Last updated: May 2026
LinkedIn for Building Products Sales Professionals. Part 8 of 8.
Most LinkedIn advice is for the job hunt. The harder bit, in my experience, is the week between signing the contract and starting day one. That's where most sales reps fumble it.
I run a 30-minute LinkedIn coaching session with every sales rep I place into a building products, lighting, or A&D role. Free, on Zoom, with a branded cheat sheet. The session covers the same ground as this blog. If you're not someone I've placed, the steps below are still the bones of what we'd cover together.
If you sell to architects, specifiers, distributors, or contractors, the week before you start is the highest-impact seven days you'll have on LinkedIn all year. Use them.
Why does the week between signing and starting matter?
Because day one in the new role is when the new audience starts paying attention, and most reps haven't done the foundational work to be visible.
The architects you'll be specifying to. The contractors you'll be quoting. The distributors who'll carry the brand. They should already have you in their feed by the time you walk in. They should already recognise the name when you call.
That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because you spent the week before start date doing the boring foundational work that nobody else does.
The boring foundational work is what this post is about.
Do you have duplicate or old LinkedIn profiles?
Quick audit. Search your name on LinkedIn. You'll often find profiles you didn't know existed.
Plenty of people made a profile in 2009, forgot the password, made another one in 2014, then a third one when their work email changed. They're all still live.
Here's a real one I came across recently. Searched a name, four profiles for the same person. One 1st degree, one 2nd, one 3rd, two with no photo, all with slightly different job histories. The version that was actually maintained was competing with three ghost versions for visibility.
The downside isn't just clutter. It's lost leads. A specifier or hiring manager messages the wrong profile, the message sits unread for three years, you never know it existed. Or you keep getting recruiters bugging you on a profile you forgot to close, when the conversations you actually want are landing on a different account.
If you can still log into the old profiles, LinkedIn lets you close them yourself. Settings, then Account preferences, then Account management, then Close account. Pick "duplicate account" as the reason.
If you've lost access to the emails tied to those old profiles, LinkedIn's Help Centre will close them on request once you verify identity.
Worth ten minutes before you start a new role.
For the broader network audit - connections, follows, and the rest of the cleanup - see how to clean up your LinkedIn network.
Should you turn off the 'job change' notification before you update anything?
Yes, if you haven't told your current employer.
LinkedIn has a setting that broadcasts job changes to your network. It's on by default. Update your role and the notification fires automatically.
Settings, then Visibility, then Visibility of your LinkedIn activity, then "Share job changes." Turn it off.
Or turn it on deliberately on day one for the announcement effect. Either way, decide first. Don't accidentally blast the whole network while you're still on notice period.
I've seen this go wrong more than once. Rep updates LinkedIn the day they sign the offer, the notification fires, the current GM sees it on his phone, the rep gets pulled into an awkward conversation he wasn't ready for. Avoidable.
When should you update your headline and About?
Day one of the new role, not before.
Notice period is for handing over. It's not for tipping off your boss that you're on the way out. The instinct is to update straight after signing because it feels good. Resist it.
There's no SEO benefit to updating early. There's no networking benefit. The only thing that happens is your current employer finds out before you've had the conversation.
Day one, update everything in one pass. Headline, About, current role, location, banner image if you've got a new one. Make it visible. The change-job notification, if you've left it on, fires once and reaches everyone in one hit.
How do you tag your new employer correctly?
When you update your role, type the company name and select it from the dropdown so the logo populates. If you type it manually and don't select from the list, you don't show up on their company page.
This is the one that catches people most. Search any decent-sized company on LinkedIn and you'll see the problem. The company comes up three or four times. One with the logo, one without, one spelled slightly differently, one that someone created by accident in 2017 and never deleted. Half the staff are sitting under the right version. The other half are floating around in the wrong ones with no logo next to their name.
If you're in sales, this matters more than it sounds. A specifier or architect searches your new employer to figure out who covers their patch. If you're tagged wrong, you don't show up. Three months of pipeline lost to a dropdown click.
Type the company name, select it from the list, check the logo populates. If multiple versions of the company exist on LinkedIn, ask your new manager which one is the official one. Get that right before you start.
Who should you connect with before day one?
Anyone you'll be calling on in the new patch. Architects, specifiers, distributors, contractors, key influencers in your region.
This is the single biggest thing you can do in the week before you start, and most reps don't think to do it.
Pull the target list from your new employer if they'll share it. If they won't, build it yourself from your sector knowledge and a few hours on LinkedIn. The architects and design firms your new brand specifies into. The major distributors who carry the product. The big builders or sub-contractors in your territory.
Send connection requests with a one-line note. Not a pitch. Just an introduction. "Just joined [Company] as [Role] covering [Region], wanted to connect early." Done.
Day one, you're already on their feed when you post your announcement. You've shaved three months off your visibility ramp without sending a single email.
The rep who does this looks like a pro from the first week. The rep who doesn't is invisible until the third site visit.
After the connections are in, the work shifts to engagement - stop broadcasting, start engaging covers what that looks like in the first ninety days.
