I’m sure that the vast majority of B2B marketers will, at the very least, acknowledge the value of LinkedIn for business, and with social selling having become an increasing focus within many organisations, LinkedIn have upped their game, and most likely their value to these B2B professionals, by launching a new version of enterprise sales tool, Sales Navigator.
Recently launched as a standalone product, Sales Navigator leverages LinkedIn’s network of over 316 million members, in order to identify relevant sales leads and companies, generate valuable insights to keep users informed of key updates and provide a platform for salespeople to connect with these prospects, build trust and pitch them on their products or services.
With Sales Navigator much more than just a repository of potential leads, it can be difficult to know where to get started, and with that in mind here are some tips that will provide guidance on how you can successfully leverage it for maximum effect.
Define your target demographics to create highly specific prospect lists
As obvious as it may seem, it’s incredibly important to make sure you fully understand the demographics of your target audience, i.e. location, size of organisation, industry, years of experience, seniority level and even interests. The more specific you get, the far easier it will be to create and save highly relevant prospect lists when using the Lead Builder feature, a database function that builds lists of leads based on different variables, and will update based on LinkedIn members individual profiles. Additionally, it is possible to narrow the list further by only including prospects with whom you have a mutual connection.
Utilise premium search
Using the advanced search tool, you are able to effectively prospect for sales leads, and track the activity of existing leads. LinkedIn’s recent acquisition of Newsle has conveniently provided the platform with this media tracking technology, providing real-time updates about what your leads are saying in the press, on social media as well as on other online channels.
Gather prospect intelligence
Arguably the most important feature of Sales Navigator, is in its ability to keep users informed with key insights on target leads and accounts. These insights are then pushed into a single stream, surfacing data such as role changes, press announcements, status updates, work anniversaries, leads connecting with someone in your network, shares highlighting what your leads care about, people or company news mentions, as well new potential contacts or decision makers when target company’s make new key hires. These insights can be a powerful tool when it comes to sales prospecting, and by receiving relevant and timely sales insights on your target accounts and leads, you’re in a far better position to tailor your pitches and approaches accordingly. It’s worth remembering that you can in fact narrow your search by filtering these updates.
Make the most of lead recommendations
Using LinkedIn’s sophisticated algorithm, Sales Navigator will provide you with relevant lead recommendations, based on both your preferences and historical saved leads. These will typically be other decision makers and influencers at the same, and similar companies.
Leverage CRM integration
Impressively, Sales Navigator is now able to sync account and contact information with Salesforces’ CRM platform, a feature that will be highly beneficial to Salesforce users. By integrating existing CRM database information, with profiles within the LinkedIn network, users are provided with a deeper picture of each prospect, making their sales prospecting far more effective. It is worth noting, however, that Sales Navigator does not currently integrate with marketing automation systems.
Familiarise yourself with TeamLink
Arguably one of the most effective ways to generate more sales is to score a personal introduction via TeamLink. While LinkedIn introductions have always been valuable to salespeople, a result of being solicited through a common, and usually trusted, connection, this TeamLink tool enables users to quickly identify how both colleagues and ex-colleagues, are connected to prospects, making it easier to decide on the best path to an introduction, while further increasing the number of these opportunities. When it comes to actually making these introductions, it is worth remembering to apply the same principles that you would in person. Requests for introductions should consist of a brief explanation of how you want to be introduced, why you want to be introduced and how exactly you can help the prospect, but do remember to save the sales pitch for after the connection has been made!
If you would like any help in implementing an effective social media strategy, get in touch with us on +44 (0)1243 531123, or send an email to mike@napierb2b.com.