Beata Staszkow
LinkedIn has already given you several good prospect opportunities. Utilise them now!
Discovering prospects is quite easy on LinkedIn and you probably have plenty of potential new customers in your existing network of contacts. This post explains how you can leverage your existing network list, and hopefully generate more business, or at the very least make your connections more meaningful and useful.
Leveraging Companies in your 1st Degree Network
In the search box dropdown choose company and click the magnifying glass. Every company on LinkedIn, around 7.5 million will be displayed.
On the left choose 1st degree. This will filter out the companies so that only your 1st degree company connections are displayed.
From this point you can use the filter tools to view companies by size, location, and industry.
If you right click on the company name and open it in a new tab (this is a two finger click on a Mac product), you can click on the 1st degree connections you have that works for that particular company. You can also identify who are the influential people to contact.
With this in mind, reach out to your 1st degree connections and ask to schedule a phone call.
Hopefully, at the very least they can put you in touch with the influential people in the company.
Finding Businesses you would like as Clients
If you have specific companies in mind that would like to target simply search for them on LinkedIn. Type their name in the search box and click the magnifying glass, or choose the company from the dropdown list.
Handy tip: Bottom-right is a “People also viewed” button which shows similar companies to your current target one. So you might want to add these to your target list.
If you click through to the new prospects company page, you should be able to see all of your 1st degree connections at that company. If you do not have 1st degree connections, filter for 2nd degree connections. The idea here is that you are trying to find someone you broadly know who can make an introduction to the decision makers in that company.
Once you have a good target contact, click the hyperlink to see if there are people in your network that are connected to them. Always offer to return the favour. As we have stated before, LinkedIn works on a favours for favours basis.
Then, use this template to make your introduction.
Handy Template for your Use
Dear [Insert name],
I hope you are well. I noticed you were connected to [Insert the name of your desired connection] I was wondering if you would provide an introduction for me. If you could copy us both in an email or LinkedIn message, I can then handle the rest. To make this an easy process I have included a short paragraph which you can copy and paste:
I would like to introduce you to [Insert your name] [Job title and Company]. I thought it made sense for you two to connect. You may well decide to work together in the future. [Insert value proposition and USPs here (Example, “Beata, helps businesses brand online and leverage LinkedIn and social media to find new opportunities. She does the same for C-level executives wishing to fast track their careers and develops personal branding and career transition programs. Her programs have helped hundreds of executives and businesses progress and achieve their potential.”) [Your name] will be contacting you within a few days, so please take his/her call.
Alternatively, here are their contact details.
[Insert contact details]
Using Your Clients Connections
If you look at your client’s profile, you’ll see two options on the right. “People also viewed”, and “People similar to”.
If you click through you are almost certain to find people in similar industries, who would be interested in your services and products. If they are 2nd degree connections, scroll through and see if you have a 1st degree connection who can introduce you. Use the above template once again.
Let us promote your Business on LinkedIn and Social Media
Our business service helps start-ups and established business leverage LinkedIn and other social networks. As a result their client list and branding profiles have increased considerably. If you are in need of leveraging LinkedIn for prospecting, professional branding and/or networking I invite you to have a conversation. Whether or not we decide to do business together, I am confident that our call will be full of insights and provide actionable steps that can help you grow your business. Click here and pick a time that is most convenient for you. I am looking forward to our call.
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