You Don’t Think about when you Start in Outside Sales-Sales Logistics
Before you start selling, you need to do sales planning. This includes market research, understanding territory geography, and product knowledge and objection handling through sales training.
Here is what you don’t think of.
How long will your sales process take?
How long will each sales call last?
How long does it take to go from one appointment to another? Mapping can help, but you won’t know until you do it regularly. Knowing how often to call on prospects and customers to be top of mind, without irritating them, because everyone is different.
How cold calls on prospects will go.
Cold calls are a great way to hone your objection-handling skills and gain new business.
The emotional roller coaster of the highs of making the sale, mixed with the depths of being rejected.
The uncertainty of how much you will earn for your efforts.
If you are truly cut out for a career in Sales.
That you are not alone, even though you are in the field by yourself.
Where to find a bathroom you can use in relation to your location.
Dealing with the weather.
Sales can teach you a lot about business and enable you to earn a great living, but it is not for everyone. Everyone should try sales at least once in their career.
What surprised you when you started in Outside Sales?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Posted 7 weeks ago
Salesforce demos Agentforce’s Power at Agentforce Tour in New York
I covered Salesforce AgentForce in New York this past month. This event was organized to showcase Salesforce’s Agentforce. Agentforce is DIY AI in action. Agentforce is a customer service agent that can be built by Salesforce customers and integrated into all industries across the customer journey.
In the keynote, Patrick Stokes, EVP of Product & Industries Marketing at Salesforce, asked, “What if organizations can create an unlimited labor force?” Salesforce shared how organizations use DIY AI in Agentforce to multiply their workforce.
I saw demos for use cases across industry verticals and the customer journey in Sales, Service, and Marketing functions.
Alice Steinglass, EVP & GM Platform at Salesforce demos how Prudential uses Agentforce.
Sanjna Parulekar, SVP of Product Marketing at Salesforce demos how Prudential uses Agentforce.
Jon Moore, Director of Product Marketing at Salesforce, demos Agentforce, empowering Financial Advisors.
There was a panel discussion; leaders discussed using Agentforce and Agentic AI. Panelists also shared how they would like Agentforce and DIY AI to evolve to improve productivity and outcomes.
Lydia Dishman hosts a Salesforce media panel at Agentforce Tour on Agentforce and Agentic AI.
Agentforce Tour was a great event. I learned much about AI Agents, DIY AI, and how it can transform the customer experience.
People connect and network in the Salesforce Ecosystem while learning about Salesforce Agentforce’s new features and rollout.
Salesforce, thank you for having me at the Agentforce Tour.
If you want to be on the cutting edge of DIY AI, attend Agentforce in your city.
Using Technology, Data & AI to Improve Traffic Safety: Insights from The 2025 World Traffic Safety Symposium
I covered the World Traffic Safety Symposium at the New York International Auto Show this past April. The symposium focused on using data and AI to reduce pedestrian fatalities and to make roads and cars safer.
Mark Scheinberg, President of the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association and the New York International Auto Show, opened the symposium.
Guest Speakers included:
Mark F. Schroeder, Commissioner, NYS DMV, Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety, Richard Martinez, Former NHTSA Administrator and current Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Garret Eucalitto Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Eric Teoh Director of Statistical Services Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS , Tara Andringa, Executive Director at PAVE , Jon Baldwin, EVP of Government Solutions a Verra Mobility, Jonathan Miller, VP Enterprise Growth at Nexar Inc., and Zach Rash, Co-Founder and CEO of COCO, and many others.
Mark shared his commitment to road safety in New York State. He described the various task forces working to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians. I was shocked to learn about the 20 percent pedestrian death rate on roads.
Richard Martinez, Former NHTSA Administrator and current Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, shared some interesting findings about enhancing vehicle and road safety through data and AI.
