Are you making this LinkedIn Mistake?

If you're using LinkedIn to grow your business then you need to make sure you are NOT making this mistake…

I see it time and time again where people spend hours creating good content and building great networks but rarely convert all that hard work into sales conversations.

Why is that? What are they doing wrong?

• The WHY?is they are quickly being forgotten.
• The WHAT?is the lack of follow-up etiquette.

Let me explain…

You create your list of ideal clients from LinkedIn.com or on Sales Navigator.

Then you start visiting their profiles and finding out more about them. You interact with their content and may even hit the ‘Follow’ button.?

Next, you decide this would be a good connection and so you send your connection request with a polite, professional, and courteous message.

THEN IT HAPPENS.....NOTHING!

There is?no follow-up and so you are quickly forgotten.

Ask yourself: What is the first name of the last person you accepted a connection request from?

You probably can’t remember because it is too easy to be forgotten on LinkedIn.

So, how do you get your ideal client's attention and remain at the front of their mind?

Here are four tips

I. Simply say ‘Hello’

Yes, it's that simple to start with a genuine ‘Hello & how are you?’. It may seem trivial but it goes a long way to establishing a genuine rapport with the person.

Too many people at this point send their sales pitch which only leaves a bad impression. It will also get you ignored faster and may result in the person removing you as a connection.

Your first message should be light-hearted and informal, with a ‘thank you for connecting’ message and a very short introduction. NO sales pitch! (Please read that last bit again)

For example:

Hey Bob, thanks for accepting my connection request, it's very much appreciated. I like to get to know my contacts and what they do. What’s your website address?

Thanks, Graham

I always encourage people to add a leading question at the end of the message that the prospect is highly likely to respond to and therefore helps encourage a response.

II. Do your research

This is such an important stage that sadly most people don’t do or get wrong.

Take a look at their profile and familiarise yourself with what they do.

Your future conversation depends on you knowing what the person does, what they've done, and what interests them.?

If I had a dollar for every irrelevant sales pitch message I received on LinkedIn, I'd be retired with my feet up by the pool somewhere.

It’s not about spending hours studying the profile and doing background checks. It’s a skim read to understand what they do professionally and what they are passionate about.

III. Ask them about their work. Be curious!

Most people like to talk about themselves and their work, especially if it is something they are proud of.

So avoid jumping into your sales pitch too early and be willing to sit back and let them talk about what they do. You will learn things that will help you position your pitch at a later time.

Simple questions to ask:

"It's great to connect. What are you working on nowadays?"

“Thanks for connecting with me. I’d be interested to learn more about what you do.”

The process of conversing in this way helps to build up a rapport and develops the trust element of the relationship.

It's so simple yet so effective.?

IV. Think about what you can do for them

Now that you are establishing a good rapport, begin to think about ‘How can I help this person?’

Having already asked them about their work, you have probably learned a lot about the person and what they do. This should help inform you about the ways you can offer something of value to them.

I’m not talking about giving away the good stuff, that’s your intellectual property and what people pay for. Instead, I am talking about those things that you regard as throwaway tips and advice. It’s the sort of thing that you see as having low value but to the person who takes and implements it, it has value.

Think about…

• What are those tips or advice you could offer that make a difference??
• Do you have digital copies of helpful guides?
• Could you offer a recommendation or a referral?

Do this for every person you connect with... think of some way to help them, something you could do for them. And see it in a way that entirely benefited them and not you.?

The long-term benefit of doing this activity is you establish yourself as a valuable resource and become that go-to helpful person. It establishes trust and credibility.

These sorts of interactions will quickly establish you in their thinking and you are no longer concerned about being forgotten, in fact, you may become the first person they think of when they need what you do.

It can also create a big bank of favours to call upon in the future.

Remember: LinkedIn has huge potential and it can present you with endless wins but like anything else it can be abused or misused, which leads you nowhere at best or at worst it will get your LinkedIn account restricted or even blocked.

Golden Rule: Always be a genuine human being willing to help others.