How I Used Rapportive To Help Grow My Business

When I first started growing my business, I knew that having a good relationship with my customers was the key to success. 

However, being a startup founder is an all-consuming job, and I found myself spending less and less time on building these relationships and more time just dealing with the day-to-day tasks of running a business. 

That all changed when I discovered Rapportive, one of the most useful customer relationship management tools out there.

Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business – YouTube
Key Takeaways
1. Rapportive can enhance LinkedIn interactions.
2. It provides valuable insights about connections.
3. Personalized communication can foster strong relationships.
4. Efficient networking contributes to business growth.
5. Utilize Rapportive to optimize your LinkedIn experience.

1. Research Their Social Profiles

Rapportive makes it easy to find out more about someone without having to ask a single question. So when you’re ready to reach out, you’ll have a better idea of what type of content they’d appreciate and what kind of tone works best with them.

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Don’t Be Afraid To Get Personal

I’ve noticed that people are often hesitant when it comes time to make the first move especially if they don’t know the person well enough yet! 

But Rapportive removes that barrier by giving us more information on potential customers than ever before (and removing some of the mystery). 

This allows us to take a few more risks when reaching out, like asking if there’s anything specific we could help them with or offering helpful resources based off our research into their interests/likes/dislikes (or whatever else).

2. Research Their Interests

Once you’re able to connect with someone on the phone, it’s time to dig deeper into their problems and how they want to solve them. 

The best way to do this is by researching their interests. When I say “researching their interests,” I mean going beyond just seeing what they tweet or post on Facebook or what they pin on Pinterest.

When you start digging a little deeper into someone’s Twitter feed, you begin learning more about who they are as an individual and what makes them tick (or not).

For example: As soon as I saw that my contact at HubSpot had posted about the Women of Marketing podcast (which she listened to during her commute), I knew she was super interested in marketing trends and news. 

That sparked me into action: within minutes of discovering her interest in marketing trends and news, I had read through several articles from Forbes Women that related directly back to her interests

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3. Research Their Role And Responsibilities

Once you’ve found them on LinkedIn, I recommend getting to know more about their role and responsibilities by digging deeper into their profile. Make sure you understand:

  • The job they do at the company
  • How that job fits into the company as a whole
  • What other departments do they work with (either in person or remotely)
  • How do they spend their time day-to-day (for example, are there particular projects or tasks that require them to work longer hours?)

Next, consider how their role might be different from what it used to be. You may find someone new to the field who is just starting or someone who has been around for years but has only recently gained more responsibility within the company. 

Either way, this can give you some insight into what kind of person they are and how much value they can add to your business.

4. Research Their Background And Experience

You can also use Rapportive to research the company they work for, as well as any people they work with. You can find out how long they’ve been in the industry, what their experience is like, and what their interests are.

I think it’s important to note that this takes time and effort on your part: you need to be willing to do some digging around social media accounts (like LinkedIn) and Google them up so you can see if there’s anything else that might be useful information for you.

5. See Who You Know In Common

If you’re connected to someone on Facebook or LinkedIn, you can see who else you both know in common. This feature is great for helping you find new relationships and build your network.

If the person has a large following or works for a company that has many employees, then this feature will also help you identify people that may be useful to connect with professionally. 

For example, if someone at Amazon is following another person on Rapportive, then it makes sense to reach out because they are more likely than average to be an influencer in their industry.

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6. Make It Personal And Relevant

If you want to make a good first impression, be personal and relevant. When someone connects with you on Rapportive, they’re looking for something specific. Maybe they’re interested in your product or service, or maybe they just want advice on how to grow their business. 

You can make sure your message hits the mark by finding out what that person’s goals are and then helping them achieve them!

If you’re trying to sell someone on your product/service, find out what kind of results they’re hoping for before sending over an email pitch. 

If someone is only interested in getting more clients now and doesn’t care about long-term growth opportunities down the road.

It’s probably not worth wasting time pitching them if you have other leads who are more willing to hear about all of the ways their business could benefit from working with yours (plus most likely have deeper pockets).

If you do decide it makes sense for this person and yourself to connect further down the line then maybe we’ll see each other again one day!”

7. Set The Right Tone At The Start

When you first reach out to someone, it’s important to set the right tone. This will help you stand out from other users and make sure that they respond to your message. Here are some tips:

Be polite but bold. It’s all too easy to get caught up in a quagmire of small talk and leave yourself open for a cold response. 

