Episode 239: LinkedIn and B2C Sales: A Winning Combination

Bob Woods  00:00

Welcome Sales and Marketing Pros to Making Sales Social, Coming to you from the Social Sales Link Virtual Studios. I’m Bob Woods of the aforementioned Social Sales Link, otherwise known as LinkedIn Sherpa, and I’m joined by fellow social selling authority, trainer, and consultant, AKA the LinkedIn Whisperer, Brynne Tillman. How’re you doing today, Brynne?

Brynne Tillman  00:23

Hi Bob. I’m in a really good mood today. I’m excited to be here.

Bob Woods  00:27

Yeah, same here, same here. 

Intro  00:31

Welcome to the Making Sales Social Podcast featuring the top voices in Sales, Marketing, and Business. Join Brynne Tillman and me, Bob Woods, as we each bring you the best tips and strategies our guests are teaching their clients so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Enjoy the show!

Bob Woods  00:54

So normally, I Welcome B2B Sales and Marketing Pros to this podcast. Makes sense because LinkedIn and social selling are tailor-made for business-to-business or B2B sales. Brynne and I talk a whole lot about them, ut LinkedIn and social selling can be used effectively for B2C or business-to-consumer sales as well. 

This is a great topic because it’s helpful to a wide community of business development professionals that we normally don’t talk to, but we should be talking to you all. So today, welcome B2C sales pros, and we love our B2C Dave’s right, Brynne? 

Brynne Tillman  01:32

We do. In fact, we have an enormous group, especially in the professional services world that does share their business in the B2C world. And you know, we’ve really helped them grow their business, so why not teach the world if you’re a B2C, Here’s some things you.

Bob Woods  01:52

Exactly, exactly. So first of all, let’s talk real quick about just how B2C works on LinkedIn and, and any real differences subtle or otherwise, between B2C and B2B on LinkedIn and social selling.

Brynne Tillman  02:10

Yeah, well, let’s start with whether you’re B2B or B2C, this is the place to start the conversation not to make the sale. Right. So you have to think in terms of, I want to get a conversation going where I can bring real value. And then you know, I start trust based conversations without being salesy. So no matter what you’re doing in sales, you want to come from that perspective. The next thing you want to do is really focus on referral partners, growing a strong base of people that you feel comfortable referring to, and that you earn the right to get referrals from them. Right. So let’s stick. Let’s start with a financial advisor, I sell to families. That’s it. 

I don’t say it’s not business owners, necessarily, although they do have families. So that’s a story for another day. But if you’re really like, you know, I work with families primarily, well, who other trusted advisors are those families working with, they’re working with CPAs, they might have a state attorney that they work with. So the goal then is to build a very strong center of influence network, you’re not necessarily fishing with a pole prospect, but prospect, you’re fishing with a net network gain by creating and that’s where I, that’s where networking came from.

Bob Woods  03:39

I think so.

Brynne Tillman  03:42

We just decided. So you know, and building those relationships, which is a B2B play on LinkedIn will lead to B2C business.

Bob Woods  03:55

Exactly, exactly. One of the really cool things about LinkedIn and social selling, it’s something that I want to tap into a little bit, especially because one of the things that you need to do, just like with B2B is shift your LinkedIn profile from a resume to a resource. And there’s all kinds of general things that we’re going to talk about real quick with that. But one of the things that I want to tap into what Brynne just said is financial advisors and you can plug your own business into this probably pretty easily no matter what you’re in. And so with that Brynne said, you know, a particular financial advisor may be interested in families of any kind, because with a major client that we have, I do the profile makeovers for them. They come to me and there is, I’m sorry.

Brynne Tillman  04:48

I said, with them. 

Brynne Tillman  04:50

Yes, with them. working with them. 100% working with them. 

Brynne Tillman  04:55

You do an amazing, amazing job because I work with them next and I get on. I’m like, Good job Bob. 

Bob Woods  05:01

Yeah, so yeah, definitely appreciate that. One of the things though, which is really cool about LinkedIn, you can really target your audience because some of these people come to me and they’re like, I only work with business professionals, business owners who are approaching retirement or people who are already in retirement, or people who are just starting out families or individuals. I mean, you can, I mean, you can imagine how people can slice and dice the target audience of prospects that they are looking for.

