How to attract New Clients on LinkedIn
Dr Nik Eberl
Advising Boards on Strategic Innovation | Chair: The Future of Leadership Summit? | Global SAP Channel Partner Coach | Co-creator: The Event Pipeliner? | fmr adidas Brand Ambassador | FIFA World Cup? Bestselling Author
With more than 800 million members, LinkedIn has become the world’s largest online business networking site. No longer just a tool for job searchers, today LinkedIn is the premier social media site for lead generation and reputation management.
?And - other than Facebook and Twitter - LinkedIn is strictly business – and has become a secret weapon for marketing activities such as
The State of the LinkedIn Nation
?B2B Buying has changed fundamentally
Thanks to the internet, buyers have changed their behavior fundamentally and B2B buyers have been among the first to reverse the tables and use social media to guide their buying decisions. Please take a moment to absorb and digest the stats above - not only does cold calling not work anymore in 97% of cases reported, but it is now becoming illegal in many jurisdictions such as South Africa and Canada.
According to Andrew Hunt, founder of Inbound Sales, the new reality is as follows:
Ten years ago, all you had to do was leave a voicemail that piqued your customer’s interest to get a call back. The reality today is that the B2B buying process begins when prospects accesses a company’s website, blog, white paper, or signs on to a webinar that it is hosting.
They go online and Google your website but they also look at competitive offerings, reviews of your company, and check out forums or blogs discussing your company and the solutions you offer.
Combine that with the fact that 92% of business-to-business buyers start their search for a solution to their problem online, and the customer buying process has drastically changed.
Social Selling Success Stories abound
According to Harvard Business Review, 87 percent of company executives believe LinkedIn is the place to connect and interact with peers and industry leaders. And 64% percent of LinkedIn Frequent Users indicate they have successfully generated revenue based upon their LinkedIn efforts.
The newly upgraded sales and marketing functionality on LinkedIn now enables professionals to establish a marketing funnel and product path online and attract new clients on an ongoing basis.
Early adopters that have piloted the new LinkedIn Sales capabilities, have reported a significant increase in lead generation, including:
As a social selling?advisor to the likes of IBM, SAP and ABSA, we have found the following three ways most effective for service professionals to grow their business on LinkedIn.
1.?Reactivating Previous Clients
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Social Selling Success Story #1: Darrel Rhea, MD of consulting firm Cheskin,?wasn’t sure how to leverage his professional network on LinkedIn effectively. A quick 10 minutes that he spent importing his Outlook contacts to LinkedIn yielded a chance encounter with a former client. One thing led to the other, and before he knew it he had signed off on a $1M project with his client.
LinkedIn makes it very easy to sync your email contacts with your LinkedIn database - just go to 'My Network > Connections>Add Personal Contacts' and initiate the process which will allow you to select which of your email contacts to invite. You will be amazed who you will be reconnecting with - and don't forget your alumni (under Connections > Find Alumni)
2. Getting New Clients from LinkedIn Recommendations
Social Selling Success Story #2: Sasha Strauss, founder of the Public Relations agency Innovation Protocol, used LinkedIn to grow his new company’s profits exponentially without placing a single advertisement. He describes LinkedIn as “an authenticity protocol”, by which professional contacts come to him pre-qualified by the network and accomplishments they represent on LinkedIn.?
Conversely, his business has profited from his robust network and profile that features 128 glowing recommendations, one of which informs us, “Sasha is a talent so rare, that if he were an animal, National Geographic specials would be made about him.” His clients include Adobe, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Korn/Ferry International, Microsoft, Pepsi, TiVo and Yahoo!
Don't be shy to ask your clients, past and present, as well as your peers and colleagues for recommendations - the best way to go about this is to start giving recommendations first - LinkedIn will then prompt the person recommended to return the favor (and many do, in my experience).?
3. Paying it Forward
Social Selling Success Story #3: Jeffrey Taylor, Senior VP at the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard, instructed his associate not to spend too much time on an incoming enquiry about patent work, since it was not a billable hour.
Two hours later, after an extensive call and giving much needed advice over the phone, his associate informed Jeffrey that he had just signed up a $250k deal.
By paying it forward and providing valuable advice to prospective clients before they buy from you, you earn the most precious currency in the NEW Economy, this being Trust - and as a consequence, prospects will come to you rather than to your competitors.
[LIVE] How to win Clients on the NEW LinkedIn
To discover the Seven Critical Success Factors to Client Acquisition on the NEW LinkedIn, join 1,683 fellow LinkedIn members next week
and learn about the Seven Success Factors that have been instrumental in us earning the following:
? 25 High Value Clients on a Call in 10 Days
? 40%+ Conversions from LinkedIn Prospects to Clients
? Developing Strategic Relationships with over 100 Global Leaders in 18 Months