How to Meet Your LinkedIn Sales Quota with a Lead Generation Agency

In an ideal world, every sales team would have the time – and the money – to build new connections, nurture old ones and strike up new conversations with relevant prospects in their industry daily. Unfortunately, the pressures of quarterly targets and monthly quotas tend to make this kind of work harder than it sounds. 

Today, 68% of companies admit to struggling with lead generation. That’s despite relying heavily on the same old tried and tested marketing tactics such as social media marketing, cold calling, email marketing, and even aggressive sales tactics when times call for desperate measures. This is why many businesses look to outside help when things get out of hand, but there’s a solution – lead generation agencies.

Lead generation agencies are adept at helping businesses find potential customers to strike up a mutually beneficial relationship with. While many B2B salespeople might be wary of handing over their sales responsibilities to someone who isn’t an employee, working with a lead generation agency has many advantages.

We compiled this guide to provide a more detailed overview of using LinkedIn for sales and how a lead generation agency can support you in meeting your quota and building a strong sales department.

How to Use LinkedIn for Sales

With over 850 million members as of 2022, LinkedIn is your go-to place when you want high-quality leads that don’t exist anywhere else. The platform is home to professionals in various industries; no matter your industry, you’re guaranteed to find fellow professionals. What’s more, 65 million members hold some form of decision-making role at their company, and that’s what you want to watch for – these are your ideal target prospects.

LinkedIn Sales Explained

Selling on LinkedIn is more than just posting your latest sales and marketing collateral for your latest product or service. It’s about strategic visibility, clarity of message, being unapologetically you, and how you present yourself as a brand.

The good news is that it’s easy to learn how to use LinkedIn for sales by using it as a professional marketing tool rather than simply another social media site. But before we get into more detail, here are some related terms you might come across in your LinkedIn sales campaigns:

• Lead generation: Finding potential clients who could use your products and services. 
• Lead Nurturing: Communicating with leads to build trust, generate interest, and close deals. 
• Lead Scoring: Evaluating leads based on their potential value to your business. 
• Sales Quota: Your sales quota is the goal, the target number of sales you must make within a specified period of time. 
• Sales Cycle: The time it takes to go from generating a lead to closing a deal.
• LinkedIn Sales Goals: The objectives set for your LinkedIn lead generation tool/team.
• LinkedIn Sales Success: Successfully reach your sales quota using LinkedIn as a sales tool.

In today’s B2B environment, sales are a collaborative effort – with a sales rep, a sales manager, and a marketing manager working together to source new leads from the market, nurture those relationships, and close more deals. Sales reps might want to think of themselves as relationship managers more than lead generators. 

Current State of LinkedIn B2B Lead Generation

LinkedIn offers the most extensive professional networking experience on the internet as the most widely used business-oriented social media network. While most people use the platform for professional networking, many marketers leverage it for lead generation with a strong focus on capturing business opportunities. 

We’ve got the numbers to prove why LinkedIn is the perfect place to find fresh, high-quality B2B leads for your business:

• 82% of B2B marketers have realized success on LinkedIn
• 97% of the Fortune 500 are LinkedIn customers
• 80% of social media B2B leads come from LinkedIn
• 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content
• 46% of social media traffic to the company website comes from LinkedIn
• 58 million companies have a presence on LinkedIn.

Despite its popularity, many marketers still consider it a challenging social media platform for lead generation. For starters, the LinkedIn landscape is shifting toward content marketing, especially in industries like healthcare and financial services, where blogging about certain industry issues can give you the authority to pitch products to your customers.

What is a Sales Quota?

Sales quotas are quantifiable targets that sales reps must meet to succeed. The goal might be to book a certain number of deals, generate a certain amount of revenue, or close a certain percentage. As with any goal, you can only accomplish it with a plan, and that plan starts with a quota.

For example, if the company expects the team to generate $1 million in revenue and the quota is 10%, each rep should bring in $100,000.

Quotas are important because they provide a goal to aim for, give your team something to focus on, and keep your team accountable.

Some companies don’t use a quota system, but most businesses track their employees’ performance in relation to a target. A sales quota can be a helpful way to track performance, but it can also be stressful for employees who don’t hit their numbers.

What Could Be the Obstacles to Meeting Sales Quota in B2B?

The main challenge for any B2B sales quota is that the process can be long, complex, and quite expensive. The average sales cycle is anywhere between 4-7 months. 

Moreover, the sales cycle for B2B is usually longer than for B2C, meaning that there is more time for things to go wrong and for the customer to change their mind. Below are more obstacles to meeting sales quota in B2B:

• Poor time management – Your lead generation team may fall behind if it doesn’t prioritize its daily tasks effectively. Salespeople spend only 37% of their time selling. Besides, only 28% of salespeople have a structured time management system. Be sure to allot prospecting, networking, and basic administration time.

• Limited resources – There are various reasons why small businesses don’t generate enough leads. Sometimes, their marketing databases don’t have enough data to produce an effective list of target prospects. Other times, an advertising budget might be too small to support heavy marketing efforts. Whatever the case, you need sufficient resources to run effective lead-generation campaigns.

• Poor targeting – Even if you have the best lead-generation strategy ever, you’re not going to get very far if you’re not targeting the right people. Ensure you know your ideal customers and, more importantly, understand their needs before reaching out to them.

• Poor choice of lead generation channel – Choosing the right lead generation medium for your business is the key to a successful campaign. Email, social media, and content marketing are lead-generation channels most commonly used. When deciding which lead generation method to use, you must keep several things in mind. 

For example, if your prospects dwell on social media, cold calling may not be the best LinkedIn lead-generation tool. You can use content marketing or social media as your lead-generation medium in such a situation. 

