Prospecting on Linkedin that Works: Austin McCulloh

Prospecting on Linkedin does work when you follow a process

First create your prospecting plan, then follow it

Austin McCulloh helps his clients bring in qualified leads week after week. 

Episode 98 (Austin is based in Iowa City, Iowa)

 

In this conversation we explore:

• How to leverage automation without spamming
• How to cut through the clutter
• How to leverage connection and CRM software to stay visible
• Why an initial negative response is a good sign
• How to integrate inbound and outbound marketing
• Better questions to ask to build the relationship

 

Mistakes to avoid:

• Too focused on self 
• Commission breath
• Thinking short term
• Not following a system
• Asking strangers, "How are you?"

About Austin McCulloh:

Austin has personally made over 16,000 prospecting contacts on Linkedin. He has helped clients make over 25,000 prospecting contacts.

Get your copy of the 10-Step Effective Prospecting Process here

If you're looking for help to bring in new qualified leads to set up weekly meetings, learn more here.

Excerpts from this conversation with Austin McCulloh

02:43

LinkedIn is LinkedIn is the social media of business, or that's how we think of it. And, and a lot of us are on there. And I keep hearing from people saying, well, I've tried prospecting on LinkedIn, but it doesn't work. What do you say to that?

 

03:03

You want the honest response?

I want the truth, the brutal truth.

I'm saying they don't work. I'm saying they're not doing it the right way. I mean, that's just the raw truth.

And the reason why I'm laughing and I say it, and do I, whoever the listener is, if they're not having success, why they should be optimistic is because they're right now listening to somebody who is, has done it more than 99.9% of the world.

I've failed on it, I've done well on it. So the first thing I'll say is, they probably don't have a process.

So they don't know who they're reaching out to. If you don't know who you're reaching out to, you don't know what to say to them, you don't know how to engage in conversation.

So really, they don't have the components all lined up. And then another key point, and we're going to come back to all these, but they're too focused on themselves, trying to push what they have to offer excited about what they have to offer.

And that's not what resonates with your prospects, especially when they're complete strangers.

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16:57

It's okay to be direct in terms of asking questions, if you're really trying to solve a pain point for somebody, because if it's a real pain, and you're trying to solve it, trying to help them with something.

 

17:08

But don't have the intention to go close them right away.

Kind of like what you talked about George have the intention of being curious, being kind of like a researcher, ask the open ended questions, get a sense to see if it's good for them.

And then if anything, your intention should be to set a meeting to learn more, not close business. So focus on the meeting, not on the client yet.

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18:02

Somebody either accepts it, or they don't accept the connection request.

if they don't accept it, never gonna communicate with them not in contact with them. I

f they accept it, and they reply, then the conversation is ongoing. If they accept it, and they don't reply to the first message, I have it set that 92 minutes later, another follow up message will be sent.

And then about two days and 22 minutes later, another one is sent, I have about three total follow up messages.

So four total that go out, there's the connection request and the message that goes along with it, three follow ups.

Now sometimes you get some people who never end up, they'll accept it, but they never respond to any of those four messages. And then you get other people who respond to the first, the second, the third or the fourth, you get where I'm coming from. So that's that once somebody replies,

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32:00

Just take another look at it take another go. Great question.

If you have not had success with prospecting online, or even if you haven't done it before, so regardless, you haven't had success because he did it or you've never done, take 30 minutes to an hour before you even start or before you restart and put together an actual plan.

Now obviously, working with somebody who has done it before can can critique your plan can help you a lot with it.

But if you know who you're reaching out to, you already have a few scripts put together already know what questions you want to ask and you know what you want your end result to be, it's all going to work much better.

And then also know what you want to measure for it too.

So have expectations of if I'm doing so many contacts, I want to see how many accepted connection requests I get, how many responses I get, because then you can tell if it was a success or failure or and also meeting set as well.

So that's what I'd have to say I know it's a lot of different variables, but a lot of people are just kind of shooting from the hip.

And when you have a plan to follow. You're much more likely to get the results that you want.

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Your Intended Message is the podcast about how you can boost your career and business success by honing your communication skills. We’ll examine the aspects of how we communicate one-to-one, one to few and one to many – plus that important conversation, one to self.

In these interviews we will explore presentation skills, public speaking, conversation, persuasion, negotiation, sales conversations, marketing, team meetings, social media, branding, self talk and more.

 

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