Instead, be clear about what you want from the outset whether that be an introduction or an opportunity for collaboration, and don’t back down or give up on it when it doesn’t work out as planned.

Be clear about what you can offer in return. In most cases, people won’t want anything from you at first; so why should they bother helping? 

To win their interest (and trust), let them know exactly how valuable your input would be for their business or organization by showing off previous projects or successes that demonstrate your expertise in the field(s) related to theirs.

Be clear about what resources/services/products YOU ARE OFFERING FOR FREE – don’t expect others’ time without offering something in return

8. Tell Them Exactly What They’ll Get From Talking With You

It’s time to share what you have to offer. Hopefully, you’ve already talked about what they want and how they can get it from talking with you. Now, it’s time for your final pitch: tell them exactly what they’ll get from talking with you.

Finally, share what you’re looking for. This is where the rubber meets the road what do YOU need? What do YOU want? 

If any other details in this process would be helpful to know so far as considering working together goes, now is the time to say them (and ask what their policies/requirements/guidelines are).

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9. Use A Subject Line That Speaks To Your Audience

Make sure your subject line is relevant to the audience. You probably didn’t know this, but the average person only reads one out of every three emails they receive. What? That’s insane! 

That’s why it’s important to be careful with your subject line. If you can’t get someone’s attention at first glance, they’ll likely just delete your email without ever reading it. 

So, when crafting that perfect pitch, think about what kinds of things or topics will pique their interest and make them want to open up your message (and hopefully follow through on whatever action you’re asking for).

Keep it short and sweet: Your message should be concise so that people can easily digest everything in a few seconds no longer than 25 words should do the trick! 

This way there won’t be any confusion about what kind of information or service you offer or how they can benefit from responding to you with an inquiry (which brings me right to my next point…).

10. Make Things Easy For Them

One of the easiest ways to make your content stand out is to make it easy for people to find what they need. This includes making sure you have a clear and concise title, description, and subtitle on every page of your website. 

It also includes making sure that there is clear contact information at the bottom of each page as well as an email address that readers can use if they want more information or want to get in touch with you directly.

This last part may sound silly, but hear me out: most people will not think about contacting anyone unless they feel like they have enough information about what someone offers! 

A lot of times this means reading through several pages (or even clicking links) before deciding whether or not they should contact the person who wrote them. 

So having a simple “contact” button at the bottom of each page where readers can easily click on it makes things so much easier.

And trust me when I say this saves time too because otherwise people would have had no idea where else besides Facebook Messenger could reach out!

11. Anticipate Questions And Answer Them In Advance

When you’re a business owner, you’ll likely be asked the same questions by different people. When your audience is made up of people who have a similar goal or objective, they’ll probably ask the same types of questions.

Anticipating these common questions can help you prepare in advance so that when they do come up, it’s not as though you’ve been caught off guard. 

It’s also a great way to show your audience that you’re listening and want them to feel comfortable asking anything without feeling like they’re bothering you with something silly or stupid. 

This can be especially helpful if the person asking is someone who may be unfamiliar with what it takes to run an online business the last thing anyone wants is for them to feel embarrassed about asking something because no one else was able to answer!

12. Stop Being Boring And Be Polite But Bold!

I’m going to let you in on a secret: people don’t like boring emails. We’ve all received them, and they’re nowhere near as exciting as the subject line may lead you to believe.

When I’m reading an email, I want there to be a reason for me not to hit delete; I want there to be something interesting about your message that makes me want to read it all the way through. 

If we do end up connecting, then maybe we can meet up in person or talk more about what’s going on with your business via video call or similar channels. 

But first, you have to grab my attention with an email that doesn’t make me feel like it was written by someone too scared of rejection or looking stupid – two things that are very common in this industry!

So how do we avoid being boring? Use bold language and tell us what you’re doing rather than simply telling us how great it is (this goes back again to make sure that your message has some sort of value). 

And when I say “bold”, I don’t mean offensive or rude – just confident! Here are some examples of what might work well:

13. Set Up A Follow-Up System That Doesn’t Drive You Crazy

If you’re like me, you’ll have to fight the urge to contact everyone in your follow-up system all at once. 

But here’s the thing: if someone isn’t interested in talking with you, they’ll let you know. And if they are interested and just aren’t ready to talk right now (or even ever), then they will also let you know that too.