Another important thing to remember is your business’s target audience. If your potential customers visit a particular website or social media site often, using that site as a lead generation option is a good idea.

Tips for Better B2B Sales Via LinkedIn

LinkedIn sales are not just about posting a generic profile and expecting to start closing deals. You have to pay attention to details, such as your headline and bio. You also have to know how to network on LinkedIn.

With that in mind, there are several different ways how to use LinkedIn for sales, particularly its built-in features:

• Ensure you have a killer profile – When people visit your profile, you want them to know you’re the real deal. Your page should represent your brand and provide pertinent information about your products and services. 

• Keep an eye out for relevant events and join the conversation – Whether it’s a major convention, a product launch, or a new regulatory update, you can use these opportunities to drive engagement with your prospects. Keep your posts relevant to the event, and don’t be afraid to ask questions to spark discussion.
• Participate in groups – By actively participating in relevant LinkedIn groups, you can increase your brand awareness and connect with new people who could become your customers.
• Use visuals in your posts to grab people’s attention – Visuals are proven to increase click-through rates, views, and engagement, making them an essential part of any social media strategy. The best way to use visuals in your blog posts is by posting high-quality photos that showcase your product or service. You can also add infographics to your blog posts that highlight key stats and information. 

• Take advantage of LinkedIn Ad campaigns – LinkedIn advertising could be particularly helpful if you are trying to reach a large number of people or a specific target group in a short period of time. LinkedIn’s advertising tools allow you to target your audience based on location, job title, industry, demographics, and more.

How to Leverage LinkedIn Sales Navigator for Better LinkedIn Sales

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool for enterprise-level business clients who want maximum bang for their buck from their investment in LinkedIn. It provides detailed analytics and a robust suite of tools for reps to make the most of their time, target their ideal clients, and have a clear view of their progress.

Navigator is an advanced social selling tool that allows you to beat the competition by profiling your company and your employees, prioritizing your leads, and collaborating with your team. With Navigator, you can easily create a sales pipeline and view your activity reports to track your progress. 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator also lets you uncover the most relevant leads, create better-targeted ads, and measure the results. You can search for targeted leads based on your company, industry, and job title and start building connections with them. The more connections you have, the more likely you are to be searched for by your target market – and sales teams can use these connections to reach out and try to start a relationship with these potential customers. 

How a Lead Generation Agency Can Help You Meet Your LinkedIn Sales Quota

If you are working to meet a sales quota through LinkedIn and looking for a better way to track your results, you can work with a lead generation agency to improve your results. 

A lead generation agency can help you find and generate leads through different channels, such as social media, email, and content.

• A lead generation agency can help you find new clients and grow your business by targeting people most interested in your products or services and reaching out to those individuals on your behalf.
• A lead generation agency can help you meet your sales quota by finding leads for you. They can do this by creating targeted ads on social media, engaging in online marketing, and even sending emails to potential clients.
• A lead generation agency can help you meet your sales quota by taking the pressure off of your in-house sales team to find new leads. They can take on this responsibility, freeing up more time for your team to focus on closing deals. 

A good lead generation agency will be able to provide you with a steady stream of quality leads that meet your company’s specific criteria.

Four Possible Types of Cooperation with Lead Generation Agencies

The key to successful lead generation is communication, and a good agency will ensure constant two-way dialogue between your company and the agency. There are several ways in which you and the agency can work together to bring in more leads:

1. Retainer agencies. A retainer agency works like a normal service, with a fixed rate for a specified period of time.
2. Pay-per-lead agencies. These agencies charge you per lead. You only get charged when they find someone who wants to buy from you. 
3. Campaign-based agencies. In this scenario, you and the agency agree to work together on one campaign at a time. For instance, you might work with an agency to help promote a single product or event or sign on for a full campaign to promote your brand in a specific region.
4. No-risk agencies. No-risk lead generation agencies combine the best of both worlds in cost and risk mitigation, ensuring that your company bears no risk from your investment. 

No-risk lead generation services ensure that you only pay for what you get. You get a full refund of your unallocated money when no leads are generated.

Tips for Working with a LinkedIn Lead Generation Agency

Before you start working with a lead generation agency, ensure you have a good idea of what they can do for your business. Remember that not every agency is right for every business; you should never be afraid to shop around. 

Ask these questions: 

• Does the agency have experience in my industry? 
• How long have they been in business? 
• Do they have any references I can speak to? 
• What is their process for generating leads? 
• What kind of leads can I expect? 
• How will they follow up with leads? 
• What is the pricing structure? 
• What is their cancellation policy? 

If you decide to work with a company to generate LinkedIn leads, do your research and pick a reputable company. Go with a company that has experience working in your industry. You also want to ensure they have a team of specialists on staff to provide readily available support for your business.

How Outreachly’s Lead Generation Agency Helps You Meet Your LinkedIn Sales Quota with the No-Risk Service

Outreachly’s No-Risk Sales service was designed for the sales-hungry teams that lack time to scour the internet in search of new opportunities for their business. Everything from researching your ideal customers to creating a LinkedIn lead generation strategy and content is fully managed by our in-house team of sales experts, so you can focus on what you do best: selling.

With our pay-per-result model, you only pay for the results you get, so it’s 100% risk-free! With a focus on a few clients per month, your sales efforts will be fully dedicated to your needs.

Join our next demo to learn about generating leads and making sales today with Outreachly’s No-Risk Sales Service! Or order your LinkedIn leads directly from the website!

Conclusion

The sales process is fluid and ever-changing, which makes it important for sales teams to stay on top of new trends. LinkedIn is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the competition and source new leads for your sales team. But to get up to speed on your lead-generation efforts, it’s important that you work with the best lead-gen agency for your business.