How to Convert Connections to Conversations with LinkedIn | Bill McCormick - 1532

More people use LinkedIn now than ever before. Is it the promised land? Not quite. But it’s still an excellent resource to find leads, start conversations, and ultimately convert connections. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by authentic seller and co-host of the making Sales Social Podcast Bill McCormick to discuss generating conversations that convert on everyone’s favorite professional social media platform.

Three groups of people to understand on LinkedIn:

• The Lion: The people with a ton of connections they might not know very well. (Recruiters are a great example of this group.)
• The Purist: People who only connect with people in their industry or area. While they have high-quality connections, they don’t have very many.
• The Networker: People who see LinkedIn as a networking room open to connecting with new people. This group is the median between the Lion and the Purist.

A critical part of every LinkedIn connection strategy is the introduction.

• How many times do you connect without interacting with your contacts? Probably more than you think.
• In fact, you’re likely already connected to your ideal contacts, but you forgot about them.
• Bombbomb is a great resource to send video introduction messages that stand out and encourage communication with one another. It fosters conversation.

Conversations aren’t rocket science.

• Even with the free LinkedIn platform, you can filter potential contacts based on area, industry, and more criteria. (The takeaway: you don’t always need Sales Navigator.)
• We listen with our eyes. (Yes, you heard and read that right.)
• Being a helpful resource to prospects, even if that means working with someone other than you, is the best way to approach social selling and build credibility.
• Determine what kind of content is helpful to your prospect’s problems. But instead of just sending a link, ask to send the link. And only send it if they ask for it.
• Sharing content correctly conveys the trust and credibility that establishes yourself as a thought leader.

Only 2% of LinkedIn users share content.

• You differentiate yourself by sharing content at least once per week. (Posting twice a week is even crazier.)
• You want your content to resonate with your followers before you pitch.
• Then, create curiosity. Make your audience think about something they’ve never thought about before. Teach them something new about their product or platform.
• Ask yourself if you’re creating curiosity or just pitching. Only then can you worry about disseminating content.
• Content should be a mixture of one-to-many, one-to-few, and one-to-one. Variety is the spice of life (and your LinkedIn feed)

Final tip: LinkedIn is the Rolodex of today. You can search their connections and see if they can connect you with others. To get Bill’s referral formula, connect with him on LinkedIn. Subscribe to his podcast, Making Sales Social, which features interviews with top sales and marketing leaders and strategic tips to master LinkedIn. Finally, become a free member of Social Sales Link to access a free library of resources, from masterclasses to platform optimization tips.

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.

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This episode is brought to you in part by mParticle.

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This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master sales fundamentals and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com