How to Use LinkedIn for Sales: A Step-by-Step Guide
LinkedIn is an invaluable resource for individuals and businesses alike in the sales world.
With millions of users worldwide, this professional networking platform offers endless opportunities for connecting with potential leads, building relationships, and generating potential sales. There are multiple ways to use LinkedIn for sales including prospecting with LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. What it lacks is a CRM that will help you double down your efforts to reach your targets.
In this guide, we’ll explore how you can use LinkedIn for sales and set up folk as your CRM to take your sales efforts to the next level.
Understanding LinkedIn’s potential for sales
LinkedIn lets you connect with decision-makers and build relationships with potential clients online.
Imagine being able to reach out to key stakeholders in your industry without having to make countless cold calls or attend numerous networking events. With LinkedIn, you can search for specific job titles, industries, or companies and connect directly with potential prospects.
It also provides valuable insights into these prospects. If they post often, you can use Chrome extensions such as Crystal to learn about their personality and understand the best language to use when you do your outreach. This information can help you tailor your sales pitch and establish a meaningful connection right from the start.
How to optimize your LinkedIn profile
Before you begin using LinkedIn for sales, it is essential to have a professional profile that showcases your expertise and credibility. This will help you build trust with potential clients. After all, reaching out to someone new with a bare profile may invite them to see your message as spam.
Below are some things you should pay attention to before you reach out to prospects.
1. Optimize your profile
Creating a professional LinkedIn profile is not just about filling in the basic information. It is an opportunity to present yourself in the best possible light and make a lasting impression on potential clients. A well-crafted profile can help you stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as a trusted professional in your industry.
Start by choosing a professional profile picture. Your photo should be clear, well-lit, and reflect your professional image. Avoid using casual or inappropriate photos that may give the wrong impression to potential clients. Next, ensure that you highlight your experience, skills, and accomplishments.
2. Create relevant content to start building a personal brand
The type of content that you post on LinkedIn can get you in front of your ideal target audience.
For instance, you could think about the pain points that your prospects often experience and create content based on the solutions that your product offers.
The trick is to be careful not to post content like this repeatedly, as it could become dry and dull. Instead, make sure you mix it up by writing posts that allow you to share your expertise. Create a content strategy and ensure it stays relevant to your goals by sticking to relevant topics.
3. Make the most of your headline
Your LinkedIn headline is often the first impression potential clients will have of you, so it is crucial to make it compelling and relevant. Use keywords that reflect your areas of expertise and the value you offer to potential clients. A well-crafted headline can attract the attention of your target audience and encourage them to explore your profile further.
In addition to using keywords, consider adding a touch of personality to your headline. This can help you stand out and be memorable. Don’t forget to pay attention to your company’s tone of voice. Make sure to strike a balance between being professional and being quirky.
A basic headline should not only describe what you do but also highlight the benefits you can bring to potential clients.
LinkedIn's Sales Navigator
LinkedIn's Sales Navigator is a type of premium account specifically designed to assist sales professionals in maximizing their sales efforts. This can significantly streamline your prospecting efforts and enhance your ability to identify and engage with potential clients.
You can choose from two tiers called ‘Advanced’ or ‘Advanced Plus’ that offer access to different features.
With it, you can perform highly targeted searches based on specific criteria such as industry, seniority, and company size. This lets you identify ideal prospects and focus your sales efforts on the most promising leads. Additionally, the platform provides lead recommendations based on your sales preferences and activities, further increasing your chances of finding qualified prospects.
Below, we’ll walk you through how to make the most of it with our Chrome extension, folkX.
Use a CRM to take your sales efforts on LinkedIn to the next level
LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for networking and sales prospecting. However, one thing it lacks is a CRM system. Fortunately, folk is a CRM platform that empowers sales teams with visibility and a platform to collaborate as they move through the sales cycle.
Below are some of the ways you can use folk to help your sales team go from strength to strength.
1. Manage your sales pipeline
With folk, you can import all your leads and prospects into one place. This way, you can make use of features such as contact enrichment that helps you fill in data gaps, auto-deduplication of contacts so that your team doesn’t end up contacting the same person, twice and create notes and reminders that you can easily tag teammates on.
2. Craft ultra-personalized messages with the help of AI
InMail is LinkedIn's messaging feature that allows you to reach out directly to individuals outside of your immediate network. This feature can be particularly useful when connecting with potential leads, decision-makers, or industry influencers.
However, it doesn’t have a built-in AI integration that can help you craft ultra-personalized and compelling messages. Fortunately, folk’s CRM has an emailing tool with an AI integration called ‘Magic Field’. This allows users to create their own prompts that will tell the AI what to write, saving you time.
To get started, simply install folk’s Chrome extension, folkX and go to the prospect’s profile. On it, you’ll see an ‘add to folk’ button allowing you to import their contact details into folk without leaving the page.
3. Use folkX to export search lists from LinkedIn Sales Navigator in moments
As you look for prospects, you might be viewing several profiles a day without a way to save relevant search lists. With folkX, you can extract a search from LinkedIn in moments.
On the page of your search list, you’ll find an ‘add to folk’ button which will let you import new contacts in moments. This will open a new tab on the right-hand-side of your browser where you can add the search list to a particular group.
Conclusion
By following this step-by-step guide, you can unlock the full potential of LinkedIn for sales. Remember to continuously refine your profile, build meaningful relationships, utilize LinkedIn's advanced features, and implement effective sales strategies. With persistence and the right approach, LinkedIn can become a powerful tool to drive sales and grow your business.