The soft sales strategy for LinkedIn success and business growth
Welcome back to "Process to Profitability." In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Ivana Brutenic, a renowned LinkedIn architect and soft sales expert. We tackled the common challenge of using LinkedIn for sales without being perceived as spammy or irrelevant. Ivana shared her unique approach to using this powerful platform for connecting with the right people, building relationships, and ultimately converting them into clients. Whether you're a creative CEO looking to grow your service-based business or simply interested in optimizing your LinkedIn profile, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips. So grab your coffee, tune in, and let's dive into the process of turning LinkedIn into a profitability powerhouse.
Timestamps:
[00:02:05] Meet Ivana
[00:05:04] Using soft sales on LinkedIn and how it's different from other approaches
[00:09:59] What you need to have in your business before selling on LinkedIn
[00:14:26] Choose your client avatar and call to action
[00:16:57] Create your content strategy
[00:17:39] Create your outreach strategy with a simple lead magnet
[00:22:35] Use your headline to communicate your solution
[00:23:31] When should you start to see results from selling on LinkedIn?
[00:26:48] Don't underestimate the power of selling on LinkedIn
[00:28:53] Connect with Ivana
Key Topics:
Soft sales strategy to build relationships and convert clients
Setting up a LinkedIn profile for success
Research and engagement before sending pitches
Combining content creation and outreach for effective results
The importance of persistence and starting on LinkedIn
Leveraging LinkedIn for B2B sales and meaningful connections
Designing lead magnets to generate conversations with potential clients
Realistic expectations and long-term thinking for success on LinkedIn
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile and actively engaging with others
Resources:
Episode 212
[00:00:00] Samantha Mabe: Today on Process to Profitability, I am talking with my guest about using her sales strategy on LinkedIn. If you have been avoiding LinkedIn because you get all kinds of spammy sales messages from people who seem like they have no idea what you do, this episode is great because we really talk about her soft sales strategy and how that can help you connect with the right people, create conversations and relationships that will eventually convert into clients through using LinkedIn.
[00:00:38] We start by talking all about how you should set up your LinkedIn profile and making sure you're setting realistic expectations for converting clients from LinkedIn. And then we talk through the soft sales strategy and the process that you can use to build those relationships as well as what you can expect as far as how much work you need to put in order to see that growth in the first 30, 60 or 90 days.
[00:01:15] Ivana Brutenic is a global LinkedIn architect and soft sales expert with both a master's and a Ph. D. in marketing and business. Ivana loves to sell. She had sold tickets to her theater shows before she started elementary school. She lives in the heart of Europe, Slovakia, and from there, she and her sister and business partner have empowered more than 7, 000 clients around the world to empower them to use their voice on LinkedIn to attract talent clients and media and discover their unique opportunities to grow.
[00:01:50] Ivana is a renowned keynote speaker and regularly gives interviews in media, including in Forbes. She often travels because it brings her joy and fresh perspectives and dances as her life depends on it because it does. She loves to play and she plays to win.
Meet Ivana
[00:02:05] Samantha Mabe: Hi Ivana, how are you?
[00:02:08] Ivana Brutenic: Hi Samantha, perfect, how are you?
[00:02:10] Samantha Mabe: Good, I'm excited to have you on the show today and I'd love to start off by having you tell us a little bit about your business journey and how you got to what you're doing today.
[00:02:23] Ivana Brutenic: Yeah, so I started my business when I was 22 years old studying at the university and during my final exams I was talking to my first client so It was a long time ago.
[00:02:37] I started with a headhunting business with executive search. I've had the business for 17 years. I have seen a pattern that we are able to find candidates that other companies were not able to find. And our client just started to ask, how is that possible? Where do you find them? I told them LinkedIn and basically they started to ask, okay, tell me more. How do you do it?
[00:03:06] Then I just found out I can get clients from LinkedIn really easily, much easier than from any networking or PR activity I have done by that time. And this is where LinkedIn consulting was born. Our company is called SUNDAYFLIES. I have the company with my sister, Christina, and we have been building LinkedIn brands for 10 years already.
[00:03:31] So I'm excited to share my experience today.
[00:03:36] Samantha Mabe: Did you always know that you wanted to run your own business?