You can do the same thing with yours as with your efforts only. And all of that starts with your profile, and with not only how you build it, but with the educational resources that you can provide, you really turn it from a resume to a resource, but a resource that targets the audience that you are specifically looking for. And that’s how you get, that’s a big part, I should say, of how to start those sales-based conversations without being salesy. 

Brynne Tillman  06:04

So I love that I’m gonna Yes, and I’d love for you to Yes. And at the end of my Yes. Because I don’t think we’ve talked about this much, but it just came to my head, as we’re talking about this. If let’s say you partner with other trusted advisors, and that is whom, who you’re really focusing on, wouldn’t you? And I’m asking you as the really, it’s a yes. And with a question for your insights, would you potentially say, partnering with trusted advisors of individuals and from an individual and family or trusted advisors who work with wealthy families.

Bob Woods  06:58

100% I would do that. Yeah, absolutely.

Brynne Tillman  07:02

Going on that because I don’t have it totally formulated in my head.

Brynne Tillman  07:09

How do you approach that? 

Bob Woods  07:11

Yeah, yeah. So basically, I mean, if you were to take that you would, you would start off by probably identifying that in the headline specifically. So and it’s just how Brynne said I mean, that’s a perfect way to start a headline is, it is who you want to attract by just saying that. So the elements of the headline is, who you help, how you help them, sometimes the services you provide and the results you bring, depending on how that fits within the 220 characters. 

But I mean, definitely always have who you help and how you help them. And so for this particular one, when it comes to the people who you’re trying to network with, you identify those people within the headline, you know, a little bit more generically, because you can build that out farther down in the profile. But it’s always reassuring that when someone lands on a profile, that they know that they’re in the right place, and that probably the best place to start building that kind of feeling is in the headline.

Brynne Tillman  08:22

Love that. Great. So that’s yeah, you know, it’s fun. A lot of times when we’re doing this live, I’m learning from you on new ideas and new thoughts. And vice versa. Like this is a little selfish for me, because now I’ve got this whole, like, narrow area to start collaborating with you on because that’s important. I love that.

Bob Woods  08:44

Yeah, that sounds cool. Love that. Absolutely love that. So we’ve already gone through identifying referral sources. The next one probably hits the people who you already have in your network a little more directly. And that’s just viewing and searching your clients as well as you know your general connections for people who they might want who you might want to have an introduction to whether that’s another networking partner or possibly even even a client and that and that can get kind of sticky, depending on what type of business you’re in. But absolutely for networking partner work referrals.

Brynne Tillman  09:29

So yeah, so let’s elaborate on that a little bit. So taking inventory of our first degree connections, I think that’s what we’re talking about right. Yeah. So can actually search our first degree connections on LinkedIn. We can export our connections into a CSV or Excel file from LinkedIn and take inventory and we can identify I heard you say prospects with a question mark. I might refrain because What happens with B2C and I know we’re kind of talking this through. 

But when it’s B2C, what we tend to do then is pitch these folks, Right? When it’s a B2C play, but this is where we can start identifying our strategic partners that we’re already connected to, that might be able to make some introductions on our behalf first, you know, give us even permission to name drop. 

So I think there’s a really good opportunity there but the key is from what I heard you say is, we’ve got to take inventory of our existing connections, who are we already connected to? What you should be talking to? And I did not look at the list. So I may be jumping ahead. So stop me. Are we on this list? Do you ask your clients who their trusted advisors are?

Bob Woods  10:57

No, there isn’t. And that’s a really good one. Yeah.

Brynne Tillman  11:02

Okay, it’s.

Bob Woods 11:04

It’s a yes.

Brynne Tillman  11:06

In the show, I definitely, like, squirrel. So one of the things that we should do in the st we identify all your clients that you’re connected to, and ask them, Who is your CPA? Who is your financial advisor, Right? Who’s your CPA, who’s your tat, your state attorney, who has helped you with x, right. So once you’ve identified those potential referral partners, make sure that you are meeting the centers of influence that are connected to your existing clientele. There’s a couple reasons behind this. 

