Nurturing LinkedIn Connections to Create Conversations

The #1 Activity Sales Reps Must Do to Nurture and Engage Their 1st Degree Connections

Your LinkedIn network is bursting with opportunities for growing your business. Yet one of the biggest business development opportunity mistakes sales reps make on LinkedIn is not nurturing their LinkedIn 1st degree connections.  More often than not, they simply don’t welcome new connections into their network, start meaningful conversations, and encourage them to raise a hand and say, “I want to learn more, let’s chat!” In other words, they connect and forget.

So much time and energy goes into finding and connecting with the right buyers, it’s a shame that nurturing these valuable connections is rarely a priority. Nurturing and engaging through content is about attracting prospects and influencers back to you, teaching them something that is meaningful, and engaging with them beyond the initial connection.

In the week 2 of Vengreso’s Social Selling Boot Camp, we cover many ways to attract the attention of new LinkedIn connections, sparking their interest, and moving them toward your solution ultimately getting them to take your call.

Here is a powerful activity every sales professional should do to nurture and engage their targeted connections:

Search your 1st degree connections by title and filters to identify all the key stakeholders you are currently connected to that you’ve been ignoring. Send them a note that includes a meaningful piece of content that can have an impact on their business—insights that may get them thinking differently about their current situation, job, company, or industry—and creates curiosity. Ensure the content is educational and leads to your solution, not with your solution.

WARNING: If your content primarily talks about why other people have hired you and why they should hire you too, then it is a pitch, not a piece that will nurture and engage your buyers.

Example message:

Name,

We’ve been connected on LinkedIn for some time, but we haven’t had a chance to learn more about one another. I noticed that you’re a TITLE in INDUSTRY and thought you would get some value from a blog post my company just published: POST TITLE AND LINK. It covers A, B, and C, and has brought value to some of our clients including D, E and F. I am confident that you’ll find some meaningful insights in the quick x-minute read. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Example Follow-up Message:

Name,

I hope you had a chance to read POST TITLE AND LINK. I have some additional insights on X, Y, and Z that have had a significant impact on TITLES LIKE THEM. I’d like to invite you to have a brief conversation, and whether or not we decide to do business together, I am confident that our call will be full of insights and actionable steps that can help you XYZ. If you are open and interested, here is a link to my calendar ScheduleaCallwithBrynne.com. Please pick a time that works best for you.

Content is not just for sharing in your LinkedIn newsfeed or tweeting out. It can and should be used in a targeted manner to reach the buyers in your network that most likely don’t even know how you can help them.

Are your sellers making the most common digital selling mistakes? Download the State of Digital Selling with LinkedIn to learn the ten actions sales leaders can take to improve win rates.