Hi guys! Here I am with the third chapter of LinkedIn: The Best Prospecting Tool.
For those who have just started following: I have covered “how to create and maintain a genuine account” and “the importance of LinkedIn groups” in the previous two chapters.
Well, this chapter is All About LinkedIn Connections!
Building connections is basic but the most important thing to do on LinkedIn. To rationalize the word ‘social’ in a ‘social media platform’ and to take advantage of LinkedIn, you need to build connections on LinkedIn. Connections are great because they promote you and moreover show you as a trusted business companion to everyone. So, here are six simple yet powerful tactics that can make a boom in your connection list and increase your customer database like anything!
How to Connect With Right People
We have already discussed about connecting with an influential personality in a target market in the previous chapter. Well, we are going to follow the same rule while increasing our quality connections. These are the steps you require to follow to develop better connections:-
- Search for a group outside LinkedIn. For example, AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
- Connect with the admin of the group
- Now, if there is group of the same community on LinkedIn, you can join the group and use Endorse Your Business Technique (discussed in Chapter 2).
- If a LinkedIn group does not exists, then contact the person offering him valuable content for his group members (webinars, infographics and all sorts of useful intellectual property).
- Speak to him in person if possible and understand the group’s pain points
- Also, you can offer to promote the group in your subscriber’s list. It will be win-win situation for both of you.
Tactic 2: Expanding Your LinkedIn Universe
- Expanding your LinkedIn universe does not limit to connecting with a single person in an group. It actually is developing connections around your target market. For example, if you cannot connect with a chairman of group in your target market, look for some mutual connections in his profile. Thus, you can contact and influence him with the help of your connections.
- In addition, you can also take help from your competitors and thought leaders in your target market. You can gather leads from them. You just have to find the strong links in organizations and contact them.
Tactic 3: Direct Connection Requests
When you are trying to connect to a 3rd level connection or some person whom you cannot connect through an influencer, sending an Inmail is the best option available. But. here are some few things you require to take care of while sending them an Inmail request:-
- Executives like CEO or CFO (your target audience) get a lot of requests to connect from many people. So, you have to make sure that your mail has a psychological upper hand from others to instantly grab your audience’s attention.
- You have to target their pain points. As soon as you have understood their problems, you can generate subject lines which consist answers to their problems. That’s how you make them open your emails.
- Now, you will have to address the direct objections like introducing yourself with an opening line. For example, you can start like- “Do you think- “what does he want from me?” I want to eliminate your (problem name)”. Then you can continue your mail with a CTA, LinkedIn profile link and a date to schedule a call. Here’s an example of a good Inmail to generate leads:-
Tactic 4: Connections Through Introductions
You can get introduced to second level connections by your connections via LinkedIn introductions. The above displayed example clearly describes how to ask your connections to introduce yourself to their connections.
Note:- You can add the message which your connection needs to send to your potential customer in the mail. He or she will appreciate the gesture.
Tactic 5: Broadcasting Messages That Do Not Get Spammed
It does not mean that you need to send thousands of mails. It will obviously freak out your audience. Hence, broadcasting messages involve sending mails only to your direct connections.
Now, you again need to identify the problems of your selected audience and set up an ideal headline. You can also send straightforward messages to audience. And after sending messages, you can disqualify your customer database. For example, you can just ask your potential customers to let you know if you they are interested in staying connected with you. If they aren’t, you can disconnect with them.
Tactic 6: Stealing Your Competitor’s Clients
Here, I am talking about stealing clients immorally but through ethical means. For example, if a client is not happy with a professional, you can acquire the client. These are things which you would like to ask yourself:-
- Why did my potential client like my competitor?
- How can I outshine my competitor?
- What is that my competitor missing and is really important to my prospect?
Now, you will design a message where you will belittle your client’s achievements through your competitor in your subject line. It will disturb him but he will surely open your mail. In your mail, you will congratulate on his business’s achievement but offer him something more that is great yet tangible. For example, if your prospect has a good Google ranking but sucks in content which is affecting his revenue, you can offer him solutions to mend it.
Distinct Leads on LinkedIn and What to do with Them
Unestablished:– Audience who does not know about you or about your work. You can follow perform the lead generation tactics on them.Established:- People who are your present clients or are currently in touch with you. You need to perform up selling or lead re-generation. You can use the update option to mention their name with a specific plan or product.
Re-established:- People who were your clients. You can use mass-messaging to connect with them and reestablish your connection.
That’s all for now guys! Be prepared to read another exciting chapter of LinkedIn: The Best Prospecting Tool soon. Hope you will see an increase in the number of fruitful connections until next time.
Stay Happy, Stay Connected!