He shared that unintentional motor vehicle traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. For example, in 5 to 14-year-olds and 15 to 24-year-olds, it is the leading cause of death. In 1 to 4 year olds, 25 to 34 year olds, 35 to 44 year olds, 45 to 54 year olds, 55 to 64, and 65+, it is the second leading cause of death, with all ages ranking third in under one year of age. Overall, unintentional traffic accidents rank as the third leading cause of death across all groups.
This data suggests that motor vehicle accidents are a serious issue. I was shocked to see how motor vehicle crashes are.
Richard shared a way to improve road safety, achieving a vision zero through a safe system approach. Safe system elements include safer people, safe roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and enhanced survivability post-crash care. The creation of a safe environment for first responders to prevent secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine presented critical findings in their report Tackling the Road Safety Crisis.
Critical Findings
Challenges
Opportunities
The goal is to go from Reactive to proactive to Predictive to reduce crashes.
The Connecticut DOT commissioner shared the challenges in AI.
Eric Teoh, Director of Statistical Services Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS shared that motor vehicle crashes are down over the past 50 years, but motor vehicle crash fatalities are up 30 percent.
The goal is to go from Reactive to proactive to Predictive to reduce crashes.
Tara Andringa, Executive Director at PAVE, shared some interesting research about whether people would ride in an autonomous vehicle. Taxi and/or ride share, 48 % said that they would not. However, the poll found that 60 percent said that they would trust AVs if they understood the technology. 58 percent said that they would have greater trust in AVs if they could take a ride. PAVE educates the public showing demystifying technology and highlighting different ways AVs might be used.
In a panel discussion on the safety of Urban Mobility Safety Technology,
Jon Baldwin, EVP of Government Solutions a Verra Mobility, Jonathan Miller, VP Enterprise Growth at Nexar Inc., and Zach Rash, Co-Founder and CEO of COCO, shared how their companies’ offerings use Technology, AI, and Data to make urban mobility safer. Verra Mobility offers Automated Enforcement. Nexar offers Smart Dash Cameras that can be used in multiple applications and a robust Data platform, COCO offers autonomous delivery vehicles with mapping technology. They provided Cookies in one of their autonomous delivery vehicles, demonstrating the technology.
The 2025 World Traffic Safety Symposium highlighted issues, insights, and solutions to improve traffic safety.
I learned a great deal.
Thank you to the New York International Auto Show and the Greater New York Automobile Association for allowing me to cover this event.
Posted 49 weeks ago
Trends in the US Auto Industry: Key Insights from the 2025 Auto Forum New York
I covered Automotive Forum New York, the day before the New York International Auto Show. This event connects Automotive thought leaders with Manufacturers and Dealers. Attendees learned about trends and insights in the Automotive industry, focusing on the dealer side of the business.
The auto forum started with an economist who analyzed the US Economy as a whole, followed by Thomas King, President, Data & Analytics Division, Chief Product Officer at JD Power, who analyzed the US auto industry, addressing the issue of tariffs and electric vehicle mandates on the automotive industry.
Thomas shared some interesting statistics and analysis.
The State of the Automotive Industry
The US put a 25 percent tariff on vehicles made outside the United States.
Vehicle exposure for US Retail sales amounts to $62 billion, translating to $4782 on average for every vehicle sold, or 10.6 percent of the price. However, this spread is asymmetric across brands. For example, brands where the tariff makes up 1 to 4 percent of the sales price sell more than brands where the tariff makes up a higher percentage of the sales price. As a result, dealers can not simply pass a 25 percent tariff on to their customers without a significant sales decline.
What can dealers and OEMs do immediately for the long term?
Dealers can focus on pricing incentives, shipping, rationalizing their portfolio, leveraging a global sales footprint to increase prices in other markets, right-sizing local production, optimizing part sourcing to increase US production, and eventually building more plants in the United States.
Thomas predicts that vehicle prices will increase 5 percent on average $2300, with an annual retail sales pace SAAR decrease of 8 percent or 1.1 million sales.
