347 – Become a LinkedIn Influencer With Alex Pirouz

Four-step methodology to transition from offline to online

Linkfluencer has created the four-step methodology for finding, connecting, and generating sales with targeted prospects on LinkedIn. The methodology developed in 2013 has evolved over time. The goal is to help people to transition their business from offline to online. People often don’t transition well from one to another because they don’t have a system and lack confidence, which probably comes from not having a process. 

The system they provide works across many industries and gives people the confidence and the platform to manage all the new opportunities. These are the four steps:

1. Develop your outcome

Most business owners use social media because they think it’s a good platform. They might have a strategy in place, but there is no connection between the platform and the business goals. Linkfluencer teaches people how to tie those elements within the outcomes and understand how the sales process works. 

2. Target audience

You already know what industry you should be targeting, but do you know who you should be talking to? Who are the decision-makers? CEOs, founders, directors? What location? Usually, the uptake for your product or service is greater in some cities compared to others.

3. Profile setup

You should develop one that connects with your particular audience. Most people write their profile based on what they feel needs to go on there, and they don’t stop and think about the audience they’re targeting. What you should be thinking about is what their challenges, objections, passions and interests are. And then combine that with your personal experience to get people emotionally connected to you and the brand.

4. The connect stage

You’ve now got your profile, your outcome, and who you should be targeting. How do you actually get in front of them? During this step, Linkfluencer teaches their clients how to use sales navigator and what do you say to people when you have conversations opening up.

Connection limit on LinkedIn

When you go to a networking function, and you meet someone and introduce yourself, you don’t pitch yourself right away; instead, you build a relationship. Only on the third, fourth or fifth interaction, you start talking about seriously doing business with that person.

LinkedIn is no different. So if you send an invite and you’re pitching your service, no one will respond to that because you don’t even know if this person has a problem at this stage. As more people started using it, LinkedIn was becoming a bit spammy because people use automation tools and send blanket messages. If you spend the same amount of time sending a very targeted connection, invite five to 10 people a day, compared to the 20 that’s automated, you will get fewer conversations but more meetings, which is the ultimate goal.

Meet Jayla

Linkfluencer discovered two main problems small and medium companies face when it comes to business development and sales on LinkedIn: One, most people don’t have a strategy in place, and two, when they do, there is not a tool in the messaging area to tell you if your campaigns are doing well.

So Jayla was born to help generate and also manage leads on LinkedIn. When you make a connection or receive a message, you can add them to the software as an opportunity, set a date to follow up, populate your CRM  and a reporting function to tell you your acceptance rate.

As the acceptance rate goes, every industry is different, but generally speaking, 35 to 45% is what you should be shooting for. If you’re sending out a hundred invites a week, if you’re not getting about 10 conversations opening up, you’re doing something wrong. You should be getting 40 people accepting, and around 20 to 25% reply.

Ambassador Program

For Alex, the partnership model is somewhat broken because he thinks most people look at partnerships as an affiliate style relationship. So They created the Ambassador Program where they sit down with partners and figure out their assets and how we best communicate with their audience. It’s a strategy session to come up with a positioning piece or an offer for them. They give a percentage of the sales, and if they exit the business, they also provide them with a part of the business. “If they’re helping you get to exit, they should get a clip.”