21/10/2021
So, you have sent a connection message and they accepted. What now?
Make sure you plan and build your own sales funnel. The pipeline I suggest is to work as follows:
1. Connection message
2. Welcome them within 24 hours of them accepting
3. Send your pitch a week later
4. Follow up 1 a week later
5. Follow up 2 a week later
Then let them be. We don’t want to spam people, and this is a key irritation for most users on LinkedIn. I believe when you follow this flow, you are being business minded, get to the point and not spamming your connections. Once you have gone through this funnel, you have stated your case and you did it politely.
It is important in the Welcome and Pitching stages to be transparent about what you do and what you expect from them. Do this subtly, and not in a demanding way.
The way you follow up can directly influence your acceptance rates. If you send a “Hey – I like your profile” then you may come off as creepy. So, it is best to work out a strategy of how you will follow up and engage with your new connections.
Here’s some tips on follow up messages. If you use Sales Navigator, it is easy to keep track of whom you sent what “stage” of messaging to by creating a lead list for each of these actions. I would wait a couple of days between funnelling your new connections (now 1st connections) through the funnels.
1. Keep the subject line short and impactful with 3 – 5 words like a pain-point for instance that you address in your message to create curiosity
2. Always read their profile and pick some lines, items, or interesting points in their profile that you can use in your message to them
3. Don’t write an essay, keep it to around 200 words maximum as people are busy and don’t have a lot of time. They may just close the message if it’s too long.
4. Do not include a link in your first response to the connection, rather keep it open and friendly. So that they don’t label you as a spammer or being salesy. People don’t trust links, so you must win their trust first.
5. Always focus on them, not you! Use words like YOU, not I. Its easy, put yourself in their shoes, you want a sales pitch to be all about you, not the person selling to you. In the same way the approach is always about them, and not you. What can you do for them… not what can they do for you?
6. There should be no more than 5 follow ups, otherwise you will lose them and be seen as spamming them.
Choose a style that is authentically you. My advice is not to sell them anything in the 1st or 2nd message. Rather build a bit of rapport and credibility first and win their trust.
It is all about trust you see.
www.wichmarketing.com
