For those of you who did not know, I have two YouTube Channels focused on serving you.
The first one is all about using LinkedIn as a Business Tool. As you all may know, I have been practicing using LinkedIn as a Business Tool since 2007, and I now have 1000+ videos on this channel.
The second channel, the newest, is all about using Google Workspace and Gmail as business tools. What many don’t know is I have been using Google Workspace since 2007 as well, and I’ve been a Gmail user since even before then. I have created lots of business processes around using Google Workspace Email, Calendar, Contacts, Drive, Forms, Slides, Sheets, YouTube, Trends, Alerts, Chrome, and various other Google Products.
I share this with you as I want you to know that routinely I create videos to answer the questions I am asked.
Therefore, if you have a question about using LinkedIn as a Business Tool, I will create a video for you and share it via YouTube.
If you ask me a question about Google Workspace or Gmail, I will do the same thing.
Therefore, here is the suggestion/request.
Please subscribe to my youTube channels so I can help you with the videos I share.
There are a few ways you can message LinkedIn Members you are not yet connected with.
By default, LinkedIn only allows us to directly message our 1st level LinkedIn Connections. However, there are options to overcome this limitation.
LinkedIn Groups – If you are in a LinkedIn Group with the LinkedIn Member you want to message, you can view them in the member list of the group and send them a message from within the Group. Read more – LinkedIn Messaging in Groups
Open Networker – If the LinkedIn Member you want to message is a premium LinkedIn subscriber they may have enabled Open Profile. This allows any 2nd or 3rd level LinkedIn Member to send a free InMail message to them. Read more – LinkedIn Open Profile
Mutual Connection Introduction – If you have mutual LinkedIn connections with the LinkedIn Member you want to message, you can ask a mutual connection to send a LinkedIn message or an email to introduce you to them. If the mutual connection opts to use a LinkedIn message they can create a message that is addressed to you and the LinkedIn Member. Read More – LinkedIn Introductions
Premium LinkedIn InMails – This feature is only available to Premium LinkedIn Subscribers. However, InMails, used properly and written focused on the other person often can open up a new conversation. Read more – LinkedIn Inmail Tips
Bump into their content – If the LinkedIn Member is active on LinkedIn, you may be able to find a piece of their content that is relevant to you which you could engage on directly.
Tag them in a Company Page Comment – Where relevant and appropriate, you could tag the LinkedIn Member you want to talk with in a comment on a relevant LinkedIn Company Page post.
Look for them on other Social Media – This may not work for most LinkedIn Members, however there are some who actively engage on Twitter, YouTube, Quora, Facebook Groups, their Blog, Tumblr, Reddit, etc. These other social media channels could be a way to reach the LinkedIn Member you want to contact.
Go IRL – even during the Pandemic of 2020/2021 you could find the LinkedIn Member you want to message through a virtual or in real life networking event. Pay attention to what events they attend and, where relevant and appropriate, visit those networking events.
Call them – I agree, cold calling is the least likely way to engage with a LinkedIn Member who does not yet know you. However, if you are able to use any of these other tactics, it may not be a cold call.
Email them – As with cold calling, this may not be a possibility. It may take extra work to find out what their email address is. However, where possible, this could be another channel that could create the opportunity for a conversation.
Send them a letter – I list this as an option because there are times where it could work. Again, if you have used any of the other tactics a letter may not go unopened and could result in an opportunity for a conversation. One of the challenges today is discovering where to send a letter as with the 2020/2021 pandemic ongoing, they may not get mail from the office.
Message them via a LinkedIn Invite – I offer this option only as a last resort. I firmly believe LinkedIn Invites should be just for that purpose – sending an invite that is accepted. however, once you send a LinkedIn Invite, or they send you one, this opens up LinkedIn messaging for continued conversation, even if the invite is not accepted.
In sales training, we are told that it can take 7+ times touching a lead to move them into a business conversation. I don’t necessarily subscribe to this philosophy in regards to sales as I know first hand, until they have the interest and/or the need, you can try to touch them as many times as you want, however, many will not respond until they are ready.
Rather than trying to move someone into a business conversation too early, I strive to move them into a very simple and friendly human-to-human conversation. This makes the sales process longer, but the invite to meet someone new is often accepted before the invite to have a business conversation. The other person needs to develop some level of trust & respect with a stranger before they are willing to consider a business conversation. Because of this, I regularly recommend, be working on multiple prospects at all times. Seeking to move them all into that initial human-to-human conversation.
I was totally blown away at the results of my last Text Expander report
In the past 3 months, I have saved over 20 hours of time, at a typing rate of 60 words per minute. And this does not include the amount of time I save not misspelling my website URL, email address, and dozens of other phrases I have created Text Expander snippets for.
compensated affiliate link
I have been using Text Expander since prior to 2015 and now have it on my laptop, desktop, iPad, and iPhone. I love it when I hit a snippet that saves me lots of time.
One tip I have for using Text Expander is – I write short email scripts in it and when I am messaging dozens of people with the same message all I have to do is type in the snippet, fill in their name and their company name, and the rest is automatically typed for me. I can’t imagine using copy/paste dozens of times and hoping to remember to change the name and company name text each time.
