This is a step-by-step guide on how to properly do B2B prospection on Linkedin.
PREAMBLE
One-to-one marketing has been the Holy Grail for many years.
If this were 1993, email’s capabilities would be fantastic! However, buyers have zoomed beyond. Today’s buyers are digitally equipped, savvy, interconnected (social), and informed (everything is on the web).
Due to social and economic shifts, buyers are also more value-oriented, less trusting, and less loyal. They communicate with vendors through many channels — certainly email, but also social, Web, phone, and more. In response to these changes in buyer demographics and expectations, as marketers, we must now progress from a web campaign mentality and dramatically step up our efforts to create personalized, relevant messages for prospecting (aka account-based marketing) the B2B buyers we target (CxO of companies that are looking for the solutions you sell, or lower-level managers that are in charge of preparing the work for those CxO).
LinkedIn is one of the best social selling tools for understanding B2B prospects and their current connections and interests for creating that first relevant interaction. LinkedIn is also a really good tool to build relationships with your potential buyers early on; create trust and value before you have any dialogue about your solutions or price, so it is still worth connecting with potential long-term buyers early on, even in a light way. You will build up your network in the specific industry you are targeting and increase trust when pitching prospects. Joining relevant LinkedIn groups in your industry can also be a quick way to increase your network.
LinkedIn hosts a community of nearly 550 million professionals, which can feel a bit intimidating for B2B social sellers.
No matter your industry or vertical, prospective buyers with needs aligned with your solution are undoubtedly out there on the platform. But without the right know-how, trying to find them is a real challenge.
“A recent 2019 study conducted by CustomerThink determined that on average, marketing is only responsible for 30% of lead generation for sales, usually via website, newsletter, email campaigns and events. (This means that Sales reps on average have to generate 70% of their own sales leads if they want to achieve their goals). LinkedIn helps remove that divide by enabling sales professionals to access a network of most decision-makers. You’re now able to identify and engage with more prospects directly than ever before.”
So let’s start…with 2 main chapters:
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND COMPANIES
& HOW TO POSITIVELY CONNECT WITH THE RIGHT CONTACTS
A- HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND COMPANIES
1▪ Identify the right people in targeted organisations
▪ Leverage search capabilities within 1st and 2nd-degree connections to find a starting point for your reach-out efforts. Search by country/state, title, and most importantly, your relationships to prospects within your professional network.
▪ Use the connective capabilities of LinkedIn to request warm introductions from existing contacts, or initiate communication based on commonly shared interests and goals. You’ll quickly get in touch with every member of the group that influences a buying decision.
▪ Don’t limit yourself to one person within an organisation, contact a few relevant persons within, You might find the right champion who wants to make a difference, and wants to show off in front of his CxO.
2▪ Identify the right keywords in your search.
Let’s imagine your current focus is “cold chain monitoring”, so you could use keywords such as food safety + GPS + temperature monitoring + IoT + Blockchain. Look for the commonly used hashtags from your current customers’/partners’ posts.
Then select the city/state/country to narrow your search.
3▪ Checked who liked/commented on the latest relevant news from your competitors or partners, this might give you a hint on who is of interest. Avoid too technical people, they are usually not the right crowd to start an interaction unless your tech solution primarily targets this audience.
4▪ Directly go into your 1st connections contacts’ list. If they are smart, this is not public but you would be surprised how many competitors’ contacts have their list wide open: this is the dream list. This means: connecting with your competitors, usually they are happy to, especially if you have met them at an event.
B- HOW TO POSITIVELY CONNECT WITH THE RIGHT CONTACTS
1▪ Identify the right topic to talk about
Above all else, sales are about establishing relevance. We call that the SAVI principle: A simple proposal, Aligned with their needs, a Valuable solution, triggers high Interest. If you could somehow ensure that you’d be in front of people at the exact moment they needed to solve the precise problems that your solution addressed, you’d close deals 100% of the time.
Social selling on LinkedIn gets salespeople closer to this than ever before. But remember, prospects don’t care about your products or solutions. They simply don’t care about anything else but their own business objectives.
2▪ In the first interaction do not talk about products or pricing, talk about how you can solve their potential problems, reduce their costs or bring new solutions to get more sales. Keep it short and straight to the point. Show you understand their business and that you bring value.
Examples of pitches when you connect, you have 3 seconds to convince:
▪ Based on the type of prospects, pique curiosity, bring ideas, read their latest news or posts (keeping the example of cold chain):
– Potential channel partner, Fleet management solution, CEO: “Looking for a good way to get incremental sales? Monitoring the cold chain with simple IoT solutions that could integrate into your current platform. Read the case study at webpage.com/casestudy_coldchain” Make sure that they have entered their details to download the case study.
– Large end-customer shipping cold food to retailers, complaining about the lack of visibility on the temperature during transport: “Would there be value in knowing where your fruit crates and their temperature are at any point in time during transport?“
▪ Based on a referral. By all means use it in your first line. It’s the ultimate way to get a quick reply. If you can be introduced by someone else inside or outside the targeted organisation, this is even better:
– Sally Smith suggested I get in touch with you,…
– Jim Smith mentioned that you were looking for a simple solution to get real-time info on your assets…
– In discussing your asset management challenges with Maria Smith from your Service dept, she mentioned that you’d be the best person to talk to about improving …
▪ Based on a reference to a similar case study to their requirements
– Prospect, manager of assets: “Your competitor” has just implemented our cold chain solution with strong ROI. Is improving the monitoring of your goods of interest to you?
▪ Based on a trigger event. If something has recently happened to their company, division, industry or the environment impacting it, bring up the topic and tie it in with your reason for the email.
– Prospect CEO: “I just read in XYonlinenews that you are looking to add XYZ solutions to your accounting software, We can help you achieve this within 2 months with our solution.”
▪ Based on metrics. Adding metrics ($ amount or %) makes your value proposition even stronger and more believable. Don’t round your numbers either. They’re more believable that way.
– Prospect CFO: “Your XY company produce 62 tonnes of vegetables each year and you waste 19% of it because the cold chain is not maintained. With our solution, we could reduce that waste to 7% and save you $8M/year. Interested to know more?”
GOING FURTHER
We love exploring the power of LinkedIn and complementary tools so that we can make recommendations to executives, entrepreneurs, marketers and salespeople who want to learn how to use LinkedIn to find leads, nurture prospects and close deals.
Do you need help with LinkedIn? Contact Us