Industry Regulations & the EV Landscape
In the 2025 Industry Regulations & the EV Landscape panel, there was a conversation about how manufacturers and dealers are impacted by differing incentives, fines, compliance, and manufacturing mandates from the federal and state governments, resulting in a lack of uniformity. This will impact sales and profitability.
Improving the Customer Experience at Auto Dealerships
Anu Roberts, Director of Product Marketing at CDK Global, shared a study highlighting a correlation with shorter purchase time on the customer journey (2 hours or less), improved customer experience, and an increased net promoter score. Anu also shared how dealers are using AI, which included:
AI assistant for lead generation and qualification
AI assistants for providing information to customers
Scheduling appointments for customers
Targeting marketing campaigns based on segments
Analyzing customer feedback
She suggests dealers audit their buying process to lower customer friction, testing how long it takes to purchase a car.
What’s next for OEMs, Dealers, and Manufacturers?
Senator Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer, advised dealers and manufacturers on improving relationships with one another and the US Government in the Golden Age of Retail panel. He suggested working with the Trump administration in a collaborative partnership to manufacture cars people want to buy instead of cars they need to sell because of mandates and regulations.
It was a great event with many great panels. I learned a lot about the automotive industry.
I want to thank J.D. Power, NADA, and the New York International Auto Show for having me as their guest.
Posted 53 weeks ago
Press & Industry Highlights of the 2025 New York International Auto Show
The 2025 New York International Auto Show is at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary!
I covered the New York International Auto Show on press and industry days. The show opened with the World Car Awards Breakfast.
Congratulations to the other finalists and winners as well!
You can see what it is like to be at the Auto Show on Press Days in this show floor preview.
I rode along in the Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV on one of the multiple test tracks at the show. It was a great experience!
The show consists mainly of EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are two levels of EV test tracks where you can do a ride-along. You can also ride along on the Jeep and Ford off-road mountain track. I rode along on all of the EV Tracks.
The 2025 Chevy Police Blazer EV also made an appearance.
There were also some new vehicle roll-outs and major press announcements from Kia, Hyundai, Subaru, VW, and many others.
You can find additional pictures posted on Instagram.
The show is open to the public at the Jacob Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue New York, New York 10001. How to get to the Auto Show. The Auto Show runs from Friday, April 18th, through Sunday, April 27th, 2025. The hours are Monday—Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. General admission tickets are $22 for adults and $8 for children. Tickets can be purchased here.
What are you hoping to see at the auto show?
If you have attended the auto show, what was the most exciting thing you experienced?
Share your thoughts.
Thank you to the New York International Auto Show for having me!
Posted 55 weeks ago
Agentforce in Action at Salesforce Agentforce Tour in New York
I covered Salesforce AgentForce in New York this past week. This event was organized to showcase Salesforce’s new product Agentforce which is DIY AI in action. Agentforce is a customer service agent that can be built by Salesforce customers and integrated into all industries across the customer journey.
Salesforce Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Slack Parker Harris kicks off the Keynote in New York!
Users of Salesforce Foundation Enterprise Edition and higher can upgrade to Agentforce for free!
Customers could build a customer service agent on-site.
Salesforce hosted a hackathon where the winner of the Agentforce contest won $20000!
The keynote showed how service and customer success functions have evolved from chatbots to copilots to Agentforce a self-designable customer service agent that can be customized to users’ specific needs across the customer journey, increasing productivity, reducing customer friction, and maximizing the customer experience.
Patrick Stokes EVP of Product & Industries Marketing at Salesforce, shows how he exchanged his sweater for the right size using Sofie and a customer service agent Saks Fifth Avenue built using Agentforce.
Patrick Stokes
I saw multiple demos of Agentforce across Sales, Marketing, Service and, more.
Salesforce announced the launch of the Testing Center for Agentforce; coming this December, which will allow users to develop Agentforce to answer every possible question in all forms and variations; something the current chatbots and copilots can’t do. Agentforce enables users to take proactive prescriptive action in real-time.
AgentforceTour was a great event. I learned much about DIY AI and how it can transform the customer experience.