[00:03:42] Ivana Brutenic: Kind of, yes. I never had an actual job because our parents had a company, they had a printing company. So I grew up sniffing all the printed materials, books, everything. And till now when I get a book, the first thing I do is sniff and I love that smell. And basically I just have seen our parents to do their thing. And it was just really simple for me to start a business.
[00:04:13] I have worked for a headhunting company for three years as a part timer during studies. And when I finished my school, I was just ready to go. And my sister joined me a few years later.
[00:04:26] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. I love to hear different people's approaches. I think people either know they want to be an entrepreneur or they fall into this and they had no idea it was even an option for them.
[00:04:39] Ivana Brutenic: Yes. I never considered really that was something hard. I was 22 years old. It's really simple to do that decision when you are that young, you don't have kids like, what worse can happen? So I was like, okay, let's try it. Let's do it. Maybe it would be different now, but anyways, I never regretted that decision.
Using soft sales on LinkedIn and how it's different from other approaches
[00:05:04] Samantha Mabe: So today we're talking about finding clients, converting clients through LinkedIn and you have a different approach, the soft sell approach. So what does that mean? What does that look like for people?
[00:05:18] Ivana Brutenic: It's the opposite of spamming people on LinkedIn. We have clients all over the world, and especially in the US the spamming is really the worst and people are tired of being spammed and really being sent the pitches, like you just connect with a person and they send you a pitch and people don't really like it.
[00:05:41] And what we have realized that you can do sales in a way that both parties love and they feel that like when you approach someone and they tell you, wow, where have you been for so long? I so need your service. It feels really good. You don't have that much of a rejection like when you are using spamming or cold calls and I just love that. I love sales, but I want to do it in a way that feels great for the partners on the other side and for me too.
[00:06:15] So basically we just decided to try this approach years ago to connect with people and network in really a meaningful way, create leveraged connections so you don't need hundreds of connections or thousands of connections and messages when you are a service provider.
[00:06:36] Sometimes one good client can cover you for the whole year, so it really depends when you are doing B2B sales on meaningful connections. And this is what soft sales is about.
[00:06:49] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, I've heard a lot of people want to get on LinkedIn, they know their clients are there. But all they have heard from sales is people are just sending me these messages. They're spam. I get them to that I'm just like, I don't need your service. You don't even seem to know what I do and why would I want to connect with you? Why would I want to answer your message? It just feels like that is the impression most people get of sales on LinkedIn.
[00:07:22] So I really like that you are approaching that differently and thinking about it in a way that's going to benefit our businesses, but also benefit the people who might become clients.
[00:07:34] Ivana Brutenic: Yes, and you really want to approach people who need your service. So you want to do your research, you want to get in contact with them before you are sending any pitches, of course, and really you want them to feel good about it, you know.
[00:07:52] So usually it takes about seven to fifteen pieces of content that they consume from you before they are even interested to know more information about your services or basically anything from you.
[00:08:08] There are two approaches that you can take on LinkedIn. The first one is content creation. So basically, you create content, you attract people, so this is called inbound. And it's really a great long term strategy.
[00:08:25] But, if you need clients right now, yesterday, you need to outreach. So this is the second option.
[00:08:33] And you want to outreach in a way that is really a soft sell approach. So you really want to target those people. You really want to connect with them, engage with them, engage with their content.
[00:08:46] And if someone who's a solopreneur is listening, they're like, I don't have time for that. But I think you don't have time to really use robots and send thousands of messages and you won't get any calls or discovery calls from that. So you definitely will have time.
[00:09:05] If you see the leverage that you can have with the content and the outreach, usually we combine it together in a way that, it doesn't take a lot of time. It's quick. Now with ChatGPT, it's really much faster if you use it for research. You can have your post done in 10, 15 minutes.
[00:09:26] So you do your content creation and then you prepare your strategy, how to outreach to the clients that would benefit from your service and would be really excited to hear from you.
[00:09:38] And this is totally different feeling when you approach a person and they're not like, ah, don't send me this. And they say, wow, I need this so much. Thank you. Yes. Or I don't need it right now, but I know somebody I can refer you to. So this is the way how we do sales and I just love it.
What you need to have in your business before selling on LinkedIn
[00:09:59] Samantha Mabe: If somebody wants to get onto LinkedIn more, they really want to put some effort in to selling on LinkedIn, what are the things they need to have in place to get started before they try any of these sales approaches?