So as long as we’re not being aggressive or anything like that in our approach, there’s no harm in reaching out again after a few months. 

I like to do this about every 6 months or so it keeps things fresh for both parties involved and ensures that when we do meet again, it’ll be from a position of mutual interest.

14. Share The Content Your Audience Will Love

You must share content that is relevant to your audience. For example, if you sell accounting software, it would be helpful to share articles on finances and taxes.

You can also use Rapportive to promote content from your company or industry. For example, if you were a real estate agent in San Diego, it would be helpful to post pictures of homes for sale to get more traffic from people searching for homes near San Diego.

You could also use Rapportive as a way of promoting products or services which are targeted at your audience members’ needs and wants.

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15. Consistently Provide Value To Stay Top Of Mind

Consistency is the only way to build a relationship. It’s the reason why people go back to the same restaurant, and why they’ll still be loyal even after a bad experience. It’s also what will help you stand out in an increasingly noisy world of marketing.

You have to consistently provide value if you want people to come back again and again. 

Sometimes that can mean sending out monthly newsletters with tips or tricks, sometimes it can mean sharing relevant articles on social media, but whatever it is, if you’re not doing it consistently then how will people know who you are? 

The truth is that most companies don’t do this well enough because it’s hard work it takes time and effort every day! 

But trust me: if you make sure that your messaging isn’t repetitive (and instead offers something new), then people will start noticing and coming back for more because they know exactly what they’ll get when interacting with your brand!

16. Never Stop Learning From Your Audience

As your business grows and you start to build an audience, you’ll want to make sure that you’re always learning from them. This means using whatever data you can get about them to improve what it is that they like about your product or service. 

You can do this by asking questions that will help you understand their behavior, interests, and needs better than ever before.

Once we started growing our list (which had only been a few hundred people at this point), I quickly realized that we had an opportunity for some extra insight into our customers’ mindsets by reaching out through email. 

We used the email list as an opportunity to ask questions related to things like:

  • What’s important when buying services/products online?
  • What are some of the top challenges in running a small business?
  • How do people feel about doing business with a smaller company like ours versus one of the Big Guys (I’m looking at Facebook/Google/etc.)?

Conclusion

There are plenty of other approaches to finding emails, but I’ve found that Rapportive is the best tool for the job. In my experience, this Gmail plugin allows me to find the most up-to-date email addresses with a high degree of accuracy. 

Plus, it will also show you social media profiles and other relevant information so that you can learn more about each person before shooting them an email. 

For example, using Rapportive helped me double my email response rate for outreach and cold emails by giving me actionable information about each person before I hit “Send” on my messages. Good luck with your outreach efforts!

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources for further reading:

10 Critical Apps to Help You Grow Your Business Short Description: Discover essential apps that can significantly contribute to the growth of your business and streamline your operations.

How to Use Rapportive with LinkedIn Short Description: Learn how to effectively utilize Rapportive to enhance your LinkedIn networking experience and build valuable connections.

11 Favorite Entrepreneur Tips and Hacks for Maximizing LinkedIn Short Description: Get insights into top tips and hacks for entrepreneurs to leverage the power of LinkedIn for professional success.

FAQs

How can I leverage apps to grow my business effectively?

Leveraging apps is a smart way to boost business growth. They can assist in tasks like organization, communication, and project management, ultimately enhancing productivity and efficiency.

What is Rapportive and how can it enhance my LinkedIn experience?

Rapportive is a tool that provides insights about your LinkedIn connections directly in your email interface. It helps you build stronger relationships by offering relevant information about your contacts.

What are some entrepreneur tips for maximizing the potential of LinkedIn?

Entrepreneurs can optimize LinkedIn by crafting a compelling profile, engaging with their network through meaningful posts, utilizing groups, and leveraging advanced search features to connect with potential collaborators.

How can I use LinkedIn for business networking?

LinkedIn offers a platform for professional networking, allowing you to connect with peers, industry professionals, potential clients, and partners. By sharing valuable content and engaging in meaningful conversations, you can expand your network and opportunities.

Are there specific strategies to make the most out of LinkedIn for business growth?

Absolutely! You can harness LinkedIn for business growth by showcasing your expertise through thought leadership content, participating in industry discussions, leveraging recommendations, and actively building a network of valuable connections.