Turn Cold Conversations Into Clients
Stumped with what to say to that perfect-fit client? Is this too salesy, pushy, spammy or borderline stalker?
Personalization only goes so far before bordering on downright creepy.
When it comes to kickstarting a cold conversation on LinkedIn, it helps to know the "do's and don'ts" to be sure you create a positive lasting impression. Nobody likes to get muted or labeled as a spammer. Am I right?
Unlocking the power of LinkedIn begins in your conversations, and since we cannot take a peek into anyone else's DMs, it's hard to know what actually works and doesn't!
Get behind the scenes to find out what you can actually say in a DM to start a great conversation that leads to new business opportunities, a potential collaboration, a new client or even a dream job discussion!
In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, I'll be taking you INTO my LinkedIn direct messages, so you can see the types of conversations I'm having with my own LinkedIn network and share with you some of my favorite conversation tips!
Stop Automating Every Message in Your LinkedIn Messages
One of the biggest mistakes I see a lot of people make when they first get started on using LinkedIn to get into conversations with their ideal prospects is that they treat LinkedIn messages like they would email campaigns or outreach.
They craft a perfect sequence of messages and stick to this sequence - rather than adjusting after message one based on the direction that conversation is leading.
This takes a LOT of practice to get it just right, but you’ve got to start somewhere. It’s okay to make mistakes and learn from them.
Typical sequences I see flow like this…
I’m an expert in… look at all my amazing accomplishments… I solve this problem...
Then, would you like to chat about this problem I assume that you have
Great, here’s my calendar!
Then, why didn’t you respond, let’s chat
Here’s my calendar again!
I guess you’re not interested in, but in case you know somebody who is…
You probably have been on the receiving end of messages like these and wished that they would STOP with their brilliant sequence and just start chatting with you like a real person.
So, there’s nuance to reaching out on LinkedIn. In emails when we opt-in to someone’s list, we expect to hear a bit more of the backstory, about me, about my business, about my services, blah - blah - blah.
These old ways at how we start conversations via email affect how we reach out on LinkedIn.
Thing is, on LinkedIn people don’t care about all that backstory, unless they specifically ask for the details.
They want to know ONE thing: who are you as a person from a professional point of view?
This is something that I learned after moving to Hawai’i. On the mainland, people always lead their questions with “what do you do?” In Hawai’i, people want to know “who are you?” as a first step before they ever ask what you do… and I’ve known people for years who still have no idea what I do and don’t care!
When I applied this same principle to how I approach LinkedIn, I noticed that I started getting more two-way conversations with people because I care about WHO they are, not just what I could potentially sell them at some point. That’s an aside.
All you need to do in your LinkedIn messages is have a good back-and-forth conversation in the DMs.
People want to know that you are human, and that you respond like a human.
Nobody wants to be hit with a message that feels like a very clever marketer wrote it…
So why are you still hiring expensive social selling consultants to create these messages for you?
Because you don’t trust yourself.
That trust in yourself, that you know what to say and how to say it IS what’s going to make you successful on LinkedIn.
Yes, I help people craft messages, but I think it’s more important that their personality and how they would say things comes across more than ANYTHING clever that I could come up with.
This is a one-to-one conversation between you and your perfect client.
You cannot outsource that conversation completely, contrary to what any LinkedIn expert tells you.
Treat your conversations as one of the most important aspects of your business development strategy because it is.
How you communicate with new customers is the lifeblood of your business pipeline.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, start sending a few LinkedIn connection invitations “like a human” to see what happens!
You may be pleasantly surprised about the response you receive.
Let’s Strike Up a Conversation!
Okay, Mindi. I get it. I need to be the one to start these conversations that will lead to booking more clients, but I have no idea where to begin.
You’re going to be human first.
When you meet someone in real life, how do you start that conversation?
Maybe you’re an introvert like me and have to see someone dozens of times before you say something, but guess what? That’s okay.
I’m one of those surfers who doesn’t say a word, especially when I am at an unfamiliar spot or see a lineup of people I don’t recognize.
First of all, I wait to say anything until I’ve surfed that same break a couple dozen times and feel like I understand my place in that lineup. Hierarchy and localism are a big deal in surfing. You never “hot dog” your way through a lineup.
I work a lot on “reading the lineup” especially as a novice surfer.
Once I’ve seen this person probably a couple dozen times, I have an idea of their favorite spot to sit in the lineup, their surfing ability, their favorite board, what they wear, how they approach other surfers, and what types of waves they like to surf.
Then, I’ll wait till they catch a good wave and compliment them on that wave that I KNOW they were proud to catch. It’s a very simple gesture, but it opens the dialogue and also shows that I pay a lot of attention to the details and am not just handing out compliments.