And Bob, and I teach this often in coaching. Often we teach this in coaching, which ultimately is you ask that, you know, that trusted, trusted advisor for a conversation, so I reached out, Mr. CPA, but you and I both work with woods, he’s been such a great client, I thought it made sense for us to connect. And, you know, have a brief conversation and like to know the trusted advisors of all my clients. 

If you’re open to a brief call, just to get to know each other. That would be awesome. We’d be great, right? He’s not going to say no, or she’s not going to say no, because we have a shared client and she wouldn’t want to get back to him that she ghosted me. So the chances of you starting those conversations are pretty high. 

Bob Woods  12:42

So yes, yeah, absolutely. So this next one actually builds on what we’ve been talking about. But it is also going to loop back to what we’re talking about. And that’s, it sounds simple, but there are layers to it. So connect with everyone you meet. So, networking events, if you’re just out and about whatever, wherever doesn’t really matter. Connect with everyone you meet on LinkedIn, because what happens when you connect with them and after they accept your connection. Obviously, you can then do everything that we’ve just talked about. 

And you can even do that, while you’re getting to know them better. You know, we can go out and have coffee again. Wow, that’s a concept. So yeah, I mean, you know, meet them out for coffee or whatever, it doesn’t really matter lunch, but you know, as you’re getting to know them, if it feels right to do so start asking them about some of their partners and do everything that Brynne and I just just talked about, but expanding your network is really important in B2C.

Brynne Tillman  13:50

So I’m gonna throw something out that we taught during the shutdown that you could still do today, you meet a financial. Maybe you get an introduction from your client into the CPA, I’m just gonna stick with that example. And you know, there’s an agreement that we’ll have a conversation, send them a $5 Starbucks gift card and say hey, “This coffee is on me even though it’s remote.”

It’s kind of fun right now looking forward to having a conversation while Zoom on my coffee. This cup is on me. So pretty interesting. We do have let’s see a quick little Paul Bennett networking, spontaneous connections, good to polish your elevator pitch and have business cards at the ready. Now I’m going to say I do have business cards. When Bob and I both worked at PayPal links, they had the most amazing business cards. So when we come back to social sales, we want these great cards because they feel good and I never use them. 

I don’t when I’m out and about, I am using the LinkedIn app. And I’m connecting with people on the spot. And I will have a quick copy and paste message that says, Great meeting you tonight at the XYZ networking meeting. I’m looking forward to continuing our conversation, you can use a shortcode, or a copy and paste. And I send them a personal message. Here’s another cool thing. I don’t know about you. But when I’m overwhelmed with a lot of people, I’ll introduce myself and then I forget their name in 30 seconds. Right? 

If they have a name tag, great, but a lot of times they don’t. And you’re like, “Oh, what was her name?” What was her name, by saying, “Hey, let’s connect on LinkedIn.” And you scan, you know, so it’s kind of a name hack as well, right? So I truly agree with you so much on that statement. Bob connects with everyone you meet and you talk to, I’ve connected with people in the grocery store line, I’ve connected with people out walking my dog. And I don’t have business cards. But I have my phone in the app. So

Bob Woods  16:11

100%,100%. So next, let’s talk really quick about nurturing with content as well as engaging. So we talk about stuff like this all the time and all of our other podcasts. And but we talked about it in the B2B sense, guess what you can do essentially the same thing with b2c, you can still pump out content about, you know, specifically educating about what you do. 

The only difference is that now when you’re going with more of a networking type of thing, you’re educating the people who will hopefully be recommending you about exactly what you do still don’t have a better idea. And not only that, if you publish something recently, and somebody says, “Oh, I’m looking for someone,” so your networking partner says, “Oh, I know just the person. And in fact, they published something very recently on LinkedIn, I’m going to forward it to you.” 

That’s just a mind-blowing idea and then engage with other people as well. Engagement is very, very important with your, especially with your networking partners, because at that point, their network gets to see who you are. And they may even click through to your profile. And because your profile is built in that resource type of way, they may even reach out to you directly. It’s a circle. It’s a circle. 

