This morning my friend and mentor Nick Holbrook shared a really insightful post on LinkedIn, which you can find here. In his video he comments on the importance of using LinkedIn effectively to make useful contacts or sales approaches. He posits that the thought, time and effort sales people put into their connection requests needs more focus now that many more of us are using LinkedIn as our main prospecting tool (as a direct result of the shift to home working).
His wise words inspired this post. In my role as Sales Director, responsible for multiple Sales Channels and Marketing, I am approached all the time by people trying to sell me things or join my network. The vast majority of connection requests I receive go ignored. There are reasons for this. Below I have shared some examples of real requests I have received and my reasons for ignoring them. My hope is that this causes you to pause and reflect on how you may better approach people you wish to connect to.
Example 1: “I stumbled across your profile and thought it would be good to connect”
Why? Nothing in this sentence motivates me to connect. At worst they accidentally found me and I’m an after-thought to boost connection numbers. At best, they may have a reason for connecting but didn’t think to articulate it. Neither is motivation enough for me to welcome a stranger into my precious network.
Example 2: “I saw you in my suggested connection requests, would you like to connect?”
This one is even worse. They are admitting in their connection request that they have given no thought to why I may be a useful contact for them prior to the LinkedIn algorithms suggesting me! Literally, the sentiment is “you weren’t in my thinking and now you are, for no reason other than a robot thought you may be useful to me.” Makes one feel really valued right?
Example 3: “I’ve met with X at Your Competitor Y and therefore know your problems and how to solve them.”
I’ve abbreviated this one to make a point, but I get connection requests on this theme all the time. I’ve even received them from Sales training organisations who claim to be experts on Social Selling. I find this type of approach pretty offensive. Essentially, you could read the following alternative text: Without showing curiosity in your business, asking quality questions and taking the time to understand you, I’m going to make a sweeping generalisation that I can help, as well as comparing you to a company without any true context informing me of your similarities and differences…
Example 4: The Two-Faced Double Whammy
This one is my least favourite, which is why it has a special title! The Two-Faced Double Whammy is when you get a well thought out, seemingly genuine connection request, accept the connection and then…Wham! You get another message which is all pitch, unrelated to the first, with the sales smelly commission breath oozing off the message. Yuk. The worst thing about this is that it must have taken some thought and effort to send the first message, which makes it all the more depressing that they undo the good thinking with the second one!
What is the best way to get positive responses to Connection Requests then?
Like everything that delivers a good return, you need to put some work and planning in. There is no quick win here. However, with a combination of research, honesty and (stealing this wonderful phrase from the aforementioned Nick Holbrook) “polite persistence” you can build a LinkedIn network that works for you.
Connection Tip 1: Be clear about why you want to connect
This depends on how you have chosen to use LinkedIn. I connect with people that I’ve actually met, actually know through business, people I want to learn from or people I think I can help – sometimes through selling them something and sometimes pure help (have always found the more you help others the more help the world gives back). These days I’ve also added people who are interested in The Humble Sale from both a subscribing or promoting perspective.
People you know are easy to connect to, others less so. Be sure to state why you wish to connect. If it is to sell them something be honest and declare it in message one. You can do this with integrity and it’ll go down much better than skullduggery or The Two-Faced Double Whammy. There is no harm in showing some vulnerability and acknowledging that it may take you time to earn credibility or trust and that you see the connection request as the first step in doing so. Heart on sleeve more often wins over arrogance or assumption.
Connection Tip 2: Become a Magnet
This one is my favourite but takes a lot of effort. Essentially you shift your focus from sending out connection requests to drawing people to you, like a powerful magnet. Your goal becomes enticing the people you want to connect with to make first contact, sending you their connection requests because they are interested in talking with you.
To achieve this you need to get good at content creation. You’ll need to put time and effort into creating posts that speak to your target market, share real knowledge or insight and are generous in the information they give away. You could even layer the occasional article in too, but be sure on the purpose. Posts are more immediate and regular sharing can attract a faster audience than static articles, which are useful to have on LinkedIn as an affirmation of your thought leadership. An article on its own won’t draw a crowd though. Posts and lots of sharing with the right people will.
In the early days you will need to spend some time on connection requests as your current network may not suit your purposes, but if you are consistent you may soon find that your network starts sharing your thoughts to others, which is how you may grow your meaningful contacts. Before embarking on this approach, spend some time planning out exactly what type of people you wish to talk to and use this to shape your content creation.
Connection Tip 3: Ask for Introductions
James Potter, aka The Linked In Man, was the first person to suggest this pearl of wisdom to me. James is hands down the greatest authority I have ever spoken with on the best way to make LinkedIn work for you and I am humbled that he is in my network. If ever you want an introduction let me know. James advised me that the best way to reach new contacts on LinkedIn is to do the same as you would in life to meet a friend of a friend. Ask your existing connections!
He suggested that if there was someone you really wish to speak or meet with, look to see who they are connected to in your 1st level connections and ask that person to introduce you, potentially outside of LinkedIn, via phone or email. So you use the social platform to make a real connection. So obvious when you think about it! From experience I can confirm this approach works brilliantly. This works better if you aren’t a “connection collector” but truly know those in your network, investing time in nurturing your contacts.
Thank you!
I’d like to finish this post by saying thank you. Thank you to Nick Holbrook for the inspiration and for being a good friend! Cheers to James Potter for being the LinkedIn guru and a nice chap to share a virtual coffee with! Thank you to Humble Sale readers for spreading the word and being generous with your support. Finally, huge thanks to all my LinkedIn connections. You are truly precious.
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