LinkedIn is the world’s largest online professional network. With nearly 800 million members in more than 200 countries, LinkedIn is the market leader for sales professionals wanting to connect with prospective customers and generate sales.
Although it’s simple to use, LinkedIn can be intimidating for new users. Hesitation on the platform can slow progress when building new connections and expanding your professional network.
To become a super connector on the platform, you will need 500+ connections. With nearly 800 million users, this shouldn’t be a hard task to complete. However, knowing who to connect with and how to approach cold prospects can be a difficult task.
Here are 5 tips that will help you grow your LinkedIn network and generate sales in the process:
1. Optimise your profile page by leveraging keywords
This might seem obvious, but it’s important to ensure the details on your LinkedIn profile are correct. This will ensure your profile visitors know exactly who you are and what you do.
Keep your profile looking professional by using a high-resolution profile picture that’s been recently taken, looks natural and is clearly you.
Include as much information as possible on your profile. It’s also important to include keywords that relate to your job role and company. Similar to optimising your website copy for SEO, your LinkedIn profile can be optimised using a range of keywords. This will help to attract the right profile visitors and connections.
To generate sales through LinkedIn it’s a good idea to include an ‘About’ section on your profile. Within this section, rather than simply listing the services you offer, focus on how your services can benefit others. This will help to pique the interest of potential clients.
2. Connect with every client and prospect you meet
Using LinkedIn to connect with every client and prospect you meet is vital to growing your network and generating sales. You can then leverage your first-degree connections – people you know and are connected with on LinkedIn – to build more second-degree connections who could be prospective clients.
LinkedIn is also a good way to keep track of where connections are working and what job role they have. Promotions and job relocations provide an opportunity for reaching out. Congratulating your connections continues your relationship with them, builds rapport and can lead to an upsell at their new venture.
3. Reach out to relevant prospects using LinkedIn Sales Navigator
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is an advanced sales tool that taps into the power of LinkedIn’s 800M+ member network. It helps sales professionals find and build relationships with prospects and customers.
Using Sales Navigator it is easy to set filters to find the right prospects – whether that be based on their job role, the keywords they use on their profile, or their location.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator also features job change alerts, custom lists, a built in InMail feature and saved searches, which the basic version of LinkedIn doesn’t offer. The tool also lets you see who’s viewed your profile, so you can get in touch with users who are actually interested in what you have to offer.
4. Use personalised outreach messages to expand your network
Soft, personalised sales pitches often work better than blunt sales pitches that are recited word for word to hundreds of people.
LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, so users undoubtedly get bombarded with sales pitches and connection requests day in, day out. To make your sales pitch stand out, ensure your message is personalised and fully researched.
Look back through your prospects’ posts to see if they mention any pain points/specific needs that you can answer. Mention this in your initial message and it’ll show that you’ve done your homework and are worth investing in.
5. Make sure that you’re visible on LinkedIn
There are a few ways of becoming more visible on LinkedIn. Firstly, joining groups is a great way of expanding your network. Anyone who’s part of the same group as you can be contacted directly via the group (whether they’re a connection or not) and will also appear in search results. This automatically opens you up to new prospects.
Also, post regular status updates and engage with other people’s posts. When a connection likes, shares, or comments on your status update, their connections are more likely to see your original post in their feed. If your content seems relevant, those ‘2nd-degree’ connections may take the step to reach out and send an invitation to connect with you.
If you’d like to speak to us about using LinkedIn to generate sales, or social media marketing, please contact us – we’d be happy to help!