10 Ways To Make It Work

I am on a mission - a mission to eliminate cold calling from my business development strategy. Yeah, I know, it probably won't work. Cold calling gets a bad name and the definition could be debated for hours. I consider "cold calling" calling someone I don't know. I am always calling with a value proposition hypothesis and plenty of research under my belt, but still they don't know me and I don't know them.

I think I am actually pretty good at these. When I am "in the zone" it is fun to reach out to organizations and share programs, tools and resources that could help them succeed. I've closed my largest, most rewarding win-win deals on cold calls, but.... is there a better way?

For the past 2 years, I have been using LinkedIn and fairly recently have put more focus on this tool. It is the most progress I have made on my mission to eliminate cold calling, so it seemed like a good time to share some ways I've used LinkedIn to secure first meetings.

Today, I will simply share my own experience and then turn to the experts for more ideas moving forward.

#1: Put your picture on your LinkedIn profile. This has truly warmed up more calls. When I see someone's picture, it personalizes them and makes them a human being with human qualities instead of a salesperson with ... well, salesperson qualities. I can tell others feel the same way because this has made a huge difference in the tone of my first conversations with prospective customers. This can work against you if you use the wrong picture, of course. (Did I need to mention that? Judging from some pictures, I'll go with "yes".)

#2: Use your LinkedIn profile as your Bio. Websites have Executive Bios listed often. Since my company is probably not going to post my bio and credentialize me, I figured that I could do it myself with LinkedIn. Make sure your LinkedIn profile, much like your resume would, focuses and showcases your experience as it relates to the product/service and value you bring to your customer relationships.

#3: Now, get that Bio out there. Use a link to it in your signature line as a way for a prospective customer to learn more about you and assess whether you may add value for them or not. 

#4: Make relevant connections. There could be much debate on this topic. How well should you know someone, etc? If I have had a valuable exchange with someone or we have had a meeting, I typically accept or invite that person to join my network. The purpose is to share referrals, ideas and stay in touch with those in your industry or prospect base. I am building a network of people using LinkedIn for the same reasons.

#5: Join one or more Groups. Recently I have begun joining relevant groups and these have enriched my professional life in several ways. I start and join discussions within these groups and gain many, many valuable ideas and insights. The most obvious product of my involvement in groups has been to add to my referral network. I have gained professional relationships that have resulted in introductions to prospective customers. I also connected someone I just met to a VP of Operations at a Fortune 100 company where his service might be a perfect fit. These are rewarding connections for many reasons. Join the Sales Gravy LinkedIn Group.

#6: Start a Group. I've started two groups and the experience has been great. The intent needs to be to create an environment where your members feel they gain information, connections and access that helps them grow their business. It is important to keep these on track and not allow marketers to hi-jack your group. As a group manager, you do have some control over who can join and what they can post. No one will visit a Group that is all "commercials". I've unjoined groups where this is rampant.

#7: Use LinkedIn applications to build your brand and reputation. LinkedIn now offers useful tools or applications that allow you to show your blog, share what books you like, post presentations, collaborate with other members, etc, etc, etc.. They seem to be adding new ones regularly. Use these to your advantage.

#8: Right under your name, there is a "twitter-like" section that allows you to share what you are doing now. I update this a few times a week to share how I am helping my customers that week. Last week, it read "Jill is setting up Business Reviews with her Clients." When you do this, it shows up as an update for all your connections and is there for all your profile visitors to see. It creates an impression of what you do and maybe why someone may want to work with you, also.

#9: Make it a habit to share referrals with your connections. I am always seeing who my network is connected with and gaining and giving introductions respectfully and appropriately (love Referral Flood by John Jantsch).

#10: Learn to navigate LinkedIn. LinkedIn is better than any tool I have found for finding contacts in organizations you'd like to work with. I've never been a user of tools like Jigsaw, etc. I have no opinion on them - I have simply never used them. I have never been let down by LinkedIn as a resource for contact names, though. It also seems LinkedIn users are open to networking and meeting when they stand to have a good exchange. They can check you out on LinkedIn, see who you are connected with and get a good idea of how you may help them.

So, this is simply 10 ideas from my experience. As more and more people join and use LinkedIn, I expect to learn more. An upcoming Meeting to Win series will focus on using LinkedIn as a sales tool because it is such a powerful way to build your brand and create loyal customers for YOU and your company.

Comments (1)

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written by Steve Waterhouse, May 12, 2011

Super post here. Social media is such a great and new phenomenon that we don't always know where it fits in. Thanks for sharing!

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