LinkedIn: Transition from traditional to modern selling. The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the inevitable shift from traditional sales to Digital. And this shift has revamped the selling techniques of various businesses. In the traditional brick-and-mortar set-up, you had to go over from one place to another to sell your products. In the digital set-up, which is a much dynamic version, salespeople have the liberty to expand their reach while curating a customized pitch message.
We are not writing-off the traditional method of selling because it still holds importance due to its conversation rate. We are simply acknowledging another method of selling, which is equally effective – at a given point in time. And this is because of the dynamic nature of time and technology.
The above exhibit from McKinsey & Company is the evidence that digital and traditional sales were almost neck-to-neck even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After the effects of the pandemic, the graph saw a substantial difference between the two modes of sales lead generation. While a complete shift from the traditional to the digital method may be intimidating, companies are looking at a transitional shift. Such a pace will allow them to watch through each step without plunging in head-first!
Why Should You Choose LinkedIn for Lead Generation?
LinkedIn lead generation has become a full-fledged service. According to Hootsuite – 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for Lead Generation and 62% vouch for its success through personal experiences. While there are other platforms for sales lead generation, LinkedIn is considered the most efficient platform for lead generation.
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Let’s look at the reasons why we must choose LinkedIn for Lead Generation.
- Everybody is on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has over 660 million members, out of which 40 million are in the decision-making position. And this overcomes the limitations of the traditional selling where the outreach was limited to a particular rooster. Since LinkedIn has such a wide network of people, salespersons are at the liberty of expanding their nexus. Given the number of decision-makers on this prominent platform, salespersons will be able to chalk-out the purchasing power hierarchy.
- It is a Thriving Platform
LinkedIn has a total of 675 million monthly users, and 40% of this number is accessing LinkedIn daily. It means that every day, a salesperson can engage with a new rooster of sales leads. The activity of LinkedIn, speaking in a strictly business sense, is higher than other social media platforms.
- Exponential Outreach in a Given Time-Frame
In a traditional selling set-up, a salesperson must visit many places to convert a percentage of their sales lead. In a digital set-up, the percentage of outreach is 3x the times of the traditional set-up. So when in a given time-frame, it becomes easier for the salesperson to generate multiple sales leads.
- First Choice for B2B Marketers
80% of the B2B leads come from LinkedIn in comparison to other social selling platforms. It means that if you’re using LinkedIn for lead generation, you’re already capturing a large chunk of the market.
We’ve seen how LinkedIn is the perfect social platform to generate leads. We’ve also gone through the transition from traditional to social selling, as a result of which LinkedIn lead generation has gained popularity. Let us now look at how to curate a perfect sales pitch for your LinkedIn lead generation process.
How to Make the Perfect Sales Pitch?
Digital sales play on the limitations of traditional sales. In the latter set-up, a salesperson doesn’t have the liberty of dwelling into their prospect’s details. And cold-outreaching doesn’t count for a strong sales pitch, anymore. The digital sales set-up is liberal enough to allow us the time to scan through a prospect’s profile to devise a sales pitch. Let us now look at the ways and practices through which you can create the perfect sales pitch.
● KYPC (Know Your Prospective Customer)
As a rational business-owner, you know the importance of knowing your customer/client and the impact it can have on your sales. Now, if you are indulging in LinkedIn lead generation to enhance your sales activity, then you must research your prospective client’s profile. Let’s understand this with the help of an example.
Whenever you’re scrutinizing a LinkedIn profile, here are the two things that you must glace at to know your prospective client.
The Activity log: It shows the posts that the prospect has liked or reacted to, and gives you an idea about their professional likes and dislikes. In this screenshot, the prospect has shared multiple posts from Google. It tells us that his interest is vested in Google.
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About: This section of the profile gives you an insight into the prospect’s life. Users generally share an excerpt from their professional journey. And that could be helpful for you to curate a customized message.
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Perform Ground Work and Update Your Profile.While making a sales pitch, you must remember that your profile is also under scrutiny. Our idea is not to update your profile for every lead. It is to capture a niche based on some parameters and update your profile for the duration of the outreach.
For example, this profile below says that the prospect has had rich work experience in building his business called RustyBrick Inc. You can use that to your benefit and find out about the company. Later, while curating a pitch, you can make it a part of your message.
While scrutinizing various profiles, you must go through the skills and endorsement section to find common ground.
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Personalized Messages. Sending every lead the same message may have ramifications. They may range from no reply to not even opening the message in their accounts. To avoid such a situation, you must curate a personalized message. The message must be a concise form of whatever you could gather from their profile.
Let’s consider writing a sales pitch to the profile we’ve used as an example;
Hi Barry,
I see you’ve received laureates in the dynamic SEO arena. I’d love to connect with you since we share a common interest in SEO and Digital Marketing. We’ll have something to speak about over a steaming cup of e-coffee!
Waiting to hear from you
XYZ
Designation
Don’t Write to Sell, Write to Connect. You just saw that we didn’t begin selling right from the beginning. We sent them a connection message, to begin with, which was a summary of the quick scan that we took of their profile.
The idea is not to sell, but it is to make connections. Because in the long run, you want these connections to continue being in business with you. This way is much beneficial than writing a sales pitch for one transaction.
Give Them Space, Yet Schedule a Follow-Up. Sometimes, you may not receive a response from the other end. And if you’re in sales, you must learn to handle the rejection. But you must also learn to turn that rejection into a Yes!
To do that, you have to plan your follow-ups!
More often than not, due to the volume of outreach, you may forget to take follow-ups on your prospects. And this is not a healthy habit.
Since we exist in a rational set-up, every client needs some time to think about buying a product or service. So we must give them a window to think about it and make a calculated decision.
From the Expert – The Last Word!
LinkedIn Lead Generation is the most powerful service due to LinkedIn’s prominence. And given the shift from traditional to digital selling, its usage is on the rise. Here are a few points that you adhere to if you want to convert your lead;
- Invest hours in researching your prospect. It accounts for a higher chance of sales conversion.
- Don’t begin selling right from the first message. Save it for later!
- The goal should be to make a connection that lasts long.
- Don’t make it seem like a pitch. Let the conversation take its natural course.
Chaitanya Patel is an ardent writer at ZealousWeb, who generates best-in-class posts on a wide range of digital marketing tools and techniques. He also produces well-researched and factual posts on various other topics. In his free time, you will either find him spending quality time with his loved ones or surfing over the internet for technical exposure.
LinkedIn stock photo by PK Studio/Shutterstock
