Step 1 - Generating a Lead / Active Referral Strategy

Generating a Qualified Lead:

A digital prospecting strategy: "Active Referral Lead Generation on LinkedIn"

One of the best known networking strategies to finding new business are referrals, specifically, connecting with your best clients for specific referrals based on their network.

When utilizing LinkedIn to search for prospective clients through your current client's contacts, look for decision-maker titles such as "HR, CFO, President etc." that are second degree connections. 

Ask for a specific introduction via in-person, phone, email or LinkedIn, whichever method is preferred by your client:

"Hi  ___, I noticed on LinkedIn that you are connected with _____ at _____ company. I've been looking to connect with this company to see if there's an opportunity to advise them on their benefits or retirement as we do for you.

Would you be willing to offer me an introduction to ____?

As you have experienced my approach is to educate and advice first so rest assured we are not looking to just quote or sell your contact something. 

I'd like to offer [NAME] some insights such as benchmarking of how their benefits compare and rank against other employers using the CloudAdvisor platform. and plan audit recommendations.

I appreciate your consideration and hopefully an introduction! To make it even easier for you, I will also send over a quick email you can use as a template"

[SAMPLE TEMPLATE]

Hi _______

Our Employee Benefits Advisor at [your company] is [Advisor's name] with [Advisors Company] and they would like to connect with you at [their company].  

[Advisor's name] asked me personally for an introduction and I'm happy to make this referral as they've done great work for us and we're confident in their approach. They are not typical brokers who only want to offer you another quote or sell a substitute plan. Our experience has been that they are Advisors, offering helpful insight and strategies as well as access to data from the marketplace, including customized benchmarking of other employer plans.

If you'd like to get more information I'd be happy to chat, otherwise I hope this intro is well received and ends up being valuable for you and your organization!

[END]

Scenario 1: 

If your Contact responds negatively and refuses an introduction or advises against it, use this as an opportunity to request feedback from your client to improve your service or overall ability to be "referable". Learn and improve!

Scenario 2:

No response, send a follow up in a few weeks, remember, people are busy!

Scenario 3:

They don't know this person....that's ok, after all, LinkedIn is a big place!

"No problem, thank you for the response! As it's just LinkedIn, I didn't expect that you know everyone you're connected with. I am actively growing my business, if I come across another opportunity in the future would you be open to me connecting for another referral?

[Set a reminder to follow up in weeks or months with another contact] - Manage the timeframe personally for each contact so you don't exhaust your asks.

Scenario 4:

Success! You've got an intro and it's time to move to Step 2 and engage your new lead.