HOW TO: Prospect for the right customers using LinkedIn

Posted by marketingb2b under Social Media
From http://www.b2bm.biz 5008 days ago
Made Hot by: HeatherStone on August 18, 2010 8:44 pm

Today, many companies are limited in what can be allocated to marketing budgets; therefore, salespeople must generate sales leads. This article considers the affect the social network website, LinkedIn is having on sales lead generation, outlining how salespeople are using it to add new opportunities to prospect lists and to plan approaching prospects, to avoid the dreaded cold call and potential rejection.

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Comments

Written by marketingb2b
5006 days ago

Thanks for the feedback Shawn...With any Social Media platform it is important to go about initiating points of contact in the correct context and there certainly needs to be some sort of relevance. In fact we thought we would put another best practice paper up on how to make the most of LinkedIn Groups - http://www.bizsugar.com/SocialMedia/how-to-use-linkedin-groups/ - Let us know what you think.

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Written by ShawnHessinger
5007 days ago

I'm a firm believer in the value of LinkedIn as a prospecting resource for B2B business so long as the effort is handled correctly. One of the concerns you hear voiced over and over again is the danger of trying to market or sell to people in what essentially is a networking context. But, of course, networking itself in any environment, including the local chamber, is, to some degree, about marketing. You presumably hand out your business card in the hopes people will think of you when they need your service. Still, you wouldn't burst into a sales pitch at a mixer while exchanging business cards. Prospecting in a networking environment can be a great strategy so long as it is done with an eye to the social rules government the activity., For LinkedIn, this post is a great start.

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