LinkedIn for Prospecting
Over the past weeks I’ve had multiple conversations with people about LinkedIn. Everyone is asking for the same thing, how do I use it effectively?
However, it was the conversation with a sales person that got me thinking. “What can I do from 9-12 on Monday when I’m not making sales calls and then touch it throughout the week?”
Now, here was a specific question I could put some thought into.
So, here’s a plan tailored to prospecting.
The Hardworking LinkedIn Plan for Prospecting
Monday a.m. – Few sales calls are made on Monday mornings. In many businesses it’s the “get back into the week” time. How can you use this time effectively on the hardest working social media network?
Initial Set Up:
1—Set up Google Alerts. Go to www.google.com/alerts and set up notifications for industry terms, your best clients, top prospects, your competition. This works like a clippings service so you’ll get any mention of them online right in your inbox.
2—Make sure your LinkedIn Profile is up to date with a professional looking profile picture and a great summary. LinkedIn is a credibility booster, if your profile looks abandoned, you won’t be very effective when you start using it.
3—Review your top prospects and clients profiles. Follow their company LinkedIn Pages and join the groups they’re in.
Hotshot Tip:
Set up Twitter lists with top clients, hot prospects, industry influencers, industry publications. Use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to set up columns for hashtags to follow. You can view LinkedIn from this tool as well as Twitter.
Your Monday Morning Ritual
- Review your Google Alerts. Send congratulations or forward interesting news to relevant people.
- Review your top two or three groups, is there anything you can respond to with a thoughtful comment or two?
- Post an industry related blog post on your status update. Schedule out at least 3-4 more to hit throughout the week. Bonus points if it’s your own blog post.
- If you have a list of sales calls to make, review those people on LinkedIn. Who do you know in common? Where did they attend school? What groups are they in or what non-work related interests do they list? This gives you fodder to establish common ground.
Better yet, does your CRM connect to their social profiles? Are they active in industry associations? If so, this gives you another opportunity to make a personal connection and be helpful. Use the tools at your disposal.
Hotshot Tip:
Start blogging, you can both use LinkedIn’s publishing platform and start your own blog. The LinkedIn platform will give you more visibility so you’ll build your influence quicker, though you’ll have greater control over your own blog.
Caution: Don’t use the same blog post on both. That can do more harm than good to your SEO.
Throughout the Week
- Check in on your LinkedIn groups – what insight can you add?
- Scan your Home Page and “like” or comment on posts. This will increase your visibility so more people become aware of you.
On Friday afternoons, review your notes and activities of the week. Know that you probably won’t increase your sales ratio this week or next. But you will build your reputation in a positive way and isn’t that worth gold?
There’s a world of opportunity out there.
