B2B Breakdown Series – Episode VI

Many companies have great websites and offers, yet struggle to translate those into compelling cold outreach. Part of the problem is that our expectations are different between those channels. When we visit a website, we expect to see general information, but a personalized message should be, well, personalized. Check out this recent LinkedIn connection request we received and learn how it could be better aligned with the salesperson’s company messaging. 

Review of Initial Outreach

We received a connection request from John Doe with a personalized message — always a good start. They begin by saying they’re hoping to meet smart people in the tech industry, so they looks forward to connecting with us. Now that’s a smooth line: it’s complimentary without being over-the-top.

They then followed up with a longer message. They start out strong, with an upfront description of what they do. That’s great, but at the moment when we think they’re going to ask us some questions or explain a bit more about their work, they veer into a sales pitch. It reads like a generic paragraph from a company brochure or website, and they append it with “Seems like it would a good fit for Thumbstop Media.”

But there was no conversation, and they didn’t offer any details specific to Thumbstop Media’s needs. So, at this point, I’m nowhere near convinced that their company could help mine out, nor are we invested in learning more.

There’s a fine line between dragging on a conversation before the inevitable sales pitch versus diving right into it. As always, though, we recommend leading with value. Ask your prospects about their experiences or offer some helpful insights rather than immediately asking for their business.

John concludes with a request for a discovery call. “Nothing formal,” they add. This is a nice touch: it lets us know this call is no-obligation. They also include a link to their company’s website. Overall, this is a good call-to-action.

However, it would have been nice to start a conversation before we reached this point. Although they do a good job of being upfront rather than mysterious, it’s a little too pushy.

Still, let’s head over to their profile and scope it out.

Review of LinkedIn Profile

We immediately notice that John’s profile is quite short and a bit bland. There’s no header image on their profile and their title is just their job title — nothing that explains what makes their tick or what they’re excited about.

John’s bio is decent: it’s concise, and they explain what they provide to people. They’ve also listed their areas of expertise (which double as keywords) in bullet points. Still, there’s nothing very personable or enticing about their profile. We would like to learn more about their experience and what they do at their company.

Speaking of which, there are no summaries below any of their Experience listings. This is a missed opportunity to share their skills and subtly push prospects toward working with them. Instead, I’m left with the impression that John didn’t put a lot of effort into their LinkedIn profile — and I’m worried that attitude would carry over into their work.

If you are reaching out to prospects via LinkedIn, make sure that your profile is fleshed out. It doesn’t have to be super-long, but you want to give people a bit to chew on. Generic job descriptions and short bios just don’t stand out from the crowd. 

I’d like to know more about their company, so we click over to the LinkedIn page for ProGrowth LLC.

Review of Company Page

ProGrowth says they were founded in 2020, and their most recent post was published nearly a year ago. It appears that the company set up their LinkedIn page then lost interest in maintaining it.

Their Overview section is very short and generic. They promise to use data to help B2B companies schedule appointments with their leads. There’s honestly nothing unique there; that’s a very saturated industry, and I’d like to see more explanation of how they do what they do and how they can help us.

We decide to visit their website to see if we can learn more about this company.

Review of Website

ProGrowth LLC’s website is worlds apart from its LinkedIn profile. It has a strong, value-driven headline (“We Fully Manage the Top of the Sales Funnel”) followed by a concise subhead (“Your Prospecting Partner Team will warm leads up and then schedule a meeting for you to close the deal”). Now we immediately know what this company does, and we appreciate them cutting to the chase.

The headings are followed by a nice, simple CTA: “Start Growing.” Plus, they’ve placed some great social proof above the fold: a glowing review that even links to the LinkedIn profile of the person giving the testimonial. This is ideal — clear, verifiable social proof. 

The homepage also clearly defines the company’s niche and explains their process. The copy is short, direct, and flows easily to the CTA. They also have great visuals that illustrate their process.

The CTA button leads to a booking page for a discovery call. It’s super-easy to select a date and time and take action. ProGrowth LLC does a great job with their funnel: they know how to entice visitors and drive them toward conversion.

Wrapping Up

So the question is, why is a company that clearly knows their stuff and has a great website to boot, sending generic outreach messages through a bare-bones LinkedIn page? Our guess is, they’re hoping the website will do most of the work. But most prospects aren’t going to click through to your site. If your outreach sequences do not follow your core messaging, you’ll leave prospects in the cold. As always, be personable. Be human. Let your social profiles show what you’re all about so that when you’re ready to drive prospects to your website, they feel like they’re taking advice from a trusted colleague. That’s our recommendation for ProGrowth LLC and any company using LinkedIn for outreach.

We get it. There are a million ways to improve your outreach to be more effective with your prospects, and sometimes it’s hard to figure out the next move. If you find yourself in this situation, click here to hop on a call with us. We’ll be able to talk about the details of your business and give you some advice on where to take your content and more.

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