Podcast: Play in new window
Unsurprisingly, you’re not the only salesperson trying to connect with prospects on LinkedIn. As the professional platform continues to rapidly grow on its 800 million users (including plenty of large outbound operations), our competition for attention is growing. Too many leads now receive the same obvious sales messages – and are becoming more suspicious and less engaged with your offering. That’s why in this episode of the Selling in Asia Podcast, host Tom Abbott sits down with Stefan Smulders, CEO and founder of software for LinkedIn automation, Expandi.io. Join them as they discuss Stefan’s five LinkedIn outreach tricks to generate high-quality B2B leads consistently.
Also read:
- The Ultimate Guide To The Sales Prospecting Process (+ Email Templates)
- 51 Sales Email Subject Lines That Will Increase Your Open Rate
- LinkedIn Voice Messages: How To Leverage Sales Best Kept Secret
1. Don’t spray and pray
The ‘spray and pray’ approach has been around since the dawn of social media, and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t benefit anyone. Too many salespeople are approaching cold LinkedIn outreach as a numbers game, when really – you need to connect with the person behind the screen. That’s why using a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work if you want to resonate with leads.
2. Hyper-target
The solution? Hyper-target your ideal customer profile. Start by using LinkedIn Sales Navigator and applying filters like title and location. However, this will produce too many results and not a refined list of leads.
That’s why Stefan’s second trick is about using advanced filters, not just those above. For instance, if you begin by filtering leads who have been active on their profiles in the last 30-90 days, you’ll get a much smaller list, which is more manageable. What you’ll find is those people are more active on LinkedIn and will likely be more responsive than someone who hasn’t ever posted anything in a year or two. A perfect hyper-targeted lead is someone who regularly engages with the platform, as it increases the chances that they engage with you and accepts your connection request.
3. Improve your social selling index score (SSI)
The LinkedIn Social Selling Index is a tool used via LinkedIn Sales Navigator as a “measure of a salesperson’s social selling skills and execution.” The tool consists of four pillars:
- Establish your professional brand
- Find the right people
- Engage with insights
- Build relationships
Does it matter if you have a higher score or a lower score? LinkedIn reports that social selling leaders create 45% more opportunities than peers with lower SSI. If you’re curious at all about what is your social selling index, simply log into your sales navigator account. Click on your profile picture, scroll down, and you’ll see the ‘Social Selling Index.’ From there, you’ll have a full breakdown of your analytics with actionable tips to make the most of your LinkedIn profile as a social selling tool.
4. Create or attend an event
Another great trick Stefan shared with us is that you can message people without connection requests if they are also planning to attend the same virtual LinkedIn event. So if you’ve maxed out your connection limit, this is a great way to go around that – what’s even more incredible is that you already have something in common, making communication a lot more natural.
5. Personalise connection requests
When personalising interactions, most professionals opt to use only their prospect’s first name, job title or company. However, you can get better results if you leverage automation tools that help to create dynamic content like GIFS that change every time you approach a new prospect. No one loves snobs and boring people; that’s why you can always use humour to catch your lead’s attention and stand out. Personalisation in images triggers Pattern Interrupts. Implementing this in your sales flow will typically improve engagement 2-3x.
Use Audio (LinkedIn Voice Messages)
Even though it has been around for a while now, most people’s LinkedIn inboxes are likely not even 1% full of voice messages – making it an easy way to stand out from the crowd. What’s more, speaking is far faster than typing, which saves an incredible amount of time that you could be using to find your next prospect. It’s also a far more personable and genuine sentiment than writing a message that lacks tone and sometimes context.
About Stefan Smulders
Stefan Smulders is a SaaS entrepreneur, CEO and founder of the LinkedIn automation software, Expandi.io.
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