The Guide to Generating Meetings Consistently on LinkedIn

If you Googled your name right now, most likely, LinkedIn will be the first link that pops up.

So the question is, what are we doing about it?

Everyone has a digital reputation, and everyone has value and expertise to share, whether they believe it or not. 

As a seller, LinkedIn is a great place to 1) reach c-suite level prospects and 2) generate meetings consistently. But it’s important to not treat it like a second inbox.

Instead, you want to share authoritative, industry information while also connecting and networking with peers. You have to build a digital reputation as an expert and thought-leader. Now you might say “stop right there, I’m not a thought-leader,” - but you’re wrong.

This week, I’m taking you through my step-by-step process for using LinkedIn to engage with buyers and set more meetings to grow the business. I highly suggest you also forward your team these value-packed, less than 2-minute videos that talk about all of this. It’s my first LinkedIn Learning Nano course: How to sell without selling on LinkedIn.

It’s not that it’s difficult to set meetings in 2023, it's that it's difficult to set meetings from only calls and emails, so if you’re a leader looking to take control of their digital footprint or a leader who wants to transform your strategy to incorporate LinkedIn… Let’s get into it.

“It is not difficult in 2023 to get meetings. You just can’t get the meetings you want with a bunch of emails and calls.”

We need to stop treating LinkedIn like a second inbox. People don’t get on LinkedIn to read more emails or be spammed in a second place.

They go to LinkedIn for industry and authoritative information and to connect and network with peers. But with the rise of social selling, there came people who abused it – ignoring the potential of having access to over 900 million people globally looking for answers to problems.

I won’t talk about brand in the traditional sense because building a brand on LinkedIn to generate meetings is more about building a digital reputation and being a thought leader. Now, before you stop reading and think that you’re not a thought leader and can’t build a digital reputation, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.

Everyone has a digital reputation, whether you realize it or not – typically a professional and a personal one. And you have more value and expertise to offer than you realize.

The point of this course is how all of this can help you generate meetings on LinkedIn as a seller. Or maybe you’re a leader who wants your team to get more active on LinkedIn to hit their goals.

This is how you’re going to do it in 2023:

1. You’re going to start proactively building your digital reputation
2. Play the long, medium, and short game with prospects
3. Engage, engage, engage with people and not just send InMails
4. Post thoughtful content

So that you can…

1. Start generating meetings consistently through LinkedIn
2. And even reach c-suite level prospects

I’m going to take you through my step-by-step process for using LinkedIn to engage with prospects and set more meetings here, but if you want to forward your team value-packed, less than 2-minute videos that talk about all of this, send them my first LinkedIn Learning Nano course: How to sell without selling on LinkedIn.

View LinkedIn Nano Course

Reputation over brand as a seller

Before we dive into the how the first thing you need to do is get out of your mind that this is about being an influencer. It’s not. This is about building a digital reputation.

If you googled your name right now, most likely, LinkedIn will be the first link that pops up. So the question is, what are you going to do about it? 

LinkedIn is a 24/7 digital networking event and this course will take you through how to build a digital reputation on LinkedIn that is about your space and how you help people – with the ultimate goal of setting more meetings.

Connecting with prospects on LinkedIn

YOUR PROFILE IS NOT YOUR RESUME IN SALES

Your buyers do not care that you made President’s Club. They do not care how often you hit your quota. Buyers care about how you’re going to help them.

They go to your profile to see how much of an industry expert you are, and your headline is the first thing they see (it also shows when you’re trying to connect with them).

Who would you rather connect with?

John Doe, Sales Development Rep at Workday? Or Jane Doe – Helping HR Executives Maximize Retention through Smart Technology?

Your headline is just the tip of the iceberg. But take this approach and make sure it shows throughout your profile.

HOW TO GET 500% MORE FROM SALES NAVIGATOR

You must actively build your audience on LinkedIn so your connections consist of prospects, not your old coworkers or college buddies. How you do that is with LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Build your lead list and max out your connection requests each week. Connecting is step one.

