5 Tips to score more on LinkedIn this week
You have thought hard about your LinkedIn profile and endlessly polished the texts on it. But does your profile help your prospects accept your connection request?
Because I want LinkedIn to remain a fun place to be, I’m happy to share 5 acquisition tips that do work and are based on your prospect’s needs.
1. Stop selling on linkedin
People find it irritating and pushy if you immediately start selling yourself or your product on first contact.
It is always better to start your contact with genuine interest, with an open question. Do you need inspiration for good conversation starters? Read my blog ‘5 ways to start a conversation on LinkedIn’.
2. Be clear in what problems you solve
When a stranger visits your LinkedIn profile, is it clear what problem you are solving? A lot of people only tell you what they do or what products they sell. But most prospects are not looking for your product, they have a problem to solve.
If you look at my Linkedin profile, you will see that I emphasise what we can do for the client (take over) and why you would choose us (experience and tooling).
3. Choose your prospects diligently
I’ve been calling this out for more than 15 years: select fewer prospects who really suit you and give them more attention. Choose organisations you can help well, without having to put in very much effort. You hardly need to convince them of your ability. The only question is whether it comes out and whether they need your solution (now).
4. Use LinkedIn InMails if you have them
For some reason, InMails are almost not used or they are misused. I receive almost only Promoted InMails.
If you have a paid subscription to LinkedIn then you have up to 20 InMails per month. That credit expires after 3 months, so a good chance you have dozens in credit!
Of course, in an InMail, you don’t have the limitation of the 300 characters you can add in a Connection Request. You have 2,000 characters at your disposal there. But you don’t have to use them all (see tip 1 & 2).
InMails work better than Cold Emailing, presumably because LinkedIn is a familiar environment and has no SPAM box.
5. Make more attempts per (Super) prospect
Believe it or not, but this tip is also viewed from the prospect’s point of view. Surely you have it yourself sometimes, that someone sends a message while you are very busy or you don’t see the added value because you don’t have the problem right now.
Keep approaching your Super Prospects over a longer period of time, but avoid irritation. Try a different contact or a different occasion (a webinar, a white paper, a reference story).
If you make 3-4 attempts over a period of a few months, the chances of success are much higher. First send a connection request (withdraw after a few weeks) and try an InMail. Send a connection request again 2 months later, but with a different question/reason.
And there is more than LinkedIn, also try a phone call or send something through the ‘old-fashioned’ mail. You will stand out from your competitors and find more great customers who are a good fit for you.
Good luck!
By the way: connect with me on LinkedIn, then you immediately enlarge your (search) network !
