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How To Leverage LinkedIn to Find "Hidden" Contacts |
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Written by Silvia Quintanilla
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Many
people use LinkedIn as a way to get introduced to others through their
network. There is another way to use LinkedIn. And that's to use it as
a "people finder". It's just another way to leverage this powerful tool.
In fact, once you follow these steps, your ability to find almost any
specific contact will greatly improve. You'll start to be viewed as the
wizard of who's-who by your colleagues.
As a B2B salesperson, you have a demanding job. You're responsible for many activities - product learning, researching, customer service, forecasting - and yes, closing deals!
In this article, we hope to ease your burden by helping you identify the right decision maker in a large company.
Finding Specific Contacts
Sometimes, all you really need is the right person to call. For example: let's say you target the Director of CRM or the VP of Architecture. Problem is, sometimes it takes months to find the right person. After following the steps below, we hope to help you find the right contact in a matter of minutes.
Use What You Already (Probably) Have
There's a resource that contains a wealth of contacts. And you probably have an account there. It's called LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). We're going to teach you to take LinkedIn to a whole new level.
Many people use LinkedIn as a way to get introduced to others through their network. There is another way to use LinkedIn. And that's to use it as a "people finder". It's just another way to leverage this powerful tool.
In fact, once you follow these steps, your ability to find almost any specific contact will greatly improve. You'll start to be viewed as the wizard of who's-who by your colleagues.
First: Build Your Connections with Top Networkers
First, it's important to build up your connections. Most people have anywhere from 20 to 150 contacts. That's good for the "networking and connecting" aspect of the tool. However, to employ LinkedIn as a revenue generator, you're missing out on thousands of key decision makers.
An easy way to build up your network is to connect with "power" LinkedIn users. Power networkers usually have 15,000+ LinkedIn connections! The beauty is that once you connect with them, you'll have access to part of their broad network.
A great way to connect with these power users is to use TopLinked.com (www.toplinked.com). TopLinked has a "top 50" member list. You can send these members LinkedIn invitations easily for free. They usually accept right away because they are constantly seeking new connections. They have discovered the power of LinkedIn as an identifier of hidden contacts.
Next Follow These Simple Steps
To add the TopLinked 50 to your connections, do the following:
- Go to: http://www.toplinked.com/top50.html
- Follow the instructions to connect with each Power user. You can send 50 invitations all in one sitting, or send a few each day. Soon, because of the reach of these power users, you'll have an amazing list of executive decision makers at your disposal.
After adding a few power networkers, just start to use the search functions within LinkedIn to find specific contacts (keyword, title, etc).
By having access to the right contact fast, you can slice months off your sales cycle. If you found this tip helpful, please share with your sales colleagues too!
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Silvia Quintanilla |
| About the author: |
| Silvia Quintanilla is President & Chief Sales Detective of Industry Gems, a custom sales intelligence company dedicated to helping salespeople win large deals with Fortune 1000 companies. If you’re in B2B sales, sign up today to receive free “door opening” articles for the Fortune 500 at www.industrygems.com
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