Set your expectations
[00:10:19] Ivana Brutenic: So first of all, you have to set your expectations. Sometimes people go on LinkedIn for two, three weeks, they send some messages or create some pieces of content and they're like, not working for me. And you really need to think long term. I don't mean in years, but give it three months, at least an hour a day and really create a content and you really network with those people.
Build connections and followers
[00:10:50] Ivana Brutenic: So before you start creating content, you really want to have some followers or connections on LinkedIn. Connections are the direct connections. Followers are people who cannot write you a message directly, but they can follow your content and you want to have at least 500 followers until you start creating content.
[00:11:13] Why? Because then you create for three people and you have three views and then you don't see the results and you think that it's not working for your business. And it gets really frustrating.
[00:11:26] So first of all, you need to focus on building your network. It's very simple. You can have. 2, 000 connections in a month or two. Use your Gmail account connected with LinkedIn, you can use your database if you have one, or you can just search through your former colleagues or alumni of your school.
[00:11:51] Usually our clients who are just starting out, they say, I don't know that many people. I don't know so many people it's too hard. But actually, if you just try it with the LinkedIn app on your mobile phone, so on your cell phone, it's really fast. For 10 minutes a day, you can get, let's say 1000 people in one month. And that is enough to start to create content.
[00:12:16] When we talk about the connections, you really want to connect with people broadly. If you had 300 followers, you can create content, but it's a lot of work. And you will not get the leverage. So you want to focus just to get the connections first.
Create a powerful LinkedIn profile
[00:12:33] Ivana Brutenic: And you want to have a good LinkedIn profile too. Sometimes people procrastinate their LinkedIn profile for years, they're like, I have to write it. Okay. I don't know what to write there, so I'm not sure and I'm not doing anything.
[00:12:50] So what I would suggest, just set an alarm clock for 30 minutes and do whatever you can in those 30 minutes to make your profile up to date and better.
[00:13:03] Now really using AI can help you generate for example, the about section that usually is really long with a lot of keywords and you can tweak it.
[00:13:14] But anyways, in 30 minutes you can do a lot of tweaks that will bring more clients.
[00:13:20] And I would suggest just to focus on the keywords your target audience. How do you help people? What kind of companies do you help? What kind of individuals do you help and what are the solutions that you provide? Those are the things you should have in your headline and in your summary section or about section as it is called now.
[00:13:43] And you don't have to focus on the lower part of the profile, where you have the companies you have worked for. It's the CV part. It's not that important. So the upper part is much more important.
[00:13:57] And then you have the featured section. And it's more of a visual part, so you can have their websites, links to any podcasts, any interviews, or any media outlets. If you don't have those yet, you can use pictures, you can use just graphics with the testimonials from your clients. So really, you can fill it with anything visual and interesting.
Choose your client avatar and call to action
[00:14:26] Ivana Brutenic: And so we have the profile, we have the network, we have the connections, and then you really want to have your LinkedIn strategy in place.
[00:14:37] It can get really difficult if you can go down the rabbit hole, or you can make it really simple for you. So who is my client? So let's say, you are a web designer. You work with, I don't know, real estate agents. You will start with one client avatar.
[00:14:53] And you look at your profile. Do I have the keywords there when they come to my profile? Do they see the services packages or whatever you are offering and do they see the CTA call to action? What is the next step for them? Should they call me or should they join my newsletter?
[00:15:13] And it's really important that the CTA is in line with your business model. So if you don't have a newsletter or you are sending newsletters once a year, don't make them join it. If it's easier for you just to get them on the call and talk to them for 20 minutes, perfect. Do that. This is your call to action. Here is my calendar link and you can book a call with me.
Start connecting with your target audience
[00:15:37] Ivana Brutenic: So if you have all those things in place, that you want to start with your real estate agents in the US for example, so you search for those people, you filter them, you get more and more connections, because if you connect with your target audience, they have your target on the audience in their networks too.
[00:16:03] It used to be six degrees of separations to connect with anyone in the world. So now with social media it's three degrees of separation. So it's two people and you can get anywhere you want to go.
Set your goals
[00:16:18] Ivana Brutenic: You have to have your goal in mind. For example, I want two new clients from LinkedIn in three months. You really need to have realistic expectations. That means if you are able to get two new clients offline, you wouldn't set a goal of 20 new clients on LinkedIn in the same period.
[00:16:42] Over time, it might be the case that really it speeds up on LinkedIn, but when you are starting out, the goals are offline and online are similar. And you really want to know which way you are going.
Create your content strategy
[00:16:57] Ivana Brutenic: You set the strategy and you need to show up. Yes, this is very important. So if you just have your profile, have your connections, but you don't show up every day, nothing will happen. So show up for 10 minutes every day, screen your wall, look what's happening, connect with people, comment.
[00:17:17] So this is very important to really comment other people's content because then you create a community that will comment your content. It's really an important approach because if you just create content and expect others to react but you don't, it's not happening then. You want to really create a community around your posts.
Create your outreach strategy with a simple lead magnet
[00:17:39] Ivana Brutenic: And then you have the outreach strategy where you go and really prepare a lead magnet, usually something non salesy. You can send an interesting article, could be your article, or it could be just article from Forbes, for example. And you can send it to people with a short message, for example, I have seen your post about AI, and I think you might like this article. That's it.
[00:18:09] This is your first lead magnet, and it's not like the lead magnet you use on your website. Yeah, so we are not usually using anything that takes more than an hour to do. You need them to really create anything, to test it out, send it to few people, let's say 30 people. They send it out, you will see the response. Do they like it? Do they react? If they don't, you have to tweak it. And you are just starting those conversations.
[00:18:41] Samantha Mabe: Okay, so if you're sending that out and it's like an article, whether yours or Forbes, you're not using it like we use a lead magnet to get somebody on your email list initially.
[00:18:51] Ivana Brutenic: So it's just a lead magnet to start a conversation to build a relationship.
[00:18:58] Of course, you are not building relationships with thousands of people because it's impossible, but you will see that in your niche, in your industry, in your area, depending on your business model, they are, let's say 20 people that are really influencers, they have the connections, they are content creators, and you can engage with them and they will in reciprocity engage usually with you.
Continuing the conversation with people who respond to you
[00:19:26] Samantha Mabe: So you're trying to send those out, see if it's something that gets a lot of engagement, and then how do you continue those conversations with people who are engaging with what you have sent them and have started that conversation?
[00:19:42] Ivana Brutenic: First of all, you need to do your research so that really you are sending it to your target audience. So usually I get messages, for example we are looking for a software developer. Are you interested in this job? And I'm like, not really. So you really want to do your research first.
[00:20:03] Really start the conversations with people for whom it makes sense. They don't have to be your target audience. It could be an influencer in a totally different audience.
[00:20:16] But for example, you like their content and you send them a message. 'I love your content. Let's get in touch. I love to support you with my comments.' Something like this. So it's very simple messages.
[00:20:29] And then you just start to engage with their content, even with the soft sell messages. For example, for your target audience, you will send them a message with a lead magnet like 'this is the article or this is a conference. You might be interested in or something like this.'
[00:20:48] Then you go from the personal message to their comments, to the comment sections under their posts, and you really engage with them. You can turn on notifications.
[00:21:00] So if you have five people you are really interested to connect with, you need to go there manually and look at the posts. And you need to comment, not ' ah, nice post', but you want to really, you want to really use it as a mini billboard for your company.
[00:21:16] For example, if somebody is talking about mental health, you are thinking, okay, what can I write in the comment section that talks about how I do my business or that talks about my values or our company culture in a way that makes sense, doesn't feel salesy, and brings value to the readers.
[00:21:41] When you are thinking about your comments strategy, it's about really the real estate under the posts that are semi viral, those industry semi viral posts that have at least dozens of comments.
[00:21:58] You want to follow your content creators that you really like and you want to comment fast. So if they put something out and you know that they usually create content like every Wednesday 8 AM, you want to be there at 8 AM and comment because then everyone who comes after you sees your comment. And you want to be strategic about that.
[00:22:24] So it seems like really easy just to comment, but if you get into it, you will see like writing a good comment takes time, but you will get better and better with that.
Use your headline to communicate your solution
[00:22:35] Ivana Brutenic: And every time you comment, everyone who's there in the post sees your picture and your headline. So you want to make sure that in your headline. So this is the sentence under your name on LinkedIn. You tell people who you are and how you can help them. Sometimes you can use your position, but if you're an entrepreneur, you want to talk about your solution first, because you have like around two sentences, depending which device you are using.
[00:23:08] So in the first sentence or half of a sentence, because when you see it on your mobile phone, it's really shorter. Here, you want to have the solution or the target audience. Usually, simple beats clever when it comes to LinkedIn headlines, so you want to be really clear.
When should you start to see results from selling on LinkedIn?
[00:23:31] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. So as you build up that comment section, you build these soft sell strategies, what should we expect as we do more of this? Is there a timeline we should expect to see growth and potential sales? What does that look like?
[00:23:49] Ivana Brutenic: It really depends how active you are, how persistent. We have tested that in 30 days, you are able to open 30 conversations. comfortably. And how do you do that? You target around 100 to 150 people in your niche, and then you approach them with your lead magnet. You have your profile ready and everything in place. All the things that we have been talking about today.
[00:24:26] And you use your lead magnet first, you design it, then you use it and all this can be done in 30 days. And at the end of the 30 days, we have a guarantee that you have at least 30 open conversations with your potential clients so that you can see the results fast.
[00:24:46] So if you're starting from zero, it would be more like three months, three to six months to to see consistent results. I would say definitely one month of really hard work, I would say two, three hours a day. And if you devoted like three hours a week, then three to six months to see the results. But you do the investment in the initial period and then you just need to do a little bit.
LinkedIn results tend to follow offline results
[00:25:18] Samantha Mabe: Because you're trying to get it set up. You're trying to build your network. There's a lot of that kind of initial setup, and I'm sure when people are looking at how fast our conversion is going to happen, it's going to reflect what is happening offline.
[00:25:33] If their clients take a long time to make decisions, that's going to be the same as the people they're reaching out to on LinkedIn. So we can't expect to send 2 messages and have a bunch of clients because that's just not the reality of how most of our businesses run.
[00:25:49] Ivana Brutenic: Yes, if you are able to do that, for example, on a networking event, like you go there, you meet, let's say, a few dozens of people and you get two clients, probably you will be able to do that on LinkedIn, too.
[00:26:05] So depending on the package and the business model that you have, you can match it one to one with your offline experience.
[00:26:13] Samantha Mabe: I really liked that. You said to start out, you need to connect with or send those initial messages to 100 or 150 people to create 30 conversations. We can't expect everybody to convert. So we're just looking at how can we get started quickly with that first lead magnet and then nurture from there based on the people that are receptive to that.
[00:26:37] As we wrap up, is there any other last tips that you have for people using soft sales on LinkedIn to grow and convert?
Don't underestimate the power of selling on LinkedIn
[00:26:48] Ivana Brutenic: Yes, I would say the biggest mistake people do on LinkedIn when it comes to sales is underestimating it. I have had so many conversations where potential clients told me like, I will try it, but I don't believe this is gonna work.
[00:27:07] And then half a million euros later, they're like, wow, okay, this is working and we want more. And I just loved it. I love when they just switch the mindset from, okay, I will try it, but I don't think this is gonna work to okay, this really works and I want more.
[00:27:27] And it's about the mindset that, okay, you need to give it at least three months to really have the data and to really test, okay, what kind of message is working, what kind of content is working?
[00:27:42] Probably the first pieces of content will have three likes or five and it's totally okay. Sometimes I do have posts that don't perform as I expect them, but it's totally okay.
[00:27:55] And the worst thing is to self reject. And how it works? Okay, you have a prepared piece of content, you wrote it, and then you're like this is not good enough. It's not good enough for LinkedIn, for this special place where the content has to be perfect.
[00:28:12] It doesn't have to be perfect. Neither do the messages have to be perfect. It doesn't matter if you are kind, if you approach people really with the intention to bring value, that is totally enough.
[00:28:29] What you need is to start and if you really start you can build the connections you never dreamed of.
[00:28:36] And just don't take yourself too seriously at the beginning, it's totally okay. And you just need to start. And I have never seen a client who really did the work and was persistent and haven't had the results.
Connect with Ivana
[00:28:53] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. Where can people find you online if they want to connect and learn more about what you do and how you do it?
[00:29:04] Ivana Brutenic: The best way to connect is definitely LinkedIn. So if you are on LinkedIn, then here on the screen, you can see by name you can check our website, Sundayflies.Com. There you have the link for LinkedIn too, for me and my sister too, so definitely connect with me there. You can find me on Facebook or Instagram too, but I'm not using them for business. So LinkedIn is my safe place.
