The LinkedIn Sales Hack That No One's Talking About

Good Morning! Google announced they’ll be delaying their ban on cookies until next year, so you can keep stocking up on those double-stuffed Oreos (yea, we know - bad joke). The delay means marketers can continue to track your activity across websites, and hit you with those targeted ads that make you say, they have to be listening to me… 🍪 

In today’s Follow Up:

• A secret LinkedIn sales hack 👀 

• Sales call tip of the day 💡 

• Sales news around the web 🗞️ 

• Sales jobs, job market & a meme 😂 

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The LinkedIn Sales Hack No One's Talking About

LinkedIn is a salesperson’s best friend.

It’s the ultimate search engine to find the right person to beg to buy your product sell to.   

But there’s one big problem that gets in the way… you can only message people you’re connected to or you’ll need to pay for their premium features.

And even if you pay for Sales Navigator, your messages get marketed as InMail, which is like knocking on someone’s door and saying “I’m here to sell to you”.

That’s where this method comes into play.

It’s a little workaround that’s been kept hush hush by LinkedIn.

But before we jump in, let’s talk about why you NEED it.

LinkedIn 101

Messaging someone on LinkedIn requires you to be connected to them. And when you send a connection request to someone in your target market, they already know what’s up.

So, how do you get around this?

LinkedIn encourages you to use InMails.

To get these InMails, LinkedIn offers an upgrade to Premium or Sales Navigator giving you 30 InMails per month (side note - both tools are great on their own, even with this hack).

So your options are 1) connect with everyone you want to message or 2) pay for premium and show up as an InMail.

Unless you do this…

Step 1:  Join LinkedIn Groups Your Prospects Are In

Search and join industry or job-based groups.

For example, if you sell to cybersecurity leaders, join all of the top cybersecurity groups.

Once you join, play it cool. Anything that looks like spam or promoting will get you banned.

Step 2:  Find Your Prospects

You may already be targeting them or find them through a simple LinkedIn search. Here’s 3 examples:

Step 3:  Find Mutual LinkedIn Groups

See what groups they belong to and join at least one of them.

If you see a mutual group, go inside that group, click on the “show all” button on the top right, and search for them in the member directory.

Step 4:  Message Them!

Once you find them, click on the “message” button on the right and start spamming shoot them a message.

Advantages of Messaging Like This

1. Your message goes through without announcing it as an “InMail” or “Sponsored” message.  It looks like a message from someone they’re connected with.

2. Most LinkedIn members have their accounts set up with their work or personal email, so the chances of your message being seen are high.

3. Message an unlimited number of people using this strategy.

Remember, don’t spam, and save the pitch slap. Send a message like you’re their friend, rather than a sales rep with commission breath.

Editors Note:

You’re probably asking… why not just connect with them?  Well, because it’s not that easy. 

On average, less than 20% of cold connection requests are accepted. Buyers know why you want to connect and don’t want to be sold to.

*This strategy works for LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator users. For LinkedIn free users, there’s a chance you’ll be prompted to upgrade to a paid membership. If that happens, give it some time and try again later.

Checking In On The Job Market

VP: We'd like to offer you the role.
Me: Awesome, let's do it!
VP: Nvm.
😂 

Sales Meme of the Day