How to build a complete prospecting strategy from scratch on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator
Introduction
Prospecting can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. With the right strategy and tools, you can find new prospects on LinkedIn or Sales Navigator quickly with just a few clicks of your mouse. In this post, we'll show you how to use our new prospecting template as well as walk through the steps of creating your own prospecting campaign in Sales Navigator or LinkedIn Ads Manager.
An Introduction to Prospecting
Prospecting is the process of finding new customers.
It's a critical part of the sales process and can be done with a variety of tools and techniques.
Prospecting is an ongoing process, so it's important to stay on top of it and keep your pipeline full.
Why should you prospect?
Prospecting is the most important thing you can do to grow your business.
It's the only way to get new clients and the only way to make more money.
Prospecting is also an essential part of your sales process.
If you are not prospecting, then your sales funnel will never be full, nor will it ever be full enough to produce a consistent flow of qualified leads through its stages.
If you're not prospecting or doing proper follow-up with prospects that have already been generated from your database (i.e., warm leads), then there's very little chance that any sort of significant growth is going on in your business right now (or ever).
How does the template work?
The template is a Google Sheets document that you can use to build your own prospecting strategy. It contains the following sheets:
Prospect list sheet—this is where you enter your company's target prospects.The sheet will automatically create a list of people who are most likely interested in what you're selling, based on their profile and activity on LinkedIn.
As it does so, it also sorts the data by key factors like seniority level and seniority date (e.g., "How many other people at this employer have joined LinkedIn since January 1st?").
This allows for easy filtering later on when building out your communication plan.
Email outreach recipients: this sheet contains the names and email addresses of everyone from the previous step who has agreed to be contacted by salespeople like yourself (i.e., not just any connection or follower).
Only include contacts who have explicitly given permission for follow-ups like this one!
You'll want them as part of your list because they've already demonstrated interest in hearing more about what you offer by agreeing with their employer that they should be contacted regularly by outside salespeople—but don't worry if there aren't enough yet—we'll cover how to grow this list over time using automated messages sent directly into Sales Navigator itself rather than having them bounce back through Gmail after reaching their inbox limit, which could cause issues down the road when trying things like scheduling meetings with these prospects via Calendly calendar software like we do.
How can I use this template?
This template can be used to set up a complete prospecting system for your Sales Navigator or LinkedIn account.
Use this template to import your LinkedIn contacts, get started with automatic daily messages and follow-ups, and set the schedule for sending messages.
When using this template you will:
Import your LinkedIn contacts into the message creator.
Configure the settings of how often it should send out messages (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Specify what type of message content should be sent out (e.g., greeting card vs. personal note).
Select specific groups of people that you want to send messages to (e.g., graduates from your university).
Here's how it works
Import all of your contacts into Sales Navigator or LinkedIn so that they are available as potential targets for outreach.-Email Message Settings- Configure all of the parameters related to who gets messaged when, such as time between sending emails, number sent, and so on.-Email Content- Configure email templates based on whether it's a warm introduction or cold sales pitch.
You can now build a complete prospecting strategy on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator with our new template.
The first step to building a complete prospecting strategy is deciding what you want it to accomplish. Here are the three things we recommend:
Meet your target profile.
With Sales Navigator, you can create a list of companies that fit your target profile and then use this template to generate email addresses and phone numbers so you can reach out directly.
Create a strategic campaign that helps you optimize your sales process by ensuring all relevant prospects are getting engaged at the right time with the right message from the right person at your company (i.e., yourself).
Be able to follow up on each of these interactions in a way that makes closing deals easier for everyone involved, including yourself.
Conclusion
We hope that this template has been helpful for you. If you want to learn more about how to use it, check out our other guides on Sales Navigator and LinkedIn.
We also have a free course on prospecting with Sales Navigator, which will walk you through all the steps required to get up and running.
