4 steps to finding more potential clients on LinkedIn

Here are the 4 steps you need to follow to conduct searches for potential clients, which can start with searching people or companies. You also have the option to filter your search, and how much you can filter will depend on if you have a free, or premium account.

To help you understand how to use this feature for potential client search, letโ€™s use the example of a client I recently trained in a 1:1 session. She is responsible for stakeholder and new partner management for an industry based authority and was interested in finding people in HR led organisations who wish to partner with their annual conference and professional development program.

1. Develop target lists for keyword search

I recommend you start by developing a target list of potential companies and role titles. In the case of my client, we began the search based on a target organisation, ANZ.ย  We then considered the people she was interested in researching by developing a list of role titles. These included Marketing Managers, Business Development Managers and CEOs.

2. Enter keywords, company name or role title names

While the LinkedIn App user experience is improving every week, I do find the greatest functionality is experienced when accessing the LinkedIn website when logged in.ย  The Search bar is located at the top of your LinkedIn pages.ย Enter your keyword in theย Search barย at the top of the page.

3. View Dropdown Options & Select an Option

When you begin to type in your search word/s youโ€™ll see a dropdown of suggestions that appears as you type. Take the time to look at LinkedInโ€™s suggestions in the dropdown box when searching for people and companies as it may trigger ideas for other clients and companies you can reach out to on LinkedIn.

Select an option from the dropdown of suggestions, or click theย Searchย icon to run the search.ย  You will note the type-ahead feature predicts related search terms as you type your keywords into the search bar.ย  If youโ€™ve searched for a company, the Company Page will appear in the dropdown if there is a page created.ย  Youโ€™ll also see the following tabs at the top of the search results page:

  • All
  • People
  • Jobs
  • Content
  • Companies
  • Groups
  • Schools

For my clientโ€™s search, the ANZ organisation appeared at the top of the list and we selected this option.

4. Select the Relevant Tabs to view search results

If you submit your search to see the full results, you will also be shown the various tab options, which you can explore further. In the case where we entered โ€˜marketing managerโ€™ as the keywords in search and pressed enter, we were then presented with the tab options you can see below.ย  The LinkedIn search filter is divided into two areas. The most frequently used search filters such asย Locations,ย Connections, andย Current companies, are located at the top of your search page.

To access advanced search filters, clickย All filtersย in the top right corner of the Search results page.ย  This can be accessed from theย Allย tab,ย Peopleย tab, orย Jobsย tab.