I want to thank Salesforce for having me at Agentforce Tour.
If you want to be on the cutting edge of DIY AI, attend Agentforce in your city.
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
A LinkedIn profile is a great opportunity to showcase who you are and what you can do for others. To effectively showcase yourself with your LinkedIn profile, you need to be able to tell a story that is credible and engaging. How do you tell a story on LinkedIn with your profile? There are 8 steps you need to take to optimize your profile for storytelling.
1. Creating a Great Headline
A headline is equivalent to the title of a book, essay, or story. The headline should be engaging. Like a story, the reader decides if they want to read more or move on. Using the automatic headline that lists your job title is a mistake. It is boring and makes you just like everyone else. It demonstrates that you lack creativity.
Your headline should be a short introduction showing how you help others in your current role. This is key if you are happily employed or if you are looking to advance in your current field. If you are looking to change careers, the title should demonstrate how you can take the skills and insights that you have developed and apply them to the career that you aspire to obtain. In other words, the headline should be able to answer the question “What are you looking to do or what do you want in your next role?”
2 Uploading a Photo
LinkedIn profiles include large amounts of text. Similar to a story, text alone is not visually appealing. This is where a photo can help. When you upload a photo to your LinkedIn profile, your profile comes to life; similar to cover art on the front cover of an autobiography. Remember your profile is your story and brief career autobiography.
When you chose a picture, make sure that it is clear and makes you look professional.
3. Recording an introduction
LinkedIn also lets you record a 30-second introduction to your audience.
4. Crafting and Creating a Summary/Presentation
Your summary should reflect and expand on the headline. This is the place where you provide a brief overview that supports the headline, thesis, and title of your story. Your summary is a place to introduce yourself to your audience. It is important to keep your audience in mind. Put yourself in the place of the reader. Would you want to read your profile if the roles were reversed?
Once you introduce yourself, tell your story. Explain your background, where you are today, and where you want to be in the future. Make sure to include how your current skill set and experience have helped others and how these skills can be applied to a new role. When you list your work experience, make sure to back up your headline and summary. Think of this as your body paragraphs.
You can also share links to a digital portfolio, website, or whatever boosts your profile appearance.
5. Describing your work experience
As I mentioned above, the work experience section of your profile is the body paragraphs of your essay and story. It should be listed in chronological order. Each position that you describe should have specific examples of how you helped others in the role. LinkedIn also allows users to upload presentations and videos of their work. This can serve as a digital portfolio of your work that people can view. The next thing that I would do is obtain recommendations. You can also share your presentations from Slideshare on LinkedIn as well.
6. Obtaining Recommendations and Endorsements
A LinkedIn recommendation serves as proof that you have done excellent work in your position. These recommendations should be from coworkers, supervisors, and customers that you have served. They should serve as the conclusion to your story and essay where your claims are verified and validated. Recommendations should not be given away freely; doing that will undermine your credibility.
Endorsements are a quick way for someone to say that you are good at a particular skill without needing to write a recommendation. LinkedIn allows users to list up to 50 skills that connections can endorse.
7. Open to Work/Open to Hire
LinkedIn allows users to share if they are open to working or looking to hire. This is a nice addition to their job seeker and job posting experience. I am currently looking for work.
As you can see, LinkedIn allows you to list 5 job titles along with your desired work type location, etc. While I chose to make my job search public, LinkedIn allows users to make their open-to-work status visible to only recruiters to protect the anonymity of job seekers.
Recruiters and hiring managers can also share that they are hiring for roles by using the Open to Hire frame.
8. Creator Mode
LinkedIn allows you to display 5 topics on your LinkedIn profile to show potential followers when you turn on creator mode. Creator mode also allows you to reach your audience in new ways with tools such as LinkedIn Live, Audio Event, Newsletters, and follow on LinkedIn.
Putting it all Together
Using these 8 steps will allow you to create a LinkedIn profile that can help you tell a credible and engaging story to potential customers and employers.