Less is more.
The same applies to LinkedIn messages. You can learn a LOT about someone before you ever get into the LinkedIn messages with them. Once they respond, you’ll learn which direction they want to go with the conversation.
Here are some responses I tend to notice:
“Thanks for connecting, no further communication necessary”
“What do you sell? I might be looking for someone like you.”
“How did you find me?”
“Let’s talk shop… I love meeting new people!”
“Can we hop on a quick Zoom call?”
“I want to tell you all about myself…”
You use that knowledge of “reading the lineup” to craft a response that lets them know you have done your homework and belong in their network and messages.
That’s all it takes! It sounds too simple, but most people will never take the time to treat their messages in this way.
They want a quicker approach that just brings all these people to them and requires no emotional or mental output from them to cultivate a relationship.
This approach may work on some level, but never to the degree that will consistently turn those cold conversations into new business opportunities.
[Wondering what this means in real life? Let’s hop into my LinkedIn messages!]
3 Ways to Turn Cold Messages into Hot Zoom Calls
Let’s talk about exactly what it takes to turn cold messages into great Zoom calls using LinkedIn, what it takes to create a high-converting outreach message, and how to set up your LinkedIn outreach process to fill your sales pipeline "the mango way" 🥭
#1 - How many conversations do you want to have?
You need to figure out exactly who your perfect client is on LinkedIn, which may be different from other social channels.
You’ll then need to do some research to figure out how many of them are on LinkedIn. If you have a very broad market, this may not be a concern. For example, if you’re targeting marketing agency owners, you’ll have years’ worth of target prospects on LinkedIn.
But if you have a narrow market where you think that your perfect-fit clients are probably less than 1,000 in total - you’ll need to be SURE that you take your time with your outreach message. For example, if you’re targeting Fortune 500 companies, your market is going to be a lot smaller.
I like to do an addressable market assessment for most of my clients and teach those inside my Accelerator programs how to easily run this assessment because this will give a more accurate sense of how many months’ worth of “target market runway” you have inside LinkedIn.
Basically, you need to know how big more audience is AND how many conversations you need to have each month to generate the necessary revenue for your business.
#2 - How do you respond to keep the conversation going?
We talked a little about this earlier, but it all comes down to really knowing your target audience and what they respond to.
If you already have existing customers, then think about the types of messages they responded to when you reached out to them all that time ago. You’re going to want to pay attention to the themes and problems you help them solve, and also how you can break the ice to start that conversation.
If people tend to come to you by referral, what does that referrer say about you in that message? I always listen for the keywords and how I am described by someone who refers business to me because there are clues I can use in my cold outreach.
Do you share any similarities with the types of organizations you’re a member of or communities you both belong to? These are GOLD when it comes to messaging because it gives you an easy way to start the conversation in a way that feels natural. If it’s meant to continue beyond the pleasantries, it will. If not, you’ve made a new business friend.
Do you have a podcast or show or blog where you interview experts, like them? If you do, it’s a very natural way to to start a conversation that does not have that salesy feel to it because you think they’d be a great guest and could contribute their insights (PLUS, get a bigger audience in return!)
It all depends on your target audience, and you have to figure out what gets their attention without feeling like a sales pitch.
#3 - How do you refine your process to get more conversations?
You test the process. You literally research 10-30 people that are perfect-fit prospects and test your messaging over the course of 30 days.
You then measure your results to see what worked.
If your sales process is typically longer than 30 days, you may need to simply pay attention to how many conversations you have during that timeframe as opposed to how many clients you closed during that time.
You then figure out a cadence that will work for you ongoing to give you the number of conversations you need to fill your sales pipeline.
I work with people inside my Accelerator programs to figure out every single step along the way and how to actually assess the results they get over a 30-60-90 day period to understand which levers they need to pull to improve their results.
Once you get into a good rhythm with your outreach, you rinse and repeat! I have worked with clients who keep the same rhythm for several months (and some for 1-2 years) before we change anything because you don’t mess with a system that’s working.
Turning cold conversations into new client on LinkedIn can be as simple as you want it to be - it’s all about responding to your messages in a way that works for you and generates the results you want.
If you’re ready to get started with LinkedIn and take the next step to optimize your profile once and for all, so you can start growing your network on the regular or land your next opportunity, join me inside The LinkedIn Accelerator program which is now open for enrollment with classes kicking off this Monday, April 18!
What additional questions do you have about turning cold conversations into new business? Leave them below in the comments or shoot me a private message. I’m happy to answer themWhat additional questions do you have about turning cold conversations into new business? Leave them below in the comments or shoot me a private message. I’m happy to answer them👇!