Should you ask outgoing colleagues for recommendations before you leave?
Yes, while the goodwill is still hot.
The day after you leave, people stop replying. They've moved on to the next thing. Your name drops down the priority list. The recommendation request that would have taken them five minutes if you'd asked the week before now sits in their LinkedIn notifications for six months.
Ask three to five people. A manager you respect. Two peers who saw your work. A direct report if you've had any. A client who'd vouch for you if you covered a patch.
Specific asks get better recommendations. "Could you mention the [project] I delivered?" beats "Would you write me a recommendation?" You've already done the framing work. They just have to write it.
Recommendations carry real weight on LinkedIn. They sit on your profile permanently. They show up to anyone considering you for a role, a project, or a partnership. They're harder to get the longer you leave it.
What about your Featured section?
Audit it.
The Featured section lives near the top of your profile. Most people set it up once, pin a few things, and never touch it again. After a job change, that's a problem. Old role artefacts pinned at the top of your profile look messy.
A case study from the company you just left. A LinkedIn post celebrating a milestone that's no longer relevant. An award from a previous employer that has nothing to do with the new role.
Update or remove. If you've got nothing relevant for the new role yet, leave the section empty for now and add as you go. Better empty than wrong.
When should you post the announcement?
Day one or the first week, not the moment you sign.
Most people post the moment they sign because the excitement is fresh. The post reads like every other "I'm thrilled to announce" post on the platform. It's forgettable.
Posting on day one or in the first week, with something genuine, lands differently. Mention what you're actually doing, not just the title. Mention the patch and the brand. Mention who you'd like to hear from.
Skip "thrilled." Skip "delighted." Skip "passionate about." The platform is full of those words and they wash off. Write something that sounds like you'd say it out loud.
If you're a BDM in lighting covering New South Wales, the post might read: Started this week with [Company]. Covering NSW commercial lighting, mostly working with architects and electrical contractors on the east coast. If you specify or distribute lighting in this market, would be good to connect.
That's a post. It tells people what you do, where you do it, and who you want in your network. No fluff.
So what's the running order for the week before you start?
In rough order:
- Search your name and close any duplicate profiles
- Turn off the job change notification (or decide to leave it on for day one)
- Audit your Featured section
- Ask three to five outgoing colleagues for recommendations with specific framing
- Build a target list of architects, specifiers, distributors and contractors in the new patch and send connection requests
- Day one: update headline, About, role (tagging the right company from the dropdown), and post the announcement
Most of these take ten minutes each. The connection list takes longer and pays back the most. Spend the time.
Frequently asked questions
Is the LinkedIn job change notification on by default?
Yes. You have to actively turn it off if you don't want it firing when you update your role. Settings, Visibility, Visibility of your LinkedIn activity, then "Share job changes."
Should I update my LinkedIn during my notice period?
No. Wait until day one of the new role. Updating during notice period risks tipping off your current employer before you've had the right conversations with them, even if you've turned the notification off (because people search and look at profiles directly).
How do I close a duplicate LinkedIn profile?
If you can log in, go to Settings, Account preferences, Account management, Close account, and pick "duplicate account" as the reason. If you've lost access to the email on the old profile, contact LinkedIn Help Centre and they'll close it after verifying your identity.
How many recommendations should I ask for before leaving a role?
Three to five. A manager, a couple of peers, a direct report or client. Ask with specific framing ("could you mention the [project]") rather than open-ended requests. You'll get better recommendations and you'll get them faster.
Should I post about my new role on LinkedIn?
Yes, but not the moment you sign. Wait until day one or the first week. Skip the "thrilled to announce" template. Tell people what you actually do, the patch you cover, and who you'd like to hear from.
What if I left my last role on bad terms?
Focus your recommendation requests on peers and clients rather than the manager. Three peer recommendations and two client recommendations carry more weight than one polite-but-vague reference from a manager you didn't get on with. Don't push it where there's tension.
If you're reading this because you've just signed a new role, work through the steps above in order. Most of them take ten minutes each. The one that takes longer is connecting with people in the new patch. That's also the one with the highest payoff.
This post sits in the LinkedIn series for sales reps on this site, alongside the LinkedIn guide for job seekers for anyone reading this before they've signed.
If you'd like a walkthrough rather than a checklist, the LinkedIn coaching session is included with every placement I make.
I'm a specialist recruiter for the building products industry. James Bowesman runs Specified Select, a boutique recruitment consultancy based in Melbourne.
If you're a sales professional in building products thinking about your next move, or a hiring manager looking to build your team, get in touch at james@specifiedselect.com
This is Part 8 of an 8-part series on LinkedIn for Building Products Sales Professionals. Part 1: Clean Up Your Network | Part 2: Your Profile Should Sell You Twice | Part 3: What to Post and What to Stop Posting | Part 4: The Phone Still Wins | Part 5: Stop Broadcasting, Start Engaging | Part 6: When to Take It Offline | Part 7: LinkedIn for Job Seekers | Part 8: After You Accept a New Sales Role