How have you used your LinkedIn profile to tell your story?
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement Enablement, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing.
Open on title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.
Posted 189 weeks ago
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
I covered Advertising Week in New York. Advertising Week is where the best minds of Marketing and Advertising meet to share and learn best practices.
Matt Scheckner Global CEO of Advertising Week shares his thoughts at the opening breakfast.
There were great panels and workshops.
My key takeaways from Advertising Week 2019 were:
1. Brands need to better understand emotional intelligence and be able to apply it to their content creation. Other emotions besides happiness drive purchases. Spencer Gerrol the CEO of Spark Neuro shares insights from a biometrics study on how emotion in content affects brand value.
Spencer also did a live demonstration showing how the brain responds to Ads in real-time.
2. According to Gary Vaynerchuk, Marketing is becoming more like Sales in terms of being results-driven. Brands will eventually need to create up to 500 pieces of content per day to engage the ever-increasing buyer personas and customers’ tastes. Gary also shared the idea that LinkedIn is the best platform for organic reach.
3. Brands need to organize their organizations around the customer journey and experience. Philips SVP of Digital Marketing and E-commerce Blake Cahill shared how the company is organizing and transforming around the Customer Journey. He provided actionable steps companies can take to better serve customers.
4. The funnel of today will look like a flywheel by 2030.
Nikki Issac of Mircosoft shares Microsoft’s Research on Marketing and the Customer Journey. She also moderates a panel with Esteban Ribero of Performics.
Brands need to use data and AI to better understand their customers. According to research conducted by Microsoft, only 20% of today’s marketers have a high customer experience quotient (CXQ). A high(CXQ) means that brands fully understand user intent to create their customer journey; improving their performance to increase customer engagement.
Why should Brands be Customer-Centric? Brands that were Customer-Centric saw a 45% increase in ROI/ROAS.
We will see the rise of the Chief Journey Officer or CJO.
Where are you on the Journey?
5. Brands need to understand the role of Social Media in Customer Journey and how it impacts customer buying habits and decisions.
Businesses need to improve how they use Social Listening
and Analytics tools to understand customer intent.
A framework needs to define and address KPIs at each touch-point in the customer journey.
Why is this important?
More Marketers believe Social Listening is important.
6. Brands need to apply design thinking to cultivating empathy for end-users, interpreting and framing problems they experience, creative solution generation, and continuous prototyping and testing. The goal is to provide creative solutions for the end-user.
7. Brands need to listen and understand the customers of tomorrow. It is not just about Gen Z but Gen Alpha. Gen Alpha will be more active on social issues and more open to challenging the status quo than Gen Z.
8. According to Samsung Ads, with the rise of the Connected TV, Brands will be able to track and measure the effectiveness of their TV ads, similar to online advertising. Targeted TV is of critical use for advertisers because TV is viewed on Mobile, Desktop, Native Smart TV and Display. Advertisers expect to be able to track customers across platforms while producing ROI/ROAS reports just like online advertising.
9. Televised sports will increase its presence in Television programming. Soon, Sports Betting will be Televised according to CEO Chris Ripley of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Eventually, gamblers will be able to view Sporting events and place bets in real-time over their Smart TV and/or connected devices. This will provide gamblers with great customer experience.
10. Any business can use technology and creativity to: build community, start and scale an eCommerce business, create content and campaigns that convert.
Facebook’s Mark D’Arcy, CCO and VP of Global Business Marketing showed how to do this using Facebook.
Mark also spoke on Facebook’s social initiative Boost with Facebook. Boost with Facebook helps break down socioeconomic barriers by offering people the chance to up-skill on everything from using Facebook to finding a job. Boost with Facebook is a combination of online learning and live workshops.
Advertising Week 2019 was a great event. I want to thank everyone that made the event possible. On a personal note, I want to thank Matt Scheckner the Global CEO of Advertising Week and the Sunshine Sachs Communications team for having me as their guest.
