Can LinkedIn help you grow your relationships?
Many UK professionals are spending time on LinkedIn and the 'savvy' firms are generating fee income through this online platform. Our Top Tips today gives you advice on how you can use it to grow your relationships and fees.
1. Ice Breaker
Connecting with lapsed clients and contacts through LinkedIn is a great way to re-connect with them, without having to resort to a cold phone call that you'd probably feel uncomfortable making.
2. Intelligence
Connecting with prospects before you meet for a pitch is excellent for identifying mutual contacts. By having trustworthy people in common you automatically help build mutual trust between you and your new contact. You can also find out a great deal about their business interests and helps you understand the personalities involved more than from just visiting their website.
3. A light touch
Often we are the subject of grand gestures from firms wanting to build a relationship with us, from seminars to in-house training to corporate entertainment. However it's the people that are 'front of mind' that normally win the work. So a well timed connection or offered opinion on LinkedIn might mean they pick up the phone to you instead of your competition.
4. Networking follow up
Do you follow up with people you meet at events? Rather than send them a regular email with suggested dates to meet again, we'd recommend that you search for them, connect and send your message through LinkedIn. Then refer back to Point 2 (Intelligence) to help accelerate the relationship.
5. What are you up to?
LinkedIn has a 'status update' feature which allows you to share with your contacts what you are involved in at the moment or links to good reading material etc. This is a great way to subtly demonstrate your areas of expertise in which you are being instructed.
6. Do me a favour?
Providing people you trust with a recommendation on LinkedIn will help them develop their own business. The basic reasoning is that if you do someone a good turn, human beings are 'hard wired' to return the favour. If you are interested in the psychology of influence then we recommend that you read Robert Cialdini's book of the same title.
7. Build your own reputation
Treat your own network of connections like a party held at your home. Invite only people that you like and trust and don't let anyone in the door who you wouldn't leave near the family silver! Never foresake quality for quantity.
8. Free advertising
LinkedIn has a feature to promote your events for free. Make sure you include relevant key words in the title and content that people might be searching for.
9. Join Groups
LinkedIn has thousands of Groups that people and firms have created. View them like 'private members clubs'. The idea is that these are formed for members to share knowledge, insight, help each other and build relationships. Look to see which Groups your contacts have created or joined themselves, and ask to join those that interest you.
10. Thought leader
Offer suggestions and sign post people in your Groups to articles that you or your colleagues have written on topics that are up for debate. Also don't be afraid to ask for advice from your fellow Group members, that's what they have been created for.
10 1/2. Create Groups
Creating your own specialist interest Groups (your own Private Clubs, remember!) is definately the 'way forward' for creating effective enviroments to generate new leads on-line in the future. You've heard it here first!
Want to understand the basics of LinkedIn?
Follow this link to watch a 2 minute video about LinkedIn.
Keen to learn more?
Size 10 1/2 Boots have been delivering half day workshops on LinkedIn recently and are offering special rates for BootClub members (like you). Please contact Courtney for details.
This month's 'Famous Feet'
Our new addition to the team, Angela Bostock, asked Sir Alex Ferguson for his shoe size before the Manchester United v Stoke City game on 9th May. "Eh, What?" was his first reply under the noise of the crowds, but Angela persisted and he happliy shared he is a Size 8.
Arrange a free
45 Minute Coffee Consultation or a 5 Minute “Espresso” Chat
Get in touch with Ruth on 0115 860 2124 or send us a contact request
What our clients say about us
Bernard is an expert who knows his subject matter to the extreme. When he speaks you listen because he knows what he is talking about. I would have no hesitation at all in highly recommending him as a person and as someone who can really help you business to grow its sales and increase your profits!
Paul Kincell, President, Chartered Management Institute (Doncaster & Barnsley Branch)
I have an ever growing number of marketing consultants beating a path to my door but what I've found in Courtney Borthwick of Size 10½ Boots is a deep understanding of the fundamentals of legal BD and an uncanny ability to provide insightful advice and add value, every time.
Nick Symington, Business Development Director, Langleys Solicitors
Our experience with Size 10½ Boots has been a breath of fresh air and, speaking as someone who would have laughed heartily at the idea of BD training for barristers 3 years ago, I am a convert and looking forward to what we can achieve with our new found direction and approach.
Scott Baldwin, Head Clerk, St Mary's Chambers
Bernard provides refreshingly down-to-earth advice. He was great at demystifying and humanising a series of marketing concepts and giving us practical action plans we could each take away from our training session. The training was lively, productive and fun.
John Haresnape, Head of UK Business Development, Taylor Wessing LLP, Law Firm
Famous feet
Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud
Singing and being Cheryl Cole's mate
Shoe size: 5
