LinkedIn Strategies for Selling That Actually Create Opportunities

Managing LinkedIn is an investment that pays off.  However, it takes a bit of focus, time, and effort. Let’s start with a few ‘do’s and don’ts' in developing your LinkedIn strategies.

Here’s some LinkedIn Strategies that you Should and Shouldn’t Do:

DO:

1. Connect with colleagues
2. Connect with clients
3. Add people you’ve met while networking
4. Connect with people you’ve been introduced to

DON’T:

1. Connect to people you don’t know
2. Use LinkedIn to “sell” people

Connecting with strangers builds a network but doesn’t help you build relationships.  If you want to make contact with qualified leads using LinkedIn and have those leads turn into an opportunity, you use a mutual connection.

Not just any mutual connection, however. It must be a friend, a current or former client, or a raving fan. Someone that you know, someone that knows you and your business, someone that will vouch for you and wants to see you succeed.

LinkedIn Strategies:  #1 – Generate Qualified Leads Using LinkedIn

Begin with your connections’ connections.  This might be your best client’s list of connections, your co-worker’s list of connections, or even your friend’s list of connections.

You might have asked “Hey, do you know anyone that might be a good fit for my company?” Hopefully they’ve thought of a few and referred them over. But what about the remaining 500+ connections?  Have you tapped into their entire list?

To avoid making this process a time consuming and daunting task for both parties involved (you and your referral partner), follow the LinkedIn strategies below. They’ll help you identify exactly who you want to meet, thus making introductions a breeze.

LinkedIn Strategies #2:  Determine Your Ideal Prospect

Qualify them by considering the following:

1. CEOs? VPs? Managers? Directors?
2. Are you looking for leads in a specific industry?
3. Company size. Small businesses or Fortune 500 companies?
4. Companies in a specific city or region?
5. Additional criteria that fits your company.

LinkedIn Strategies #3:  Scout LinkedIn & Create a List

Once you’ve determined your ideal prospect, do some research and create a target list.

These are step-by-step directions on how to search LinkedIn and create a target list from your connections’ connections:

1. Log into your LinkedIn account
2. Type your connection’s name into the LinkedIn search, then click on their LinkedIn profile page
3. On the profile page, to the right of their picture, click on “500+ connections”
4. This will bring you to the bottom of the profile page to photos of their connections. Choose from these two options:
   1. If it says, “see all connections,” click. It will bring you to a new page with advanced search options.
   2. If “see all connections” does not appear, follow these steps:
5. On top right hand, click the magnifying glass.
6. In the search box, type “CEO” (or any other title of your choice) and hit enter
7. Above all the photos, on the left side, it will say: “XXX results, advanced search.” Click on “advanced search.” This will bring you to the advanced search option.
8. Now that you are on the advanced search page, it is time to find potential clients to add to your list.
9. Open an excel spreadsheet
10. For each person you want to connect with, find mutual connections and enter their names in the spreadsheet

Note: Your search options and functionality will differ depending on your LinkedIn account level. If you have a free account, you won’t have as many search options available. If you have a LinkedIn Sales Navigator (or Premium) account, you should perform your searches through the LinkedIn Sales Navigator platform, as it will allow you more search functionality.

LinkedIn Strategies #4:  Ask for Introductions

Now that you’ve done your research and compiled a list, it’s time to ask your connection for introductions based on the spreadsheet you created above.

Once you hit “send,” your list is now in the hands of your trusted contact for review. We recommend tracking this process in your CRM system. If you’re using Salesforce, you may consider creating a campaign for “Referral Sources” and editing the campaign member status field to reflect the various stages of this process.

Example:

• Intro Requested
• Intro Accepted
• Intro Denied
• Intro Given
• Intro Became Prospect (at this point create a lead and/or contact record in the CRM)

Begin by identifying the first company you’d like to make contact with on your list. If you’ve built out your list completely, you may have multiple employees listed for each company that fit your criteria.

Quick Tip: Kill two birds with one stone by grouping introductions. Once you identify a common connection to a potential prospect, plug your common connection’s name into the Excel document search and hit next. You just might find that they know several people on your list and can provide multiple introductions.

For example, if your target audience is salespeople, you may have common connections with five salespeople at a particular company. If this is the case, you now have five angles for introductions to this particular company. You might find that one of your connections—let’s say, a current client—knows all five of these salespeople. This is an opportunity to ask your client for advice about your strategy. How well do they know each person? What is the company culture like? Does one person have more clout than another?  Do this via email, or better yet, make a phone call.

LinkedIn Strategies #5:  Develop Script Templates & Manage Them in Your Sales PlayBook

Developing the appropriate scripts for each scenario—and housing them in your Sales PlayBook—will make the process quick and painless.

Here are some email script templates to consider drafting and developing:

• Intro request for connection with strong relationship bonds (e.g. close friend, colleague, family member)
• Intro request for connection with loose relationship bonds (e.g. someone you met while networking, a new business relationship)

Conclusion

Generating qualified leads using simple LinkedIn strategies isn’t as difficult as it seems!

Are you ready to take your LinkedIn game to the next level and nurture relationships at the same time?