Five tips for better conversations on LinkedIn & Sales Navigator
I find it hard to comprehend that this month saw the release of the 50th episode of the Small Spark Theory podcast. When I began recording episodes, I couldn’t imagine producing any more than the first six episodes, and expected only a handful of people would subscribe. However, four years on and thousands of listeners are tuning in, each month, to listen and join in the conversation. The most powerful driver behind this growth has, undoubtedly, been LinkedIn.
I’m always telling my clients that if they only take one piece of my advice, it’s to get on board with LinkedIn and build a habit of building relationships there. And we’ve also talked a lot on the podcast about LinkedIn over the years, and specifically, the often-untapped potential of Sales Navigator (see episode 27 in particular). From the conversations I have with my clients, I know that many are challenged to find the time and focus required to create momentum on these channels, which is why I was intrigued to learn more about the service that Laura Hannan and the team at Pitch 121 provide.
Laura joined me for the second episode in our mini-series, Raising your Profile, which is exploring different techniques and resources to help agency leaders to raise the profile of their agencies and themselves. Pitch121 is a ‘done for you’ social selling and profile-based marketing service that nurtures your future clients, grows your network and starts conversations that, ultimately, convert. Laura talked about how the clever combination of tech, content and highly-targeted Sales Navigator outreach forms a highly efficient approach for connecting agencies and audiences. This episode was brimming with great advice. Here’s a summary of the tips Laura had to share…
- Understand the benefit of relationship-building on Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is a powerful new business tool and will help you to easily build lists of prospects and track what these prospects are up to (whether that’s via the content they post, or by notifying you when they change roles or move companies). However, it takes more than building a good list and sending a sales InMail to convert a stranger into a customer. Most prospects won’t immediately understand how you differ from your competitors and many won’t even know how a service like yours might deliver them value. So, it’s no surprise that most agencies have prospect audiences that don’t respond particularly well to cold sales outreach. Sales Navigator should be used as a tool that allows you to take the first step towards building trust, educating prospects about your proposition and growing your credibility over time. It’s the human behind the platform that generates LinkedIn and Sales Navigator success. Effective B2B selling requires human contact.
2. Aim for conversation
Conversation is key to building relationships in life — and Sales Navigator and LinkedIn are no exception. Interacting with the posts of others, and engaging with the comment threads, is just as important as distributing good quality content and showing what you’re good at via your posts. The content you post might be a conversation starter, but it’s the ensuing interaction that has the potential to develop a connection into a client.
3. Share opinions, not statements and sales messages
Opinions, rather than statements, invite conversation. Sharing your opinion, and asking for the opinions of others, offers a welcoming invitation to engage. Flatter and surprise people by showing that you’re interested in their opinions and what they have to say — without selling to them!
4. Prioritise your personal profile
Like all social platforms, people have a higher likelihood of buying into a real person rather than a brand. Posts from personal profiles almost always have a greater reach and more potential for viral views [that extend beyond your network] than posts published to company pages. You can’t ignore your company page and it should work hard to represent your agency, the work you do and your team. However, Laura suggests that the frequency of posts should skew in the favour of the personal profile. She suggests that a leader of a typical small creative agency should be aiming, on a monthly basis, to publish 8-to-12 posts from their personal profile, and 2-to-4 posts from the company page.
On the subject of personal profiles, it’s important to remember that this is where an individual’s journey with you on LinkedIn begins. It’s well-worth putting the effort in to make sure that your profile represents you accurately and memorably. Being a managing director of an agency isn’t unique, yet so many people use their job title as a lead message in their profile section. You are unique; ensure that your personality comes through.
5. Be generous & helpful
This is obviously a good tip to follow generally in life, not just in new business, and not just on LinkedIn. But it’s important to remember that ‘real life’ etiquette is just as vital in digital spaces. Remember to say thank you for introductions, opinions and perspectives that are shared with you, and be generous about sharing and engaging with content posted by others. It can help to shake off the label of ‘sales tools’ when thinking about LinkedIn and Sales Navigator. View the platform as a space where you can show up as a genuine human professional without being too pushy about your own agenda.
It was exciting to speak to Laura and learn more about the approach that Pitch121 takes, because I know what a difference the LinkedIn and Sales Navigator platforms can make to small agencies. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if you take only one piece of my advice, let it be about getting better at building relationships on LinkedIn. To listen to my conversation with Laura in full, tune into the Small Spark Theory Podcast, EP50. Raising your profile — part two | Laura Hannan, Pitch121
Visit www.smallsparktheory.com to learn more about our remote mentoring programmes and online new business & marketing courses for agency leaders.
