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Everyone has heard Linkedin might be the "new cold call." For decades, agents and advisors have searched for the "silver bullet," that magic strategy that gets people calling you to do business. There's no magic bullet yet. You've still got to make the effort to talk with them. Here are some suggestions on how to do it on LinkedIn.
Before you start
Firms have rules for everything. This includes what you can and can't do on social media. Find out about the rules. Your Compliance manager should know. Try to find other agents or advisors who have developed best practices the firm has approved. No reason to reinvent the wheel.
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What's the logic?
We've all accepted invitations to connect when the other person immediately starts selling. It's annoying. We've also made connections and the other person immediately wants to set up a phone call – and they want you to use their scheduling tool to get onto their calendar. Also annoying.
Here's the logic I use: If you can get a dialog going back and forth, without being too pushy, people will open up. Identifying shared interests is good. It's also a good strategy to find what information would be useful to them and provide it. Once you get a lively exchange going, you can transition to business. The logic should hold for intermittent exchanges over time.
6 easy strategies
Lets assume your firm is OK with sending messages on LinkedIn. Here are a few simple strategies:
1. Notifications. They appear daily. Three useful categories are birthdays, work anniversaries and new jobs. LinkedIn prepopulates a message for you. Those are pretty sterile. You can do better.
My strategy: The birthday greeting I send is "Happy birthday (name). How are you celebrating?" That easy question prompts a response. For work anniversaries I send "(name) congratulations on your work anniversary at (firm,)! (#) years!" They can tell someone put in effort. People often message back.
2. Reply messages. LinkedIn also prompts you with replies! When you get a birthday greeting, they make it easy to hit a key and send "Thanks." It takes little effort. Your birthday and new job greetings will get some of those.
My strategy: I send "(name), you are welcome. Thanks for taking time to send a message back." They can tell that response wasn't machine made.
3. Profiles. This isn't a strategy, it's a way to think a few steps ahead. Notifications will also tell you "(x) number of people viewed your profile today." You can see who they are, or at least some of them. This means when you invite people to connect or you send a birthday greeting, they are checking you out.
My strategy: Your profile should be eye-catching. You are interesting enough for people to want to know you.
4. Commenting on posts. Your daily feed will include posts from your connections. Notifications will often prompt you when a connection has shared a post too. Comment on their posts.
My strategy: I try to read through posts (not all of them). Liking posts is a one-click activity. I try to also comment if I feel it's a good idea or article they are sharing. This often gets a dialog started.
5. Replying to messages. You might belong to groups. It's a good way to gain exposure to people outside your network. If you comment on someone's post, they might message you back, even if it's a simple "Thank you." Reply to their message. A dialog has started.
My strategy: Every Thursday, I set aside time to visit my LI groups and comment on at least two posts in each group. If they write back to me, I write back to them.
6. Invitations to connect. If you post article links in groups and comment on other people's posts, you should start receiving invitations to connect. You might not recognize their name, but their profile might show you both belong to the same group. They liked your post or messaging enough to reach out and connect.
My strategy: I'm liberal with my acceptances. An invitation might read "I liked your post in (group)…" Maybe there isn't a message, but their profile indicates we are in the same group. I accept their request.
Your LinkedIn involvement doesn't need to become a time-consuming monster. You can get a dialog going with other people without a huge amount of effort. Who knows where those conversations will lead?
Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, "Captivating the Wealthy Investor" can be found on Amazon.
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Bryce Sanders
Bryce Sanders, president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc., has provided training for the financial services industry on high-net-worth client acquisition since 2001. He trains financial professionals on how to identify prospects within the wealthiest 2%-5% of their market, where to meet and socialize with them, how to talk with wealthy people and develop personal relationships, and how to transform wealthy friends into clients. Bryce spent 14 years with a major financial services firm as a successful financial advisor, two years as a district sales manager and four years as a home office manager. He developed personal relationships within the HNW community through his past involvement as a Trustee of the James A. Michener Art Museum, Board of Associates for the Bucks County Chapter of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Board of Trustees for Stevens Institute of Technology and as a church lector. Bryce has been published in American City Business Journals, Barrons, InsuranceNewsNet, BenefitsPro, The Register, MDRT Round the Table, MDRT Blog, accountingweb.com, Advisorpedia and Horsesmouth.com. In Canada, his articles have appeared in Wealth Professional. He is the author of the book “Captivating the Wealthy Investor.”
