Course
LinkedIn Outbound
Step 1: Identify Your Ideal Target Profile
To start the outbound sales process, you need first to identify who your ideal customer is so that you can begin to connect with their needs, values, desires and, most importantly – their challenge
Step 2: Build Your Profile on LinkedIn
Your LinkedIn profile is the starting point for your outreach strategy. However, there’s a big difference between setting up a LinkedIn profile to gain employment and building one to connect with prospects. With over 575 million LinkedIn profiles, it takes a compelling profile to stand out to your prospects.
Step 3: Demonstrate Your Expertise
You need to position yourself as an expert, thought-leader and authority in your field. The easiest and most effective way to do this is to share content consistently. Why? Your prospects are likely to be more receptive when you approach them because they’ve seen your work before.
Step 4: Connect Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Next reach out with an invitation to connect, but ensure you include a personalised message, because a lot of people won’t connect if they don’t know who you are. This is message #1 in the LinkedIn outbound sales process
Step 5: Thanks for Connecting
Use this message to let them know they can reach out if they need anything. Keep it conversational, include personalisation and ensure your signature displays exactly what you do.
Step 6: Build Credibility
This stage is where you start credibility building. Send a quick, friendly and warm greeting to explain what you’ve been up to, how you’ve been successful and add a valuable resource for them.
Step 7: Ask Who's the Right Person
If they’ve been seeing the content you’ve been sharing on LinkedIn, they’re less likely to have their guard up and will be more likely to respond. Often they’ll either respond by nominating themselves or provide the name, profile or an email address of the person you should be speaking to. People are more receptive than you think. You just have to ask!
Step 8: Ask for the Meeting
This step is message #5, and perhaps the most critical as it’s asking for the meeting – your qualifying or discovery call. However, moving interactions from social networking platforms into real tangible video or phone calls can be difficult. So now you need to be quick, persistent and prepared to work to schedule that meeting in to your calendar
Step 9: Follow Up
Chances are you won’t get a meeting the first time you ask, so the key to
your success is following up. We recommend an omnichannel
approach. Up until now you might have only been communicating with
them through social media, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep it
this way. Once you know who you need to be speaking to, reach out to
them through LinkedIn, email, phone and messaging. Tactfully do what
ever it takes to secure that meeting. If all of your efforts fail, it’s time for
message #6 – the break up.
I’d love to know who’s here. Share in the comments what country you’re in and what you do.
