5 Tips to Get Started with LinkedIn Sales Prospecting [Free Message Template]
LinkedIn has shown to be an effective B2B prospecting tool. It has a lot of features that will help you fill your sales funnel with high-quality leads. As more salespeople realize this, the inboxes of decision-makers get increasingly jammed with outreach communications. Unfortunately, recipients rarely show any interest in such letters. They're frequently excessively generic and lack personalization.
Only if you know how to reach out on LinkedIn properly can you expect a rise in sales. If you don't see what you're doing, writing high-converting LinkedIn prospecting messages might be difficult. In this post, we'll cover the top 5 tips to get started with LinkedIn sales prospecting as well as complete with follow-up templates!
- Discover Your Persona
What exactly is a persona? The term "persona" refers to a marketing concept that helps you to identify your target audience. It is the first and most critical stage in planning your marketing campaign. It is the first and most crucial phase of your campaign. You will throw everything else away if your persona is flawed. It is thus worthwhile to spend 5 minutes defining your persona. You should ask yourself a series of questions to have a better understanding of the individual you want to target: What type of people, their age, their profession, their favourite hobbies and so on. Your persona must be exact; you can't reach everyone by being nonspecific.
Example of a poor persona: Pascal, a guy over the age of 18, who is employed.
Example of a good persona: Pascal, a guy between 18 and 30, enjoys beer and watches the professional soccer league. Cooking is something he despises. Every Sunday. He goes to school.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is perfect when it comes to finding your ideal persona. The tool provides advanced features and functionalities beyond the basic tools available on the standard LinkedIn platform.
It is a fundamental rule of marketing. It's hard to reach everyone. Always start with specialization and then broaden it as you gain experience. You can target your prospects for your tech startup more precisely if your persona is clear and specific. You can personalize your methods more if you can target them more precisely. Your conversion rates will increase as you customize your approaches more.
- Improve Your LinkedIn Profile
You must be clear about who you want to target and what you can contribute, just as you must be clear about who you are. When cold emailing, for example, you usually include a link to your website in the communication. The purpose of the email is for your prospect to click on the link. When a visitor arrives on your website, it is up to the website to convert them. As a result, you'll optimize it so that your prospect can locate everything they need. You'll look after the path so that your visitor may get the information they need as fast as feasible. You'll also bring up topics they hadn't considered.
To get your prospect to act, you'll aim to seek their attention. Your LinkedIn personal profile, for example, serves as a landing page or website. When your target reads your note or message, the first thing that comes to mind is to go to your profile and discover more about you and your value offer. As a result, you must follow a set of regulations.
- Make Use of a Professional Photo for Your Profile
Even though it appears to be incredibly easy, the number of people with a low-quality photo that does not draw attention is depressing. You don't have to be a supermodel; nowadays, editing (e.g., background removal) may do wonders, especially with the accessibility of advanced a photo editing tool that can transform ordinary snapshots into stunning visuals.
However, for that extra level of polish and to truly elevate your image, consider investing in a professional photo retouching service.
Humans are prone to cognitive biases and think in heuristics. The "Halo" effect is one of them: we often associate people who present well with unrelated attributes like intellect and competence. So hire a photographer to photograph you and your staff. It will be the best 500 euros you have spent in the last six months. To make your photo stand out even more, place a bit of coloured circle around it or in the colours of your company product.
- Make Careful and Well-Researched Outreach Efforts
Many salespeople squander time, effort, and deal opportunities by undertaking impersonal outreach when prospecting on LinkedIn. They frequently get themselves into problems by "selling first" on the platform. For example, they could try to make a connection with a prospect by saying:
"Hello, there!
I work for a firm called XYZ, and we offer ABC products to companies like yours. Do you have a few minutes to spare for a chat?
Thank you, and I hope to hear from you soon!"
Prospects don't respond well to cut-and-paste, impersonal statements like that. The recipient of such a message may tell you they don't know your industry. They'll recognize that you're treating them as if they're just another brick in the wall, and they'll be less likely to listen to you. That's why your LinkedIn prospecting should include some customization. Take a moment to go at any content that your prospect has shared. Additionally, you can use a LinkedIn URL shortener to make your messages more concise and professional.
Check to see whether they're a member of any LinkedIn groups and if so, check if you can see any common interests or issues - and use that information in your approach. Show that you understand what they do in some manner and how your product or service may help them solve problems. Try something similar to this.
"Hello, Linda,
I came across your post regarding curriculum planning at trade schools when using the 'Edtech Startup Community.' The case you presented for how curriculum planning tools might still assist less conventional educational institutions was insightful and engaging.
If that piece is any indication, you're already establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field. I'd want to speak with you about how you think businesses like yours may appeal to and tap into those markets.
Thanks!
John"
Taking a more measured, individualized approach to outreach, where you "show" rather than "say" what you can do for a prospect, can increase the effectiveness of your outreach and create the tone for a more instantly constructive dialogue.
- Be a Part of Relevant LinkedIn Groups Regularly
LinkedIn groups can be a great way to locate and engage with potential customers. Maintaining an active presence in these forums helps you meet new people and learn more about your industry, target market, and vertical. Comment on stuff that you find incredibly engaging or fascinating. To gain a clearer sense of your fellow group members' needs and interests, read relevant information that they publish. Finally, choose the prospects you want to connect with and send them connection requests that demonstrate your expertise.
LinkedIn groups, when used effectively, can serve as a one-stop-shop for all of your prospecting requirements. They provide educational resources to help you bolster your industry knowledge and frame yourself as a trusted advisor throughout your sales process, as well as access to a base of users who consistently engage with the platform. They also provide a foundation for conversation starters to drive effective outreach and provide the basis for them to conduct effective outreach. Also, when it is paired with other tools, like top sales enablement tools the selling process will get faster than ever.
Conclusion
Prospecting on LinkedIn can help you grow your business, regardless of your sector or vertical. If you decide to utilize the platform to communicate with potential consumers, carefully identify your prospects, learn as much as you can about them, and reach out with some thought and personalization. You'll see the types of outcomes you desire from your LinkedIn prospecting efforts if you can nail those factors.