A sales or CRM pipeline is a representation of your sales cycle and the stages that each prospect is at.
While LinkedIn allows you to search for prospects, it doesn’t have the features of a CRM platform which can help you to visualize your sales cycle, or give you the option to share contacts with your sales team so that you can collaborate in your efforts to take people through the sales funnel.
In this blog, we’ll show you how to create a CRM pipeline using folk so that you can import search lists in moments. We’ll also share some tips and tricks so you can use folk to send ultra-personalized messages using our built-in AI integration and more.
Why should you use a CRM to complement a platform like LinkedIn?
A CRM refers to the processes and technologies that businesses use to manage and analyze customer interactions throughout the customer lifecycle. It enables companies to build strong relationships with their customers and streamline sales and marketing efforts.
By implementing a CRM system, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs, allowing them to tailor their products and services accordingly.
A CRM also helps businesses track and manage customer interactions across multiple channels, including phone calls, emails, social media, and in-person meetings. This comprehensive view of customer interactions enables companies to provide consistent and personalized experiences, regardless of the touchpoint.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, is a professional networking platform. It allows sales teams to find prospects, and people and businesses to connect.
However, there are a few drawbacks if you’re a busy professional. LinkedIn makes it hard to keep track of your last interactions with people without using multiple tools. It’s also hard for your sales team to know who you’ve been in touch with without you having to update them.
That’s why using a CRM like folk will complement your efforts on LinkedIn. Let’s walk you through how you can make the most of it for your sales
Creating a CRM Pipeline with LinkedIn
A sales pipeline is a visual representation of all your potential customers in their respective stages of your sales journey.
These stages indicate what actions your sales team should take, such as: following up with a prospect, sit a demo with someone, or time to close that deal.
1. Get your CRM ready
Start by customizing your CRM so that all the fields are relevant to your needs.
For instance, you may want to create labels to assign each prospect into the different stages of the sales funnel they’re in. Such as:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Evaluation
- Negotiation
- Closing a sale
- Renewal of interest and repurchase
You can also group them into categories depending on the size of the company. Make sure you invite your sales team to your contact list so that they can build on it instead of having separate lists. This way, you can avoid the embarrassment of contacting the same person twice.
2. Identifying and importing prospects from LinkedIn
If you’re building out a new contact list, you can use the Boolean method on LinkedIn to narrow your search.
Once you’ve discovered the right prospects, you can import the search lists directly into folk without leaving the page. Simply download our Chrome extension, folkX and you’ll be able to fill out the pipeline in moments.
As you import them, you’ll have the option of creating a new group to attach these new contacts to, to remind yourself of any intentions you had with them, and add notes so that you can keep track of what keyword you used to find these profiles.
3. Engaging with your prospects
Now that you have identified the right prospects, it’s time to engage with them. With folk, you won’t have to use another platform. Instead, you can make use of our mail merge software, which comes with a powerful AI integration called ‘Magic Field’.
‘Magic Field’ allows users to create custom prompts that can tell the AI what data to pull out from your database so that you can send ultra-personalized messages to multiple recipients. You can read more about that here.
You’ll also be able to get useful insight into your email campaigns, showing you the opened, clicked, and bounced rates and reminders of when to follow up.
4. Maintaining and analyzing your CRM pipeline
Creating a CRM pipeline on LinkedIn is an ongoing effort that requires regular maintenance and analysis. By continually updating and analyzing your CRM pipeline, you can ensure that it remains effective and aligned with your business goals and customer personas.
As you engage with prospects and move them through the sales funnel, it is important to update your CRM pipeline accordingly. This involves updating lead statuses, recording interactions, and adding relevant notes and follow-up reminders.
With folk, you’ll be able to do this collaboratively with your team so that you don’t end up doubling up your efforts on the same people.
You can also gain valuable insight with our advanced tracking system, which can give you a clear breakdown of who has opened, clicked, or bounced in your email outreach efforts.
Conclusion
It’s not easy to build your own CRM pipeline. But if you pair LinkedIn with folk, it becomes easier. You’ll be able to say goodbye to stylos across your sales team, and hello to a more collaborative effort.
Get started with a free trial of folk today.