Attract More Clients on LinkedIn With These 6 Steps

LinkedIn hosts a community of nearly 750 million professionals around the globe, spanning almost every industry, vertical, and line of work imaginable. No matter what space you sell in, your future customers are on this platform. 

That said, reaching and converting the right decision-makers is not automatic. If you’re wondering how to find clients on LinkedIn, you’re far from alone. While the process is fluid and variable, it generally requires smart prospect identification and qualification, earnest relationship-building, and insightful problem-solving. 

LinkedIn has tools and functionalities to assist with each of these key directives. By following the six-step plan and taking the free LinkedIn Learning courses below, you can use LinkedIn to get clients and customers that are excellent mutual fits:

1. Optimize Your Professional Profile on LinkedIn
2. Identify the Right Prospects
3. Follow up After Connecting
4. Build a Relationship by Engaging and Sharing
5. Join Communities and LinkedIn Groups to Convey Expertise
6. Leverage Trust for Sales-focused Discussions

Let’s take a more detailed look at these six steps, with additional learning resources for each.

Finding Your Clients on LinkedIn in 6 Steps

Making the small effort to show your prospects you actually care about them and view them as more than a sales lead goes a long way. Whether you’re a small business owner or a sales rep for an international enterprise, this blueprint will help you make the right impression.

#1: Optimize Your Professional Profile on LinkedIn

One key nuance of modern selling is that the first impression is often made before you actually meet or interact with someone. The internet makes it easy for buyers to conduct research prior to engaging with a salesperson, and your LinkedIn profile is one of the primary places to start that research. 

Take advantage of this opportunity by tailoring your profile to the audience you most want to reach. Portray yourself as a knowledgeable and approachable subject-matter expert who is valuable for people in your industry to know. 

LinkedIn profiles are often positioned as online résumés, which makes a lot of sense if you’re looking for a job but not as much if you’re trying to succeed in your current sales job. Rather than speaking to future employers, your profile should speak to future customers. The LinkedIn Learning course below offers helpful advice on creating a compelling profile by infusing elements of storytelling, among other things. 

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Use your work experience to highlight accomplishments and skills that will be appealing to potential customers.

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course Rock Your LinkedIn Profile

#2: Identify the Right Prospects

One of the biggest strengths of LinkedIn as a platform for prospecting and selling is that it provides a wealth of search functions and filters, helping you narrow your focus down to members who are more likely to be good fits for your products or services.

Before taking this step, make sure you have a good understanding of your typical buyer: their industry, their job title, their seniority. These attributes will help guide you to new prospects and members who should be on your radar. 

When you’re running a search, you can click on the “All Filters” button for a highly customized search experience, filtering by company, past companies, mutual connections, location, and more.

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Sales Navigator users can save their Custom Lists to easily keep tabs on the prospects they’ve identified.

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course Learning LinkedIn Sales Navigator 

#3: Connect and Follow Up

Once you’ve identified a prospect you want to engage, the next step is connecting with them on LinkedIn. You can improve your chances of the member accepting your request by completing Step #1 (building out a complete and inviting LinkedIn profile) and Step #2 (ensuring the people you’re connecting with are relevant). Another helpful action is to prime the relationship beforehand by interacting with the content they share. 

When you send a connection request, include a personalized note explaining why you’ll be a valuable part of their professional network. It is highly advisable not to take a “sales-y” angle at this point. The goal is to build a relationship. You can set this initiative off in the right direction by following up with a friendly thank you message after they accept your request. 

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Members are five times more likely to engage with you if the outreach is through a mutual connection. Keep an eye out for 2nd or 3rd degree connections who can create such an opportunity. (TeamLink in Sales Navigator makes this especially easy.)

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course Personalize Connection Requests

#4: Build a Relationship by Engaging and Sharing

When a salesperson reaches out to connect in a seemingly genuine way and then immediately follows up with a transparent sales pitch, it can sabotage the trust that’s being developed. Demonstrate that your helpful intentions are authentic, with a focus on sharing and delivering value for your new connections. Offer useful advice, insights, or content with no expectation of anything in return.

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Our research has found that 44% of buyers will strongly consider a brand when the rep shares content applicable to their decision-making role.

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course  Sales Pipeline Management: Leads and Developing Prospects

#5: Join Communities and LinkedIn Groups to Convey Expertise

As you start to build out your network and forge relationships, you can expand and solidify your influence by becoming an active member of professional communities within your space. LinkedIn Groups provide an easy way to find pre-existing communities.

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Not finding any LinkedIn Groups that line up with your specific area of business focus? Create one and start building your own community! 

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course Engaging in LinkedIn Groups

#6: Leverage Trust for Timely Sales-focused Discussions

If you’ve successfully completed the first five steps while steering clear of pushy sales tactics, then you’ve likely built up a level of trust with your connections. Now you’re in a great position to actually sell. Keep an eye on your feed to spot timely opportunities for outreach. If one of your connections posts about a pain point you can help with, it’s a chance to engage with sales messaging that will actually be welcomed — especially because they’ve grown familiar with you and your credibility.

Developing an engaged network founded on trust has many advantages. Not only are sales conversations with your potential clients likely to be more productive, but you’ll also open up pathways to warm introductions with other members of their buying committee, or even peers in their industry who may be decision-makers or otherwise valuable contacts.

LinkedIn Pro Tip: Buyer Interest Alerts in Sales Navigator will automatically prompt you when a key contact views your company’s LinkedIn Page or website, indicating they may be receptive to a conversation. 

• Learn more in the free LinkedIn Learning course Inside Sales

Use LinkedIn to Find Your Clients

LinkedIn offers a uniquely powerful environment for identifying, engaging, and building relationships with key decision-makers, all the way up to the C-suite and executive level. Modern sellers are finding great success when they follow a plan conducive to building trust and pinpointing the right moments to reach out. 

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