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• Research objectivesSocial selling is a commercial strategy that consists in exploiting digital channels, especially professional social networks, to sell. Social selling requires the implementation of marketing-inspired practices by salespeople that complement or even challenge traditional sales practices. This research studies which practices carried out by B-to-B salespeople on professional social networks underlie the concept of social selling.• MethodologyThe research successively mobilizes three methods (1) semi-structured interviews with a sample of 25 salespeople, (2) observation of their activities on Linkedin, (3) reflexive validation of their practices.• ResultsWe highlight three types of practices carried out by salespeople on professional social networks: (1) sales-oriented practices, (2) social media marketing-oriented practices, (3) personal branding-oriented practices.• Managerial/societal implicationsOur results show the importance of developing skills and producing contents to promote social selling practices, two elements on which organizations can act directly.• OriginalityAn application of the theory of practices in the commercial domain represents an alternative to traditional studies by observing what is actually done in companies. By mobilizing three types of data, this research considers that a practice cannot be grasped solely from the discourse of the actors, but that it is necessary to appreciate a coherence between words, acts and reflexivity.