Picking up the phone, calling a complete stranger, and successfully selling something is a challenge - even with technology on your side. But what if there was a way to build a relationship with a complete stranger without actually ever meeting them to make them more receptive to that cold call? That’s the value of social selling.
Much like many of your in-person friendships have been maintained over recent years by incessantly tagging friends in memes and sending dancing hotdog snapchats, social media (especially LinkedIn and Twitter) is having an increasingly large impact on the way we build and maintain sales relationships. So how do you crack the code to social selling? Here are our top social selling strategies to maximize your sales game with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Outreach:
1. Use our Social Overview layout to supplement your prospecting info with social data
The best way to prepare yourself for the world of social selling is to integrate LinkedIn info into your prospecting workspace. You’ve probably heard that we recently integrated Sales Navigator data into Outreach via the Sales Navigator Application Program. Now we’ve made it even easier for you to always have your LinkedIn data at your fingertips when prospecting with our new “Social Overview” Intelligence Tiles layout. This is especially great for users who have wanted to take advantage of our recent LinkedIn Sales Navigator Integration but are finding it difficult to customize their intelligence layouts. The new layout includes the two new Sales Navigator tiles along with the Twitter tile, and our three Owler tiles, so you’re never caught without the right tools for your social selling strategy.
2. Optimize your InMails
I chatted with our resident social selling expert Lindsey Boggs to get her top tips about LinkedIn -- and to make sure I was using LinkedIn to it’s full potential! Her advice? The best way to stand out and make LinkedIn work for you is to perfect the art of the InMail. Every time you send a message, ask yourself: “Would I respond to this message?” If not, reconsider what you’re saying.
Lindsey also shares three tips that have gotten her a 50% return on her InMails:
- Be personal - LinkedIn is significantly more personal than someone’s corporate email address, and you need to respect that difference to earn a prospect’s trust. With InMail, being genuine is important. “If you saw them in an article recently and loved it, tell them that. People love to talk about themselves so research them - it'll go a long way!”
- Be brief - Your prospect is most likely reading this on their phone. Make sure you can get your point across in less than 2 vertical swipes.
- Be persistent - Just like you would follow up on a regular email that doesn’t get a response, you should always follow up on InMails that don’t generate a reply. Set a follow up task in Outreach 3-4 days after your initial InMail.
3. Make Profile Views Work for You
Don’t be intimidated by the fact that your prospects can see that you’ve viewed their profile. Instead, make that feature work for you! Logging profile views with your prospect helps establish an element of familiarity and name recognition. Additionally, your snappy headline might pique their interest enough for them to click through your profile and learn more about you - and about what you’re selling. With the social selling layout, it’s easy to view a prospect’s profile without any extra clicks. Simply loading the LinkedIn Sales Navigator tiles will log a profile view automatically!
On the flip side, you can also use who is viewing your profile to find new leads. It’s wise to peruse your profile views regularly and reach out to anyone who seems like a qualified prospect. Lindsey Boggs recommends using profile views as a way to affirm that of your prospects have, in fact, been receiving your messages.
4. Leverage your Network
Referrals are everything in a world where we’re increasingly connected with more and more people we’ve never met face to face. In fact, 92% of buyers trust referrals from people they know. The Get Introduced tab within the LinkedIn Leads tile can streamline your referral process by enabling you to ask a mutual connection for an introduction to your prospect without leaving Outreach.
You can also mention any mutual connections in your InMails to connect with your prospect. Once prospects see “mutual connection” they’re more likely to respond - or at least read your note and investigate how you’re connected!
5. Find Meaningful Icebreakers
The Icebreakers tab in the Leads tile shows you mutual connections and recent activity like shared posts and recently published articles. You can use these updates to see how active your prospect is on LinkedIn and know when it’s a good time to reach out.
You can also use tidbits you find on a prospect’s profile to warm up your conversation. Talk about an article they shared, or even look at their interests to see what you have in common. My personal favorite is looking at someone’s volunteer experience, as it’s a personal way to connect and generally a topic that people want to talk about. Sharing an Alma Mater is an easy in, but be careful here - make sure your approach is specific, like mentioning you had the same major or extracurricular involvement, or you risk blending in with all of the other alumni reaching out to your prospect.
What are your favorite tips for social selling? Let us know in the comments!
