Time-tested LinkedIn Prospecting Techniques to Land Clients
Have you ever considered using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool to help you find and attract more prospects and clients?
Or perhaps you have little problem connecting with new prospects, but you struggle with moving your connections to sales conversations?
To generate more leads and prospects on LinkedIn, you need to move a person from being an unknown connection to someone who trusts you and is prepared to have an offline conversation with you.
Over the years, I have developed a LinkedIn lead generation (social selling) framework called The LINK Method™.
It helps business owners, professional service providers, marketers and sales reps to move from merely collecting connections online to building relationships and moving them offline for conversion.
I share my method in my #1 international bestselling book, LinkedIn Unlocked, my online course and my live LinkedIn Implementation Labs.
In this method, I employ many of the fundamental concepts detailed by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his proven system, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The six steps he shares in his book include:
- Reciprocity
- Authority
- Scarcity
- Liking
- Consistency
- Social Proof
Because these six steps to persuasion are so vital for LinkedIn prospecting, I am covering each one in detail here.
Use LinkedIn for Prospecting to Land More Clients
Before I dive into how you can use LinkedIn for prospecting, you might find it helpful to listen to Dr. Robert Cialdini explain these techniques in his own words:
1. Scarcity
Scarcity creates the fear of missing out (FOMO). Many online deals, including online courses, are notorious for instigating impulse buys by showing you the short amount of time you have left to purchase the “deal” (think the countdown clocks).
I catch myself still falling for that old trick, even with deals I have seen go up multiple times, solely for fear of missing out.
When you get a scarcely-available item, you experience the same satisfaction you get after acquiring something that had not otherwise been acquirable. It’s similar to the prestige of the “Limited Edition” label on a product, making it more attractive to potential buyers.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
You can implement this LinkedIn prospecting technique by incorporating any exclusive or limited time resources or content you are offering, such as free checklists, quizzes, reports, webinars, white papers, demos or other helpful content, in your LinkedIn lead generation messages.
Additionally, while I have shared many reasons why being a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) is NOT in your best interest, this is just one more. People like the idea of being part of your hand-picked, exclusive network rather than sharing a network with someone who will connect with anyone.
2. Reciprocity
Anyone who knows me knows I am a firm believer in the Law of Reciprocity. Nothing makes a stronger and more genuine impression on people than seeing you give selflessly, generously and, most importantly, without the expectation of receiving anything in return. However, what you give, more often than not, does come back to you.
It’s not just about helping people but also giving them a reason to feel good about helping you.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
People will feel more obliged to accept your connection request, reply to your message, refer you or move the conversation with you offline if you first share valuable information with them.
Here are a couple of ways to strengthen the Law of Reciprocity in your favor on LinkedIn:
- Send helpful content (that you don’t personally benefit from) to a LinkedIn connection or hot prospect just because you think it would be of value to them. Make sure anything you share is of specific benefit to them personally, and take the time to write why you thought they might find that particular piece of content interesting. They will appreciate the gesture even more, knowing you are not acting selfishly.
- Introduce your LinkedIn connections to each other if you feel the two parties would benefit from it. Many of them will be more likely to think of you when they come across someone who needs what you offer.
3. Consistency
People don’t invest just their money into quality products/services. They also look for people who have demonstrated a consistent reputation for quality.
You can take advantage of this LinkedIn prospecting practice by consistently and reliably showing people you are knowledgeable and credible and care about them and their success.
Understand that random, occasional actions will not have the same impact as those planned in advance and carried out on a consistent basis. Consistent actions will earn people’s trust, and inconsistent won’t.
People can also sense when you are insincere or dishonest. Remember, once trust is broken, it’s almost impossible to earn it back.
The biggest payoff for being consistent and sticking to ethical marketing – or, as I call it, trust-based marketing – is that people will do business with you because they will know, like and trust you.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
Help your connections and prospects to get to know, like and trust you:
- share valuable to your prospects content daily (created or curated) through status updates
- publish articles (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) on LinkedIn Publisher to establish your authority on your topic
- reach out to your hot prospects regularly to share content of value to them (created or curated)
- reply to LinkedIn messages and InMails every day
- respond to the comments people leave on your posts (don’t forget to be socialon social media).
It’s also important to be consistent when engaging with those who have previously liked, commented on, or shared your articles or status updates. They are generally more open to accepting a request from you, especially if you remind them of that previous interaction.