If you do a lot of keyboard work I encourage you to check out Text Expander.
BTW – this offer directly from Text Expander allows me to get you a 20% discount off the 1st year subscription.
I hope you take advantage of this really useful business tool
/Teddy
Reminder – I am an affiliate for Text Expander. I get compensated for sharing this message, although I am only an affiliate of products I use and totally recommend.
It takes time to craft your style, messaging, the right words, delivery, active listening skills and to learn how to respond to soft objections. I’m no expert, however, I have been practicing since 2005 and have gotten good at making phone calls and getting acceptable responses on my calls and voice mail messages.
I’ll share a few tips I have learned over the years that make cold calling more rewarding for me, then I will share a few tips that I use to nearly eliminate cold calling altogether.
10 Tips you can use to become better at Cold Calling
#1 – Build your list before starting your calls. You do not want to waste time looking for people to call as you are getting into the swing of doing good calls. Tip – work on similar businesses in each cold calling campaign. This helps you from having to switch between different keywords & terminology.
#2 – Set aside at least 1 hour to make your calls. It takes time to get into the groove and feel comfortable executing the calls. Turn off all notifications so you are not distracted from the task at hand.
#3 – Research – You will want to know why you are calling this person, who are they, where did they last work, what is their company about, what is it you want to talk with them about.
#4 – Apply Dale Carnegie principles – Smile, use the other person’s name, Speak in terms of their interests, make the other person feel important.
#5 – Practice – Practice saying hello, Practice bonding and rapport phrases, practice your purpose for the call statement, practice your initial question, practice your call to action request, practice using the pause to get the other person to reply, practice listening.
#6 – Practice better voice mail messages. You will want to script out the voice mail message so it’s clear, concise, compelling, and interesting. Remember to use Dale Carnegie principles.BTW – you may want 3-4 different VM scripts in case you are leaving yet another VM.
#7 – Learn to accept rejection. Cold calling is a numbers game. And it takes a bunch of calls to get to that one person who is interested in what you can do for them.
#8 – Call early in the morning and never on Friday afternoon. I have discovered, for me, if you are cold calling C-Level employees they are more likely to answer their phones early in the morning than any other time of the day. There is no reason you can’t call them at 7:30 AM.
#9 – Don’t read a script. Rather have your flow chart of discussion points. Know what you want to say if they drop a soft objection, ask a question, or say something you did not expect.
#10 – Study other cold calling tactics. There is lots of content, articles, videos, etc, on this topic. Research different philosophies and try them out. Follow smart people who teach cold calling skills. Experiment with the adjustments to ideas you discover.
#11 – Always be appreciative of their time, even when they say no or you have to leave a VM.
#12 – Don’t try to sell your products/services in a cold call. Instead, work to develop enough trust and rapport to get them into an open conversation where you can learn more and understand if or how what you offer may be relevant and useful to them, while you also qualify them as a prospect.
#13 – Don’t make cold calls when you are desperate. It shows in your words and in how you engage with your prospect.
My Style of Calling Prospects is a little different
I no longer cold call, ie call people who don’t know me. I use relevant introductions and/or social engagement before I call them.
Here are few times I use to accomplish these introductions and/or for them to discover me first.
#1 – Get an Introduction – I look for a mutual connection (via LinkedIn or Facebook) and ask them to introduce me to the prospect. I’ll then connect with them on LinkedIn and review their LinkedIn Profile, again, before I call them. Developing mutual connections to your target audience requires regularly growing your LinkedIn Network with people who are relevant to your business goals.
#2 – Bump into your target audience on LinkedIn – Engage on their content. If they are active on LinkedIn I will look for their most recent content on LinkedIn that is relevant to me and I’ll comment or share the content, often @Tagging them in the comment. BTW, another way to bump into people is in real life networking. During the pandemic of 2020-2021, this is slow going, but as we recover being publicly present in the right places helps to create opportunities to bump into your target audience.
#3 – Bump into them on their other Social Media content. If they are publicly active on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, I will look for new content that is relevant to me and I’ll engage on it. When people see you are relevant to them beyond business it makes the initial calls easier.
Regardless of if I am cold calling or calling someone who knows me well. I will strive to do three things to encourage them to get into conversations with me.
#1 – Be willing to do something to help them, even if it does not result in business for you. Call it whatever you want, do this with no expectations and you’ll be more successful in your business/life.
#2 – Remember they are humans with responsibilities and challenges. We are not a priority to them until we are a priority for them. If you want to treat them as humans, don’t always call them to pitch your stuff. Call and ask about them, and ask how you could help them.
#3 – Don’t become a bother to them. Some sales leaders will say, keep calling. I prefer to limit my calls/emails to once a quarter at the most. The bigger your pipeline is, the less you’ll bother anyone of them in it.
Are you getting great results Cold Calling? Could you ramp up your game? Should you explore asking for introductions more often and minimizing your cold calling?
You can download the PDF version of the Certification and add it to your LinkedIn Profile under Certifications.
To add it to your LinkedIn Profile as a Certification, right click on the Red text above and copy the Link or URL. Go into LinkedIn and add the Certification and past the URL in the link
We look forward to seeing you excel using LinkedIn as a Business Tool