Brynne Tillman  17:32

I love that. And so I’m just gonna Yes, and that the content that you’re creating, let’s say is, you know, the five things every CPA should ask their advisor about their advisor, their clients about their life insurance coverage. I don’t know if that’s good. But that’s the concept, Right? You know, three reasons. The CPA, the state attorney, has a CPA, state attorney and financial advisor walk into a bar.

Bob Woods  18:06

Let’s go. It would be an interesting joke to ask ChatGPT to make a joke based on that. 

Brynne Tillman  18:13

Alright. I’m giving you that assignment. You’re okay. That’s fine. Yeah.

Bob Woods  18:16

Yeah, I’ll do that. Right away.

Brynne Tillman  18:19

In case you guys don’t know Bob is hysterical. It doesn’t always come across when he’s in professional mode. But man, hang out with him, and he will have you laughing in your pants. I almost said, anyway. But you so so but the end of the day and all of this, I think it really comes down to exactly what you said is we need to educate our target audience. 

The interesting thing is if our prospect got there, they may say, “Hey, my financial advisor isn’t talking about these things.” So it will not in any way hurt direct business. Right? It won’t because they see and they also see that you work closely with their other trusted advisors. Yeah, so they feel comfortable. There are just so many great reasons why.

Bob Woods  19:15

Yeah, yeah. So if you want to learn more about about just nurturing and content and engagement with things like that, you can go back to any of our previous episodes and just know that even though we’re talking about B2B, there is plenty of really good, valuable material that you can pull out of those episodes and really just use for yourself being in B2C. And we also have our free library, which is at socialsaleslink.com/library.

If you’re Live with us right now you can see the URL on your screen. If you’re on the podcast, just go to socialsaleslink.com/library Sign up for it. 100% free all kinds kinds of resources in there about what we’ve been talking about today. And so, so much more.

Brynne Tillman  20:06

Awesome. I had fun, Bob.

Bob Woods  19:15

I did too. I did too. And, and I hope that this newer audience of B2C people hadn’t had as well just just keep in mind that even though we talk B2B, so much of what we discussed here can be used by B2C as well don’t feel excluded just because your B2C and yada yada yada and everything else, we love our B2C peeps, if you even have questions or comments, during if you’re if you’re with us live and you have questions, comments that are B2C oriented during the show, please put them in the comments. We will answer anything and everything that comes in.

Brynne Tillman  20:47

It’s after the show where you’re listening to some podcasts by joining social socialsaleslink.com/library. There’s a community where Bob Stan and I are alerted every time there’s a question and totally free and we can answer it there too.

Bob Woods  21:00

100% That’s another great valuable and free resource that you can tap into as well. So thanks.

Brynne Tillman 21:09

I want to say another Yes. You’re so inspiring me today, Bob. I want to flip the coin on what you said and say everything we touch about B2C today also applies to B2B.

Bob Woods  21:22

B2B Yep. 100% 100% We’re all just big hat family people. Let’s just embrace each other.

Brynne Tillman  21:32

You are welcome, Paul. Thanks, You are welcome.

Bob Woods  21:35

Paul says thank you for today. You’re very welcome, as so thanks, again for joining us on Making Sales Social Live. If you’re with us live on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook or ex Twitter, whatever it is right now. We do this live every week. So keep an eye out for our live sessions. Are you listening to us on our podcast? Feel free to hit that subscribe or follow button if you haven’t done so already to access all of our previous shows and be alerted when new ones drop? If you’d like more info on our podcast. 

It’s at socialsaleslink.com/podcast. We do two shows weekly, this one and our making sales social interview series where we talk with leaders and experts in sales, marketing, business, and many many more areas. So when you are out and about no matter what if you’re in B2B or B2C, or whatever it is you do in sales, just make sure that your sales are.

Brynne Tillman  22:23

Social. 

Bob Woods  22:24

Thanks, everybody. 

Outro  22:33

Don’t miss an episode, visit socialsaleslink.com/podcast. Leave a review down below. Tell us what you think, what you learned, and what you want to hear from us next, register for free resources at LinkedInlibrary.com You can also listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play. Visit our website socialsaleslink.com for more information.