You will be able to add proof to your profile that a sceptical buyer believes.
A practice manager has read Wei Ling's new headline and about section. She is interested, and she is also wary. Every software vendor says their system cuts no-shows. So she scrolls down to see whether anyone else vouches for this person, and what she finds there decides whether she replies.
That scroll is what this lesson is about. Once your headline and about section tell a buyer you work on their problem, which you did in lesson 1.2, Headline and about section for one buyer, they start wondering whether to believe you, and what settles that is proof. On LinkedIn it sits in three places: recommendations, the featured section, and the examples you give in your about and experience entries.
A recommendation is a short public note someone writes about working with you, shown on your profile with their name and role. Most people collect them from colleagues and former managers, because those are easy to ask for. A buyer reads those with mild interest. Your manager saying you are hard-working tells a clinic manager very little about what it's like to buy from you.
A recommendation from a client counts for more, because the reader can picture themselves in the writer's place. If a practice manager at another clinic writes that Wei Ling set up the system around their front desk's routine and answered their questions in the first month, a new practice manager learns something real.
The best recommendations describe a situation the writer was in. "She is great to work with" is pleasant and forgettable. "Our front desk was spending most of the morning on reminder calls, and she helped us set up automatic reminders in the first week" is specific, and specific is what a sceptical reader believes. You can't write it for the client, but you can make it easier for them. When you ask, mention the problem you worked on together and what changed, so they have something concrete to start from.
Ask people who know your work with clients. A happy client from the last year is a better choice than a senior name who barely remembers you. Keep the request short, personal and easy to say no to.
LinkedIn lets you pin items near the top of your profile: posts, articles, links or documents. Most salespeople pin the company brochure or a product video. A buyer who has just read your about section already knows what you sell. What they want now is evidence that you know their world.
So pin something useful. A post where you explained a common mistake buyers make. A short case story about how you helped a type of client, written so the client can't be identified unless they agreed to be named. A one-page guide that answers a question you hear every week. Wei Ling pinned a post she wrote on the three reasons patients miss appointments and what clinics can do about each. It mentions her product once, at the end.
You will write posts like this in module 2. For now, if you have nothing suitable, pin your best existing post or leave the section empty until you do. An empty featured section costs you less than a sales sheet in it.
Sellers love general claims: "proven track record", "trusted by hundreds of clients", "delivering results". Buyers have read them all and discount them to zero. What they believe is a specific problem you solved, described plainly.
Compare "I help clinics improve efficiency" with "Last year I worked with a three-doctor family clinic in Tampines whose front desk was double-booking afternoon slots. We moved their bookings online and set up reminders, and the double bookings stopped." The second sentence has no statistic in it, and it is still more convincing, because a reader can see it happening. That clinic is an example made up for this lesson; your own examples need to be real, and they need the client's permission if anyone could recognise them.
Put one or two examples like this in your about section and in each experience entry where you can.
Some industries restrict how testimonials and client stories can be used. Financial advice in Singapore is one of them. Arjun, the financial adviser representative from lesson 1.2, can't simply ask happy clients for LinkedIn recommendations and publish them. His firm has its own rules on testimonials and on what representatives may post publicly, and those rules sit on top of the regulations that apply to financial advisers.
So his first step is to ask his compliance team what is allowed, whether that is recommendations, case stories, mentions of products or none of these, and he collects only what the answer permits. If client recommendations are off the table, he puts more weight on the featured section, pinning an educational post his firm has approved, and on describing the problems he helps with rather than outcomes. The course Selling financial advice in Singapore: needs-based and compliant covers these rules in detail.
Property agents, healthcare professionals and others have their own codes too. Whatever your field, check first. A recommendation you have to delete later does more harm than one you never asked for.
The hardest part of collecting recommendations is the ask itself. Most people send LinkedIn's default request and hear nothing. What gets answered is a short personal note of three or four sentences that reminds the person what you worked on together, mentions one specific thing they might describe and tells them it's fine to say no.
So pick your three people now, and include at least one client if your industry allows it. The activity below has you draft that note for each of them.
List three clients or colleagues you will ask for a recommendation and draft the short request you will send each one.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).