DMs to Dollars: How I Turn DMs into Paying Clients in 5 Easy Steps!

Content reach is down for everyone on LinkedIn. This affects your inbound leads and client flow through that. However, do you know what still thrives? Converting DMs into clients.

The best way to grow on LinkedIn is to fire up the outbound engine and become algorithm-proof. This means despite having irregular reach on LinkedIn, you are still able to sign clients through networking.

I booked over 20 calls per month just through LinkedIn DMs, and today, I’ll share the exact 5-step method I use to do that.

5 Steps of Turning DMs into Paying Clients

Step 1: Break the Ice - Appreciate Them

I am not a fan of cold outreach. Instead, I focus on reaching out to people who already know me. These are the people who like and comment on my LinkedIn posts. Since they’re already engaging with my stuff, there is a high chance they will respond to me when I reach out to them.

Before I message them, I filter out a list of people from the commentors and reactors who fall under my ICP list. So if you’re a coach, only shortlist individuals who are your ideal prospects rather than reaching out to the world.

The first step is to break the ice with a sweet appreciation message. Since they support your content, you can start there by appreciating their comments/likes on your post. People love appreciation so use it as a firestarter for your conversation.

Step 2: Build Trust - Discuss Goals and Journey

Important note: Our aim is to have conversations that eventually convert rather than chitchatting mindlessly with people and wasting their and our time. Hence, whatever you say should align with your core offer.

If you’re a fitness coach, you may talk about their fitness goals and how they’re able to hit them consistently amidst a busy life. This gives you a chance to steer the conversation your way.

Talk about their goals and the journey they are pursuing to make it a reality. This step allows you to build trust through communication since they express their journey with you.

A bonus question to ask here: “What do you think is the one thing that’s stopping you from achieving your goals?”. This dives deep into their pain of not being able to achieve their goals. We will use this as our basis to convert them in the future.

Step 3: Provide Value - Something Personalized

Imagine a scenario. You’re a fitness coach and you’re talking with a person who’s struggling to lose weight because he’s a busy executive who doesn’t have time to take care of his fitness goals. Fortunately, you’ve worked with a busy executive before and have helped them lose 10 pounds in 30 days. You have that case study at your fingertips. What is the best use that you can make out of it?

It is simple. When talking to your prospect about their goals and what’s stopping them from achieving them, you can talk about how you’ve helped someone like them before and helped them achieve their goals. You have a case study or a video that you’d love to send over for free so that they can receive better clarity on what to do. Would that be something valuable for them? Absolutely!

So have a stash of case studies and material ready that you can offer as valuable resources to the people you talk with. This is the part that establishes the most trust. Remember, your job is to provide so much value that the other person feels obligated to pay eventually. That’s how we work with this.?

Step 4: Pitch an Offer - When the Time’s Right

Once you’ve showered value and they have loved it, there’s a high chance they are interested in working with you. However, it isn’t that simple. Here’s how it works; trust is established between the 2 of you and know you can offer them help to achieve the same goals for them.?

The deal-closer here would be offering a deal that is a no-brainer to accept. Something that mitigates their risk and encourages them to try your services for some time so they get used to it. For coaches, you can offer them a month’s coaching for a very good price where you can offer a straight 80% discount for the first month. Term it like: Since you’re an action-taker, I am happy to charge only 20% of the investment for the first month so you get to know what working with me will be like and what results you can expect.

Remember: Don’t force sell! Always offer help that people gladly accept.

Step 5 - Follow-Up - The Money Lies Here

Do not accept to close deals in one sitting. It rarely happens. Chances are that a conversation can take weeks and even months to reach a conclusion. Till then, you have 1 job; follow-up.

People have a lot on their plates and eventually get busy with them. Your job is to consistently nudge them to keep yourself on top of their mind. For the first follow-up, do it within 2 days while the emotions are still charged up. There’s over an 80% chance that they’ll convert during this phase since they’re already in the zone.

Next, keep following up consistently after a few days. A bonus tip here is to reach out through different means. On LinkedIn, it isn’t difficult to get a hold of their email. Reach out through that and try to be genuinely concerned and helpful rather than being salesy and annoying.

DMs That Close Deals

The best selling happens when there’s actually no upfront selling. People love those who genuinely care and extend a hand out to help. Be that person rather than an annoying salesperson who ends up getting blocked in the DMs.

It’s all about nurturing the conversation and giving it time. Know that personalization will be your superpower here. So instead of searching for templates, try to invest time in each conversation since that is what establishes trust with your prospect.

In the end, I would just like to say that if you’re a coach who wants to turn their LinkedIn messaging box into a client-generating machine, feel free to DM me and I can help you book 15-20 calls monthly by giving you a personalized DM approach!