lAre you someone who is curious to know more about how to prospect on LinkedIn, but you're not sure where to start?
This is the blog for you.
I call it the buddy method.
This technique has been by far one of the most successful strategies I have used for prospecting on LinkedIn, and not only has it been successful, but it has helped both mine and others succeed.
It has helped me by helping me close some of the largest deals I could never have imagined. It's rather simple, but it works extremely well, and I want to teach it to you.
Steps To Be Successful At The Buddy Method
- Find a partner.
- Let them know what you want to do and have them accept.
- Go through their LinkedIn profile and look at their contacts.
- Pull anywhere between 10-15 names that you would like an introduction to.
- Ask them to do the same for your contacts, so it’s a mutually beneficial outcome.
- Send out those 10-15 introductions via email if you don't have their email do it over LinkedIn.
- Use the introduction provided by your buddy that is asking for the introduction.
- Sit back and wait for responses.
I am going to break down each and every step to provide as much clarity as possible.
Find A Partner Who Complements You
When I say partner, it doesn't have to be someone you never met. Chances are good that you know this person either well or very well, and you may even network with them on a regular basis.
I will give you some examples: for Attorneys, CPAs or financial advisors are good allies. For digital marketers, IT companies or photographers/videographers are great allies. For printing, graphic artists or digital markets are great allies.
These are tremendously important because there has to be a give and take. If there is no give or take in the buddy system, then no one will want to take part in the buddy system.
I recommend trying this with one person and working your way from there. If you’re both new to this, it may be a little strange at first, but after a few minutes, you will get the hang of it.
Show Them Your idea And How You Want To Generate Leads For Both Of You
Trust me, this works, but sometimes people aren't used to having someone reach out to help them.
You may have to explain to them there is a mutual benefit to the two of you. If you are a good "power partner" or someone that can help them succeed, this will make your life easier because they will be able to see the benefit of the process right away. Let them know what you want to do and how it's going to work.
This can also be done in person, FaceTime call, or Zoom call. Either way, you have to be talking to the person because real-time fact-checking is best.
If you can’t be on a call with that person, double the size of your list because you can assume 50% of the connections you want cant to be made, some of the reasons include, that person may not be in touch with that person anymore, they go into an argument or aren’t on speaking terms.
Regardless it’s easier to do in person or on a call then giving someone a list.
Go Through Their LinkedIn Contacts To Find A Good Fit
Start to go through their contacts and see who is a good fit for you and your company.
I know it may sound strange if you have never done this before, but if you are someone who knows who your target customer is, then it should be pretty easy.
When you scroll through people's profiles, you will be able to see their job title and company they work at.
With a quick Google search, you can get a fair amount of information on the company to determine if it could be a good fit for you. When you find the ideal fit with someone, make sure to write it down.
Grab whatever information you can. Such as first name, last name, email if they have one and company.
This is going to make your buddy's life much easier when they make the introductions.
Repetition Is The Key To Success
Go through and begin to find between 10-15 names that would be good fits for you. You can find more, but you have to remember not everyone has all the time in the day.
If your list gets excessively long, ask them to join you again in a couple of months with the next section of the list. Rarely will people want to do more than 10-15 contacts at a time.
You can ask, but be prepared, you may be rejected. The goal is to make this as easy as possible for the two of you. Plus, if you make a smaller list, it gives you time to find other buddy’s to do this with as well.
Go slow, do your research, and make a list that is as rock-solid as you can. Investing time and prospecting correctly is going to drastically outweigh the headaches of sorting out potential bad leads later on.
Ask Them To Do The Same For You
Have them do the prior two steps and ask you questions about who you know, don’t know, and who can be a good fit.
The whole process should take a little less than an hour. That’s the best part you can get 10-15 new leads in less than an hour, far better than any cold calling campaign will ever create.
Send Out Introductions
The key to this part is to make sure that you create the introduction first.
It should look something like this (this is what one my power partners has made for me).
Harrison meet ______________
_____________________ meet Harrison,
I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce the two of you.
Harrison is the CEO of Baron Media Group, specializing in brand awareness through social media. He has helped many clients increase their exposure through social media, which in turn helps them grow their revenue.
John is the Director of Business Development at Advantage Title and a longstanding close personal friend. I think it would be valuable for the two of you to talk.
I definitely suggest that the two of you connect. There is potential for a mutually beneficial relationship, and I think it would be valuable for you two to speak. Please let me know if you have any questions and/or if you’d like for me to be a part of the conversation.
The reason you want that is that your buddy can now plug and play. It allows for swapping out the names and information much quicker, allowing this to be as efficient as possible.
The beautiful part about it is once your intro is created, it can make life a million times easier for everyone you do the buddy method with.
Save it and use it again and again with different people. It saves time, makes life easier, and, most importantly, makes everyone more money.
Follow through and the key to making it successful.
I know this may seem easy or hard to some, but it’s worth it.
Some of my biggest deals have been closed through this, along with making some amazing friends along the way. The key to it all, though, is following through.
You will not have very much success doing it once. It needs to be done over and over, and you can meet with the same person every quarter.
This will give you plenty of time not only to close the leads you received but also gives you both of you enough time to keep growing your network.
