Sales Navigator is a social selling platform by LinkedIn that provides an array of features, which focus on helping you find the right prospects to build trusted relationships.

With LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can reach the right kind of prospects by using the search and filter features. Sales Navigator also provides actionable information and insights that can pave the way for a deeper understanding of leads and prospects. This way, you can engage with your prospects at a far more personal level by offering personalized content, customizations, discounts, and offers.

Sales Navigator can be a useful prospecting tool. However, knowing someone's job title in a certain industry is only one part of the sales funnel success equation. The other is the role they play in the ultimate decision to buy your products or services.

On average, there are 6.8 decision makers for every sale who have a say in whether a product is purchased. In sickcare, it is even more. These people make up what is called the “buying center.”

The roles are as follows (though it’s important to note some job titles might occupy more than one role):

• Initiator: Starts the buying process or shows initial interest
• User: Uses your product regularly
• Influencer: Convinces others the product is needed
• Decision maker: Gives final approval for the purchase
• Buyer: Owns the budget
• Approver: Final approver who pushes the initiative on a larger scale (typically someone in the C-suite)
• Gatekeeper: Blocker in getting a product implemented or approved
• Sabateur : Goes out of their way to prevent buying your product or service
• Regulators: People who make the rules
• Third parties: Intermediaries, like insurors, PBMs or others who play a role in the decision

One useful step in creating your go to market strategy is to determine the role a given target stakeholder plays in the process.

For example, if you have just created an AI driven algorithm to forecast the need for COVID related space, staff and stuff and are looking for health systems organization customers, you are likely to have several stakeholders involved in the decision who play one or multiple aforementioned roles, including not just those in the C-suite, but IT managers, healthcare providers,clinical leaders and champions/sabateurs, infrastructure managers, nursing staff, finance people and many more.

Your job is to define the persona or archetype of each member of the buying center, determine their roles, and create a strategy to craft a personalized value proposition describing the benefits, expected gains and pain relievers they demand. Think of it as a 2 x 2 job/role matrix that informs your value proposition design.

The same applies to gaining stakeholder engagement when you are trying to overcome not just external sales barriers, but internal organizational barriers to dissemination and implementation as well. Here is an engagement plan template.

The key to a successful product launch, go to market strategy or internal stakeholder engagement plan is a thorough understanding of what your buying center or stakeholders are willing and able to buy and the roles they play in the process. Sales Navigator won't tell you that. It will only point you in the right direction for a start. The hard part is up to you.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs.