Episode 5: 7 Ways to Leverage Sales Navigator's Triggers to Start Conversations

Stan Robinson, Jr.  00:00

Welcome to the Sales Navigator live show with Stan and Brynne. Join LinkedIn expert and sales professional Brynne Tillman, and me, Stan Robinson, Jr, Chief coaching Officer here at Social Sales Link, as we bring you the best tips and strategies for leveraging Sales Navigator for your sales success. Enjoy the show! Hello, Brynne.

Brynne Tillman  00:39

Hello, Stan. How are you?

Stan Robinson, Jr.  00:43

Awesome. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Brynne Tillman  00:47

Yes, it is. It's beautiful, for sure. It's a great summer day.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  00:53

Yes, indeed. So today, we're going to be talking about triggers, specifically seven ways to leverage Sales Navigator as triggers to start conversations. Now. There are a lot more than seven available triggers but we're going to focus on just seven of them today. And, as always, we talked about the fact that Sales Navigator is designed to help you find the right people, gather business intelligence about them, and alert you to potential opportunities to start sales conversations. 

Brynne Tillman  01:35

Absolutely and I love that you use the word triggers, because that's a perfect way to think about this, right? It's, you know, they, something happens, and it triggers us to create an engagement to start a conversation and that is ultimately what we want especially if we're using Sales Navigator for business development. We want to start conversations, I can't tell you how many of our clients come to us initially and they you know, they basically say, “Okay, I see this, this happened, they liked something they engaged in something they should. Now what?” so we're gonna talk about the now what today. That's pretty cool.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  02:21

Exactly. And for all of you who are watching, as you probably know, we're not both Stan Robinson Jr. That's me. We love technology. Yeah, so we're twins today. And I'm here with my, friend, Brynne.

Brynne Tillman  02:42

I’ll take it. If I'm gonna be mistaken for someone that's to be you, my friend.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  02:48

It's funny, I just noticed that. So good. So we're gonna jump into first with accounts. And what we're going to be talking about are the alert features, both under Accounts, and under leads. So we're gonna start with accounts, because accounts are companies that are always different things going on whether companies are in the news, or they're funding events, so they're growing or they're shrinking, whatever the case may be one of the alerts that you get right on your homepage, you just have to click on account alerts hit the drop down, you'll see news. So if an account has been in the news, hopefully, for good reasons. You'll see, yes, it's a little bit hard to start a conversation around some of the other reasons. But if an account is growing, has acquired, another company has done something good in the social sphere, whatever the case may be, that is a good opportunity for you to reach out to your connections at that account. Basically, to congratulate them on what their company is doing. And so that's one opportunity to start conversations. Brynne, any thoughts just on good news?

Brynne Tillman  04:18

Yeah, well, so I also want first one is share that you know, in Sales Navigator, when you save accounts or you save leads in their accounts, you are fed that information into your homepage, and you can filter that information and that's one of the things about Sales Navigator that's really powerful is it's not a very noisy news feed about 90% of what you're seeing is content that you requested because you saved an account or saved a lead. So that's really very important when you're thinking about using Sales Navigator. We're now talking about accounts, right? These are the companies we've saved and here's the good news. So how do we do this, we have this good news. 

We click on accounts, maybe we find out. Often it's a press release, they, you know, they emerged, they bought a company, sometimes they brought on a new CEO, whatever it is, often this good news comes through and you go, now what? Well, it's pretty simple. Grab that good news, go to the original source, you will be able to link through it in Sales Navigator, to wherever that source was. And I think I'm probably jumping ahead too, in the news, too. Like, I'm kind of doing both. But I don't mean to do that. I realized as I'm talking, I'm sort of overlapping too. But let's say the press release goes to their website. Let's do that. 

So we want to start with the website or and we want to grab that link, and send the link back to your prospect. So let's say you're going after a big company, there's a good chance. They're not aware of this piece, this update, this good news that has come through and I'm wondering if I hope I'm not overlapping too, you'll stop me.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  06:29

No, you're good. Because yeah, because we're on News now. So you're right on schedule. 

Brynne Tillman  06:34

I love when I'm paying attention.. So if it's a third party piece of news, maybe they won an award, most people inside the company are unaware of the big things that are happening inside. When I started in sales, we didn't have these news features come in. We literally I got the Philadelphia Business Journal, and I go through it and cut out articles and stick posting notes with my business card, congratulating them on whatever happened in the news. Well, now, we're gonna do this digitally. 

We're gonna grab that link. And I'll say, Stan, I'm not sure. If you're aware of this award that your company just won. Often in companies the size of yours, you can miss the good news, but I thought I'd share it with you. You know, and so, you know, hope you find it helpful. People are blown away that you took the time to do this, right. So we're using that to start a conversation without being salesy. It's about them.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  07:47

Yep, exactly. And I'm so glad that you talked at the beginning about the fact that all of this, these alerts are driven by the accounts, and we'll be talking about leads next that you have saved. So one thing that's super easy to forget to do is if you are working with existing accounts, please remember to save your existing accounts. Don't just save new ones that you find when you're prospecting, save all of your clients, as well as your prospects. And if you're working with channel partners, or any other types of partners, save those as well. Good idea to put them in different lists. We'll talk about that another time. But thanks for the reminder to everybody, Brynne, everything's driven by what you save. So don't forget about your existing leads.

Brynne Tillman  08:38

I love that! Perfect. What's next?

Stan Robinson, Jr.  08:43

So next growth. Now, not everybody's growing but when companies are increasing in terms of headcount, because LinkedIn has a great deal of information on headcount and these types of things. Sales Navigator has an alert about this company has increased headcount. There's a converse alert about this company, unfortunately, as it decreases headcount, but either one of those can lead to opportunities for you. So if a company is growing, there may be opportunities for you to help them as part of their growth efforts. Brynn, I see that triggers something.

Brynne Tillman  09:26

triggers something, right?

Stan Robinson, Jr.  09:28

no pun intended.

Brynne Tillman  09:30

I love this. Okay. So what do we do when they're growing? So what does this trigger mean to me? Well, think about your solution. How does your solution help a growing company and by the way, I know we're once we see that we could actually happen to Sales Navigator inside of the account looked down say what department is growing like we can drill down so the trigger that they're growing or they're shrinking can lead us to doing a deeper dive into what's going on inside of that company. So that may not be enough information for us to immediately reach out, but it's enough information that we know there's movement. So how do we use this information? If they're growing? Do they need more training? If they do, do they need more telephones? Do they need more computers? Do they need more office space, like what's happening, that will trigger and align with what you do. 

Now, the key here is to figure out some of these triggers and the value and then create some kind of evergreen content, something that you can use to start a conversation. So five, you know, what, let's think of something if five questions to ask your new remote employees to ensure your cybersecurity is x, right? Like whatever it is that you do, so that you start a conversation around that trigger. And you can have a lot of different pieces. I'm a big fan of having content in a Smart Link hub. We'll talk about that in another time, too. But we know who's looking at this.

We can start a conversation around, “Hey, Stan, I noticed you guys are hiring pretty quickly. You know, I'm not sure if you know, they're mostly remote, it looks like some of them are but if you're interested, I have a checklist to ensure that they're on boarded in a cybersecurity safe”  you know, if you're an MSP or whatever that is, right, like whatever you are doing, shrinking, think about how you can help them there too. Right? Are they shrinking? Losing employees? Why what's going on in the industry? And how can what you do supplement that? 

So let's say you're a marketing company, and they just laid off all those marketers, will they still need marketing? Maybe it's worth outsourcing? So just bridge what you do to the trigger, and then provide real value to them. So that you've got them thinking differently about their current situation. And you're creating a compelling moment that can create a conversation, start a conversation.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  12:32

Yep. Great. Thank you, Brynne, let me know what you think of this as well, when you're looking at content to create the content doesn't necessarily always have to point back to your solution. If it can be content that just helps them do their job better, makes them look good. Without necessarily saying, hey write to us. But it's of direct value to them. There, you're also providing them with value building relationships, positioning yourself as a resource.

Brynne Tillman  13:12

100%, just make sure your contact information is there. Like, in the footer, it doesn't matter. But that's right. Make sure they know that you're the one that provided them that value, but 100%, you know, we need to show up as a resource, we need to be a value and a value does not mean we're selling our stuff. So that's, you know, that's a perfect way to think about this.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  13:41

Very good. All righty, new decision makers, there's also an account alert for new decision makers when their changes and with changes come opportunities. So new decision makers, when they come in, they normally come in with some type of mandate. At a minimum, they're trying to prove themselves and make sure that their management knows that they made a good decision by bringing them on or promoting them or whatever the case may be. So how should we use new decision makers when sales Nav says, Hey, these are some new decision makers at your company? 

Brynne Tillman  14:25

I really love that question. And I think, to your point, they're brought in to make a difference, right? They're brought in to make an impact. And they're much more likely to be open to new ideas that can help them succeed in that role. So no, I keep going back to content. Content really does matter but it doesn't always have to be original. I mean, it's great when you have some but let's say you've got a new CMO at a company that you want to engage with. You can go find it, hop on to HubSpot and find, you know, 10 things new CMOS needs to do in their first 90 days, there's a ton of that out there. And you can just congratulate them on the new role and say, “Hey, I don't know if you're interested but there's a really great HubSpot article on what to do in your first 90 days, if you're interested, let me know I'm happy to send over a link.” you've now provided value to your points in that case, your name isn't really on it, but you've provided value to them, that has nothing to do with your solution. And they really feel like they matter. That's value. 

You know, they're, I think it's really important that we slow down our outreach to speed up our conversation. Right? Okay, I do. So I love that. And I think that the new career decision maker change is great. Make sure though, that you are sharing content that they care about not content you want to share, there's a difference that you want them to know. And I just thought of something that I think could be very powerful, is find out the company's clients, you could probably look on their website and see some of their best client logos, and see who they help and who they serve. And maybe you can find content about trends that are happening in their clients' industries right now, you've really gone one step deeper. And if they're new to the company, they may have great experience as a CMO, but maybe not necessarily in this tiny niche of the new company. So if you can provide them some value around understanding their client, oh, my gosh, what an impact you can have.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  17:01

Wow, yep, that is awesome. That's like a triple win for you, for them and for their client, because they can use that to add value to your client. Love it. Good deal. Okay, we're gonna shift gears and move over to Leads next and there are lots of different filters associated with Leads. One of them is engagement, just letting you know when someone's looked at your profile or message you or otherwise engaged with you. And so, again, those are driven by the leads that you have saved. So make sure that you save your accounts, your prospects, etc. So engagement, say someone's looked at your profile, because sometimes it's hard to keep up with and what Sales Navigator does is it says, Hey, take a look here, or just by putting things right in front of you, and alerts. So any thoughts just on lead engagement? 

Brynne Tillman  18:06

Yeah. So lead engagement is interesting. And I'm not 100% on everything that it pulls up. But if they view your profile, if they visit your company page, if they engage in content that your company put out there, you will get notified. And this trigger is, you know, really about you being on their radar, your company is on their radar.So are they shopping right now. It's very powerful, especially if you're in a big company. It's a very powerful tool that there's almost no way you could know this any other way, marketing might understand a little bit of what's going on. But if you have a lead that is saved and you notice that they went and followed your company page, that's a hot opportunity to start a conversation now. Are they in the market? Are they just exploring doesn't matter. When you reach out to them, they already know who your company is. So I think that that's a big one. 

You're not going to see a ton of activity in that one but it is really a wonderful, wonderful alert, that when you do see it, you need to jump on it. Now the question comes, Well, what do I do? Do I say, “Hey, I noticed you followed my company page.” Yes. It's okay. It's social media. People are like, oh, what does that mean that I'm spamming them. They followed your page so you could actually reach out. Stan, I noticed you followed our company page, I took a look at your profile. You know, it looks like you know we have three or four shared connections and you got some really great content? You know, I'd love to answer any questions that you might have. Can I ask what brought you to our company page today? Right? Ask a Question: What brought you there, I think it's a good opportunity to have that conversation.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  20:21

So true, because lots of these people will not contact you. Otherwise, they're doing their research. They're looking at different places, but they will not reach out to you. So the fact that Sales Navigator shows you, who's doing that type of research, as Brynne mentioned, especially if you're a large company, you would not know otherwise. So a good opportunity to jump on those and start a relationship. 

Another alert, that sounds familiar, but it's slightly different when it's applied to lead is career changes. So for accounts, you know, new decision makers, usually, it's someone that comes in, say, from the outside or something like that but when it comes to career changes, a lot of times those are promotions. Sometimes people leaving one company to go to another, or maybe one of your champions at one company, leaves and goes to another company. So Brynne, when you see, say that, for example, your champion, the person that brought you into XYZ company, all of a sudden, they leave, and they're in a new position, probably at a higher level, at another company. What do you do? In a case like this.

Brynne Tillman  21:48

There's two opportunities, right? There's the opportunity that opened up in the company, they left, and there's the new opportunity. So the new opportunity, obviously, we want to go out and provide value to the champion. I want to get an inside scoop from the champion to see who's taking over. Do they know, is it an internal promotion? So I want to get into the new company. But I actually would start the conversation with, “Can you help me navigate the old company?” I'm just starting this up, you know, who should I talk to? Can I mention your name? Do you still have a good relationship with them? You know, what is your felling? Do you think this is still an open opportunity? Or do you think it's not? 

They'll give you way more information after they leave than they will when they're there? Because they're not holding tight to a budget, you can find out about budget constraints, how they make their decisions, and you can learn a lot about the old company. But there's now this opportunity in the new company as well but a lot of this, if this is your champion, and likely you've had many conversations with them before, or a few at least. So they know what you do. They know and you can say, look, I you know, I don't know what your goals are for this new organization, but if there's anything I can do to support you, please let me know no pressure, you don't have you know, we don't have to do business. But I'd really love to help you succeed here. 

I'm going to tell a quick story. Darrell Crail was at Vanilla Soft, I absolutely adore him but he never bought at Vanilla Soft. He was my champion. We were on podcasts, and we've done things together and lots of things together and then he moved to AgoraPulse. And within a week AgoraPulse was my new client. It was the right time, the right place, the right conversation and, and because I nurtured and reached out immediately, he's like, You know what we should talk. But he was brought in to make an impact. 

So it was awesome but that was a perfect example of how I saw the new change in Sales Navigator. And I reached out and the timing was right, a lot of this is timing but you've got to nurture and continue to bring value and detach from what the prospect is worth to you, and attach to what you are worth to the prospect. So when you do that, you know when the time is right, the sale will happen. It's just will.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  24:43

Yep, yep. Then you just have to be there. So as Brynne said, the one of the things when people move, I bet… did Darrell reach out to you and say, “Hey, Brynne, I'm moving now…”

Brynne Tillman  24:57

No, I saw it on LinkedIn and I think I said something goofy, I might have sent a video message. But I'm like, I don't want to be just another congrats on your page, right? Like I have to, I think I sent a little video message. And then he just said, We should talk. And then I don't even know, he copied me in an email with Lisa and I worked with Lisa. And like, it was done like that. It was amazing. 

So, you know, that's why this is important. And he was my champion, not my client yet but my champion, right, the person I had that relationship with internally, you know, and what, you know, and what you can do in this case, I didn't, and maybe we should now, but go back to the other who took over Daryll’s position, who do I need to nurture now at Vanilla Soft. If you're listening, call me. But ultimately, like that, you know, that's the way we need to think of things.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  26:00

Yep, absolutely. Thank you. So, a couple of things, I hope you're picking up nuggets. And these are topics we'll be talking about in the future different channels of communication, because Brynne said for example, I didn't just you know, put a like or clap hands, I sent a video message, which I guarantee you if he got one other video message from anybody else, on me, surprise. So right there, it's a way that you can stand out and the other thing is that when people move, most times, they are not going to tell you but Sales Navigator will tell you. So that's why this tool is wonderful. 

