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Continuously Building the Right Relationships
You don’t want to lose an opportunity because you and your company didn’t know who was making the decisions. Ever.
How strong is your relationship with the potential customer? I mean how many people do you know in the decision-making team?
How can you find more of the right people to connect with without the backbreaking work? That’s exactly what we are diving into.
Strong relationships are paramount in finding out where you stand and your ability to win a deal in the projects you are currently pursuing. Weak relationships? Why would someone who has barely/never met you before award you a contract?
Even in existing business relationships, you want to make sure you have a strong structure of as many decision-makers as possible so they know who you are, and you know who they are as well.
Executive relationships are not built overnight, they require cultivation, more cultivation, even more cultivation, and time. Having an existing relationship with executives can help move things along as well, but still time. Make it easy on yourself.
Having friends/besties/your neighbor/fraternity brother/soccer teammate with someone who might be able to help you out can be very helpful to you. You just need to know where to look!
You probably have a mutual connection right under your nose. Is that mutual connection someone that you need to know? Well…then I need to ask for an introduction!
And actually ask. Most people never ask. Be proactive and ask.
LinkedIn 2nd-degree connections are a great place to find executive-level connections to help you, sometimes all it takes is a simple request on your end to your 1st-degree connections to get to the right people.
This doesn’t matter if you’re in sales, marketing, executive leadership, an intern, or just starting. Everyone should be consistently working on building relationships outside of their current company.
Let’s dance.
Why Should I Care?
From identifying key players in your current accounts, identifying go-to-market strategies for accounts, partnerships with companies, executives you would like to partner with, speakers you’d like to have at an event, and the list goes on.
I’ve asked senior executives, ranging from a senior Vice President of a Fortune 500 company to government representatives (current and former) if they would be more likely to pick up the phone from a mutual connection or a cold email/call.
Everyone said, a mutual connection hands down.
So Let’s Put This Into Action – Your First 5 Steps
The first 5 steps to take to identify your ideal 2nd connections.
Get targeted. I mean really targeted. Use all the filters that the LinkedIn search bar has so you can filter. Get tight and targeted to find the right connections
Sales Navigator – Create lists, design an outreach plan to find connections, and send InMail to those you want to reach out to.
Your future connection will see who your mutual connection(s) are and, therefore is more likely to accept
Share mutual acquaintances? From hobbies/went to same conference/college/whatever it might be, mention that. Start your new relationship off on common ground
You have a network…actually leverage it.
2 Ways to Approach This
Find your 1st-degree connections and ask them for an introduction to the 2nd-degree connection you’d like to be connected with.
Just an FYI…some will do it, some won’t (some will forget…might need to remind them
Reach out directly to the 2nd-degree connection, and keep it professional and light. Mention a recent post or something about their company, or how you know a mutual connection
How to Stand Out – Increase Your Conversation Rate
USE the “add a note” on every message to make it personal and why you are connecting, it is much appreciated. Short & sweet.
Don’t ever sell me anything in your first message…please, please, please. I can’t stress this enough. Heaven’s to Betsy I can’t.
What’s the worst they can say…no? You won’t know until YOU (yes you…I’m figuratively looking at you) ask. So…ask.
No response? Ask again. Just don’t be noisy or pushy.
You’ll be amazed how many people will do an introduction, just make sure you do the same for them. It’s a 2-way street.
One foot in front of the other. Have a great week and I’ll see you next week.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Build your Sales CRM – Download our free Sales eBook on How Your Sales Team Can Maximize Your CRM Tool. Whether it’s Hubspot, Salesforce, or another CRM tool, make sure you leverage it to your advantage.
Awesome Sales Resources – Transform your sales engagement across Social Selling, CRM, Lead Generation, Enablement, and more.
