There are three things that every entrepreneur wishes for and these are:
- New clients
- More repeat buyers
- More referrals
So the question is, how do you turn this wish into reality with what you currently have on board? This is one thing that I have been able to solve with the use of a free online tool that has made my marketing a lot easier.
You need to know who your customers are if you want to find them
This process is not alien as it involves one of most innovative networking platform for businesses, Linkedin. Yes. A lot of people think that LinkedIn is boring as they most probably think it is just for finding a job. However, you are wrong as I have been able to make use of LinkedIn to build my business. The steps that I personally use these eight steps to create a LinkedIn profile that creates 10-15 sales appointments every week and a very comfortable six-figure business – not to mention this strategy helped inform my book, Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business.
So I am going to take you through the easy ways that you can use to build your business on LinkedIn.
How to Get New Clients on LinkedIn
Step 1: How to Identify Your Ideal Customer Avatar
When you want to create the right LinkedIn profile, you have to start with your customers and address these questions:
- What qualities do you need in a customer
- How will you find them?
This is the first step in using LinkedIn in getting new customers and you also need to look out for what makes your client keeping patronizing your services and how to find them.
To find out who your ideal customers are, you need to do an audit on your current customer base. Analyze the 20% that patronize your business more and focus more on them. Then, you need to fill out your top 20% customer base so as to avoid an idea of where they come from and when you are done with this process you can then move to how to attract new customers.
Step 2: The Problem You Solve for Your Customers
The next step to attracting new customers on LinkedIn is to solve their problem because what they truly care about. You have to identify the 5 areas that they have issues and what makes them stay up at night.
You can fill out in a chart format. This will enable you to go beyond the product or service you offer and hit on what really matters: the end result and the feeling they’ll get the end result.
Customers go for results, not for products
Remember, people buy end results, they don’t buy products. For instance, a person doesn’t go to a hardware store to buy a hammer. They go to a hardware store to buy a hammer so they can hang pictures of their loved ones and make their place feel homey.
When you know the problems that your customers face, it will be a lot easier to address them and communicate with them effectively. Once you have taken care of this then you can move on to the next step which is to beef up your profile.
Step 3: How to Create a Client-Attracting LinkedIn Profile
You never get a second chance to make a great first impression,” this quote is true about everything in life so it definitely applies to business and your LinkedIn profile.
According to a study by the International Data Corporation (IDC), 83% of business professionals look at your LinkedIn profile BEFORE doing business with you.
So if you do not have the right LinkedIn profile, there is a very high chance that they will opt out of your page and in order to avoid this you need to look out for these 6 factors:
- Use The Right Profile Background
Your background of your photo is one thing that people notice when they come to your profile so you need to ensure that it is as professional as possible. The background image has to pass a message and generate interest in your brand.
- A Smiling and Friendly Face
The profile picture on your page has to stand out and look professional with a friendly look on your face. Keep away any blurry photo or selfies.
- An Easy Name
It is important that people recognize your name as they come across it so you need to do away with symbols, title and unnecessary certification that might make it hard for them to locate you.
- Let Your Headline Grab Attention
The fact that LinkedIn inputs your job title and the name of your company in profile are great but to stand out you need to put in more words that make you unique from the rest. This would ensure that anyone who is struggling can easily click on your profile from the rest of the crowd because of the extra effort that you put in.
The goal is to create a statement that is compelling enough to get people to click your profile to get more information on you.
Get At Least 501 Connections
If you want to be seen as a serious businessman then you need to bump up your page to a minimum of 500+ connections because it enhances your credibility and authority within your niche.
It would be difficult for people to do business with you if you have a small following because this shows that you do not have a lot of leverage in the industry that you can use to back your services.
You can easily enhance your connection by reaching out to people you meet at the event after you have exchanged your business card. A simple message about how great your meeting with them was will set the tone for a nice discussion and a connection will most likely follow.
You can hit 500+ on LinkedIn but you need the right strategy to do so
Step 4: Using LinkedIn to Connect and Build a Relationship with Your Ideal Customer Avatar
A lot of people and companies often send out generic sales messages that put people off so you need to avoid this pitfall by ensuring that you craft a more friendly message that focuses more on them rather than you.
Personally, I believe in sending out a message that relates to more to their needs and this has increased my reach by over 20% in the last few months after I moved away from the generic message trend.
A simple question could trigger a conversation that will lead to potential profit for your business. After I ask them about themselves, I then tell them something great about me and drive them to my LinkedIn page or my website. At this stage, I still don’t make any sales pitch because I believe in creating a relationship first before doing that.
Step 5: How to Keep in Touch with Your LinkedIn Connections
This involves sending out a short and inquisitive messages to your connections on LinkedIn to pique their interest in what you do. Moral of the story, it won’t hurt to reach out.
So ensure that you put this at the top of your schedule at all times and it has become a little easier with the new LinkedIn update which makes it easier for users to reach their connection without too much hassle when you have a new product or services coming up.
When you stay in touch, it keeps you at the top of their mind and you can then drive conversion within a short period of time if your product is worth their while.
Step 6: Get Your LinkedIn Connection on the Phone
There is nothing that comes close to having a phone or one on one conversation with potential clients to discuss their business challenges and how you can help them become more successful in the long run.
I close all my coaching clients via phone consultations/strategy sessions, and I do this by asking one final question at the end of the phone conversation: Is how can I help you? These phone calls make it easier for me to close the deals and this takes us to our next step.
Step 7: How to Build Your LinkedIn Profile’s Authority
At this point, the connection that you have on your LinkedIn is already your client and benefits from your services. So you have to rely on this group to recommend new users to your business on LinkedIn. This is the easiest way to get great recommendations on LinkedIn. “This is where you work your magic and use your expertise to help solve your clients’ business problems.
When you solve people’s problems, there is a very good chance that they will revert to you over and over again. Next, when the first project is complete, write a LinkedIn recommendation for them and describe how it was working with them. Once they receive the recommendation, LinkedIn will prompt them to write a recommendation for you.
This is the fastest and easiest way to get recommendations on LinkedIn and it will help you develop your profile faster and give it a more professional look. Recommendations act as social proof, and not a lot of things as more powerful than social proof.
Step 8. Rinse and Repeat Steps 4 Through 7
Capitalize your success by continuing the process:
- Invite a potential prospect on LinkedIn by sending them a direct and personalized invitation message.
- Stay in touch with them using short and inquisitive messages. And share top quality content with them that will help their biggest business challenges.
- When they respond to your messages, ask them for a short phone conversation so you can learn more about their challenges and pain points. At the end of the call, ask if they’d like your help.
When they hire you:
- Solve their problem
- Give them a perfect LinkedIn recommendation
And ask them the different ways that you can help them. Now that you have been able to establish your brand properly on LinkedIn, you need to keep developing your brand till it becomes even bigger.