We're going to wrap up with shares, and news. Lead shares, when leads actually share content on LinkedIn, it's another opportunity for you to join the conversation to support what they're sharing because when you add to the conversation in a non promotional way, I'm sure I don't have to say that to this audience but when you jump into something that they've posed, that is not the place to promote yourself. It's the place to add to the comp.

Brynne Tillman  27:22

Absolutely. And you know, it's interesting that these folks are sharing because they want engagement. So a couple quick things. You're going to click a view, right, you're going to see view and Sales Navigator is going to give you this pop up, where you can go down like and comment. There is no typical Share button or repost from this view. So from this view, you're going to click on like, no, don't just do a thumbs up. If it's inspiring, or you learn something, do the light bulb, see if it's a celebration clap, if it's funny, you can laugh as long as it's not laughing at them. But you know, leverage the other reactions because you'll stand out. 

And actually, the algorithm says to actually comment first and then react. But don't just say great post or thanks for the post or, you know, look at it, read it. Worst case, grab a quote from it and say love this and have the whole quote that you love from it, or great quote by the author of the post, write, have some substance to it, take the time to really engage. If you choose to go deeper into that content, you're going to want to click out into the mothership, engage beyond Sales Navigator if you want to do some other things on that. 

So just keep that in mind as you're going through, you have some limited functionality when you're engaging from Sales Navigator, which is kind of disappointing, but it is what it is. You can also X things out of your newsfeed as you've engaged so you don't have to see them anymore. But one of my favorite things is I may on a Sunday night just be scrolling through and maybe even on mobile, and I bookmark. So maybe I'm not in a place to engage right now. But when I get on my computer Monday morning, I want to and so there's a little bookmark that you go through and say oh, why are you leaving and I want to bookmark this for later. You know, oh, Stan Robinson I want to bookmark this for later so that you can come back so you don't have to feel overwhelmed or that you're gonna Miss things, just bookmark them and then X them out, like, leave. So it leaves the news feed.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  30:09

Yeah. Yep. Thanks. So two great features just to make you more productive, make your life easier, because I think we've probably all been standing in a grocery line or something scrolling through, because the person on the express line has 30 items. And we've got some time on our hands. So bookmark. Wonderful feature. Yep. And the last one, we kind of touched on this, but it's news as it applies to leads. And, you know, people aren't often going to be mentioned in the news. But if they are, and again, it's good news. It's a wonderful opportunity to congratulate them. 

Brynne Tillman  30:52

I love that. And I'm going to emphasize and you've said this a lot, I think eight or 10 years ago, when I was in a congratulate, congratulate, congratulate mode, I did congratulate a company for bankruptcy, they were in the news, not a good thing. So it is really important that you look at it. And you can do it if they are a first degree connection, they may not be because we might save them but if they're a first degree connection, just opening up your phone and sending a congratulations video will make all the difference in the world. If you want to create a loom video with their image in the back, like the image of the post or the you can do that, “Hey, I was scrolling through and I saw this congratulations.” Just so many ways that you can make this personal.

Stan Robinson, Jr.  31:49

Yep, absolutely. Thank you. Well, we're at the top of the hour as always, this time goes by super fast. So I hope those of you who are with us live found value and those who are watching the replay as well or listening. Yes. Thank you. So do let us know what you'd like us to be talking about in the future. As you can tell we have. We have some ideas, but we're always looking for additional feedback. So Brynne, until next week.

Brynne Tillman  32:22

Have a wonderful Sales Navigator week!

Outro  32:28

Thanks for listening and join us again for more insights on Sales Navigator and social selling strategies that will differentiate you from your competitors and accelerate your sales success. In the meantime, you can go to socialsaleslink.com/library for free content on LinkedIn Sales Navigator and social selling.