Many of us have built out our LinkedIn profiles and spent considerable time growing our LinkedIn connections. Perhaps we are active in a few Groups or visit the Answers section a few times a week, too. Along with those and several other networking features, LinkedIn also allows us to organize and export connections for CRM use.

3 Ways LinkedIn can Improve your Company’s CRM Efforts

1. Organize your LinkedIn Connections by Tags From the Contacts –> Connections view, you can organize the list of existing connections by rearranging them into existing (default) categories or by creating new tags and re-categorizing them.

You can reorganize your connections individually or in bulk. For example from the same view above, you can select several people at once, and assign them all the same new tag.

2. Add Notes to Profiles In the right sidebar on an individual connection’s page, there is a section that allows you to edit the tags for that connection as well as add a note or two.

This note is for organizational purposes. You might want to make a note on a profile if, for example, you are going to attend the same upcoming conference, need to remember to follow up on a potential business partnership or to remind yourself where you two met.

3. Export LinkedIn Connections for your Records Once you have organized and tagged all your connections, you can export their data as a .CSV or .VCF file for use with Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo, and Mac OS Address Book.

To export your connections, click on the Export Connections link at the bottom right corner of the Connections page.

Many small businesses struggle to build up their email list and to capture as much information about their customers as possible. Why not tap into your existing social networks to help take your business to the next level?