4. Authority
Being consistent when posting high-quality content on LinkedIn is great, but how do you establish true authority on your topic in a way that attracts business?
Without question, the best way to build your authority on your topic is to create and share quality content that provides high value on issues of interest to your ideal clients.
Remember, people are more likely to comply with requests from those they perceive as experts or authorities.
The most common reason businesses fail with their content marketing efforts is they make the mistake of thinking they need to focus on promoting themselves and their products or services in their content.
It is precisely the opposite with content marketing.
In fact, your content will perform much better if you put the focus on helping your ideal clients solve their challenges rather than trying to showcase your products or services.
My team and I spend hours each week providing free quality content on generating more leads using LinkedIn, social selling best practices and using content marketing to increase engagement and build relationships.
A large percentage of the people who read my content will never spend a dollar on the books, courses, live workshops or other services I offer.
And that is perfectly okay because the do-it-yourself types either lack the funds to pay for my services or like the challenge of doing it themselves. They would never have purchased my services anyway.
But these people know I am an authority on my topic. They are very appreciative of the resources I provide and are happy to share that knowledge with their networks. Those networks might include my ideal clients – those who either lack the time or the desire to do what I do and will gladly pay me for my expert services.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
By sharing your best, up-to-date knowledge with your readers, you gain the benefits of garnering:
- an undeniable authority and expert status in your industry
- credibility through the people who share and engage with your content
- a steady stream of leads who know you are an authority and are happy to pay for your products or services.
5. Social proof
The desire to find social proof is a psychological reflex we all have. People tend to base their decisions on the reviews and decisions of their peers. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig.
For example, how often do you look for reviews before buying a book on Amazon or going to watch the latest movie?
In simpler terms, social proof helps us make decisions when we are uncertain, based on the experiences and choices others make or have made in the past.
It’s nice to be able to gain wisdom through the second-hand experiences of those we trust. That’s why reviews, testimonials and endorsements have been so influential in business.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
Social proof becomes even more effective on LinkedIn because people can see what actions others took in similar circumstances in a professional setting.
For example, social proof can be a significant factor when a potential connection is considering whether or not to accept your connection request.
If they see you have many connections similar to them, they may be more inclined to accept your connection request.
Additionally, if your profile has many LinkedIn Recommendations and Endorsements and displays regular activities (particularly if a potential connection can relate), your prospect will be much more likely to accept your invitation.
6. Liking
Have you ever passed on buying something because you didn’t like the company for one reason or another?
It is a well-known phenomenon that people buy from people they know, LIKE and trust.
Unless you have become a monopoly in your industry, people need to like you before they consider doing business with you.
Implement these LinkedIn prospecting tips
One of the best ways to become more likable to your ideal clients on LinkedIn is also one of the simplest: transparency and authenticity.
You can’t build relationships and get more clients without letting people know who you are and what you stand for. What’s even more important is how you make people feel.
Recently, someone disagreed with me on one of my posts – very aggressively. Several hundred people engaged with that post, but this person was the only one who disagreed.
Several people privately told me how rude they thought this person was and how well I responded. What this person didn’t realize is that it’s not only the people engaging with that post that could see this person’s comments. It was this person’s entire network. It’ll work against this person in the “liking” department.
When your ideal clients are able to relate to you and like you, they are more likely to trust that you understand their problems well enough to help them solve those problems.
This means you need to be clear about who you are, what you stand for and why you do what you do so that you can communicate your message to your ideal clients in a clear, concise and inviting way.
The value of proximity
One more element of persuasion you can make use of is proximity.
Being in proximity to people can play a helpful role in your LinkedIn prospecting. Your prospects will be more likely to connect with you, respond to you and comply with your request if you are close to them either physically or virtually, in the case of the online networks.
You can benefit from this element by mentioning you are in the same location or connected to the same people in your connection requests or messages.
The Internet and social media have made it a lot easier to do business globally: my clients are located all around the world.
BUT don’t ever forget to focus on your local region. There’s nothing better than meeting people face to face. And unless you live in a tiny area, there’s plenty of business for you right in your own backyard.
Power up your LinkedIn prospecting
Whether your ultimate goal is to increase visibility, generate more leads or get more sales, utilizing these highly effective elements of the art of persuasion can help you achieve greater success with your LinkedIn prospecting.
And if LinkedIn prospecting is one of your top goals, I invite you to get my attend my free masterclass How to Turn Cold LinkedIn Connections into Clients. Click here to watch it.