Then you’ll want to spend 5-10 minutes reviewing your Lead Alerts every morning to see who’s posted (filter by lead shares and lead news). Start to build those interactions and relationships before you reach out.

Posting content for prospects on LinkedIn

HOW SALESPEOPLE PRODUCE SHORT FORM CONTENT

Producing content is probably the #1 reason sellers aren’t active on LinkedIn. It does take practice, mostly to get comfortable with it and confidence that you know what you’re talking about. But to get started, here are three quick tips:

Use your company content. Most likely, they are putting out a ton of long-form content that you can pull a couple of insights from, giving you 2-3 posts right there.

Use ChatGPT. Even if it’s only pulling in trends up until 2021, chances are they’re the same trends today, and you can fact-check.

Use conversations you’ve had with customers. They’re the exact people you’re trying to reach with your content, so you know it will resonate.

Q&A – What content has worked best on LinkedIn, and what should new creators focus on?

CONTENT THAT MAKES YOU A REAL AUTHORITY

More than a post. The ability to create mid- to long-form content is going to be critical. The reason why is that it’s way more powerful to reference something you wrote versus something your company wrote.

And the plus side is that LinkedIn will make this easier for you.

You can still look to your company’s content for inspiration but then pull out something specific to write a LinkedIn article on – which can be just 500 words. Pin it in your featured section so people can see it when they visit your profile, and also use it to DM or email prospects and say, “I put together this article about X. Thought it might be interesting.” Now you’re showing that you’re an expert instead of sharing your company content.

I give a second tip in the nano course.

Content that makes you a REAL authority 

Engaging with prospects on LinkedIn

HOW TO ENGAGE ON LI TO GET MEETINGS

I mentioned engaging briefly in the 500% more section. But realistically, only 3% of users actively post. So how are you going to engage with the other 97%?

If you go to a user’s profile (this is also in your Lead Alerts), you can see that although someone may not be posting, they are liking, sharing, and commenting.

If they’re in this second tier, you can interact or comment on that post as well. If it makes sense, comment on your prospects’ comments.

Another rule is that you don’t want to comment “Great post” or “Really enjoyed it.” But you don’t have to write a paragraph either. Just one or two sentences calling out something specific.

NON-ANNOYING SALES DMS ON LINKEDIN

Crucial to sending non-annoying sales DMs is knowing when to send a DM. These “whens” will also make sure you’re sending or referencing something relevant.

I’ll walk through four tips in this nano session.

Also crucial to sending non-annoying sales DMs is not going straight for the ask. Add value in the first message, reference a comment or post, ask permission to send them something relevant, etc. If you’re wondering why your messages aren’t working, it’s because you’re acting like all you want is a meeting 24/7.

Also, I didn’t mention this in the nano course but it came up as a question on the LIVE session, connection requests do count as annoying and non-annoying DMs.

Q&A: What is the best way to send a connection request?

There are two options. The first is to send nothing. As long as you have a great headline and professional photo, we’ve done the test; sending a non-relevant message with the connect request does not increase your chances.

The second option is being hyper-personalized. Do not send, “I’m trying to expand my network of professionals in the San Diego area. Are you interested in connecting?” That sounds like straight spam and a real connection message I’ve gotten. 

But if you send something like, “Really enjoyed your episode of XYZ. Love the passion and energy. The information you gave was great and encouraged me greatly in my pursuit in tech sales. Have a great weekend.” Now, I’m accepting that connection request.

HOW TO NURTURE SO YOU NEVER HAVE TO GO COLD OUTBOUND AGAIN

All of this plays into the short, medium, and long game with prospects. 

If you follow the playbook I’m giving on the nano course, you will have 2 or 3 meetings coming in consistently every month because not everyone will respond after you comment or initially interact. It will take a little bit of time, but you’ll be nurturing and building a funnel on LinkedIn by taking these actions in the playbook.

Some prospects will respond after a connect, comment, and message. Others will take multiple touchpoints, maybe a video message, or maybe you’re just waiting for the right time to message, etc. Every buyer is different, and this is just another way LinkedIn will help you generate more meetings.

>>> View the LinkedIn Nano Course