You can say that the base of every great lead gen process is knowing your perfect prospect – not only do you need to find the right companies, but you also need to find the right persons within those companies to speak to at the right time, and figure out the right approach which is bound to be effective.
If you are still in a phase where you are doing most of the selling, there are a few interesting, totally free tactics you can use in your every-day routine.
Most of your prospective clients are likely on LinkedIn so use it to your maximum advantage! Build a badass profile, join groups relevant to your branch, research their participants, and be active.
Once you have a great profile you can start prospecting – make sure you get a premium account that will get you all the data you need.
Consolidate your presence and establish yourself as a high-profile player in your niche.
1. LinkedIn advanced search
If you already defined the right company that can use your services, use advanced search on LinkedIn to filter through territories, industries, or company size. Using the right keywords you’ll be able to search within the predefined filters but usually among people-related searches.
2. Boolean search
LinkedIn app limits every search you perform to 100 pages (or 300 for most of the premium accounts). That means you’ll not be able to see all the results. Boolean search on Google lets you go around this limitation. This search is just an advanced search query containing website you wish to search (linkedin.com in this case) with a combination of keywords such as a person’s job title.
3. Join LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn groups could be a powerful tool as they are gathering people and companies with a common interest who are willing to communicate if there is a great opportunity. You can send emails to group members even if they are not your connections. Make sure you are offering value and not spraying and spamming members.
The most effective approach is within an event related group. As these groups are usually created for networking, you can invite members to join your presentation, stop by your booth or get in touch if they wish to know more about your company.
The second great approach is to join interest-based groups and post relative comments, questions and share hot topics. Be different, daring and do not go with the flow – this will help you stand out and make your mark.
4. Write LinkedIn posts
It doesn’t matter if you have a digital manager or really anyone in your marketing team to get around your company’s social presence. Writing LinkedIn posts is all about you and it can be an effective tool to drive attention, educate the public about your product and boost your relevance as a thought leader. Make sure to choose a sassy title and an image that will amplify the main messages of the text. When someone is checking your profile, the first thing that they see under your basic info is the latest posts. Use it up!
5. Ask for a referral
If you have a great contact base on LinkedIn, ask your friends for a warm introduction. Make sure you offer a referral agreement and dissent compensation. In the early stages of your business, the most deals you’ll close will be based on your connections and recommendations. It’s easy once you get that first million of dollars, but until that comes about use what you already have.
6. Badass who-viewed-my-profile option
This is one of the greatest LinkedIn features. There are 2 approaches:
- Someone views your profile – save all the viewers by snapping a print screen. This way you can view their profiles back when you are ready and send a template email/InMail asking if there is a way you can help/work together as you noticed he/she recently viewed your profile. This is a pretty standard approach on LinkedIn so there should not be any negative bounce backs.
- You viewing prospects’ profiles – use this option to the maximum. The most frequently checked option on LinkedIn is who viewed my profile. So as soon as you check out someone’s profile the chances are that someone will view yours. This way you are maximizing your visibility among prospects and making sure you stay on top of someone’s mind.
The main catch is to know who can buy your product and to identify decision makers and influencers. Once you get your process up and running, you can document it, scale it and measure the effectiveness. If you need help with building a prospect list or your process, contact us for a free consultation.
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