New Leaders Are 62% More Likely to Accept Your InMail. Here’s How to Best Approach.

A noteworthy stat, based on us analyzing every InMail sent in Sales Navigator in 2022:

People who have started a new job at a new company within the past 90 days are 62% more likely to accept a Sales Navigator InMail, versus everyone else. And anyone who started a new role within the past 90 days – even if it’s at the same company, i.e. a promotion or transfer – is 51% more likely to accept an InMail, compared to everyone else.

What that means to you: people who are new in their roles are more willing to talk to a salesperson, compared to everyone else.

That said, just because new hires are more likely to talk to a salesperson doesn’t mean they’ll talk to you. This article dives into how to best connect with new hires as they ramp.

Why new leaders are more likely to speak with a salesperson: In some cases, they’re expected to.

To best understand how to best connect with new hires, it’s worth understanding why new hires are more willing to speak to a salesperson in the first place. We asked several of our Sales [In]siders that exact question – here’s what they said:

“When a company hires a senior leader to build, they then trust them early and give them budget and authority to implement,” Skye VP of Sales Darren McKee said. “Hence the reason why they open messages at a higher clip, speaking from prior experience. They are also bringing in unique thinking to the table and sometimes that means new products and partnerships."

“An integral part of setting yourself up for success when starting a new job is developing processes and implementing systems,” Women in Sales CEO Alexine Mudawar said. “Often, when folks are just starting a role, they don’t have much attachment to the existing company tech stack and are willing to look around to find the best solutions that suit their specific needs and use case.”

“A lot of my clients are in IT enterprise sales, and we absolutely look at a new CIO as a criteria,” Sales Redefined CEO Abbie White said. “Many times, a new CIO or CISO comes in and has a remit to fix up security or IT – sometimes stemming from a previous failure. So often, they are open to a new intro as part of their charter to change the existing environment.”

Here’s what that means to you, to help you understand what’s going on in that new hire’s mind:

• There’s often an expectation for new leaders to change their existing program, particularly if the program was deemed suboptimal (perhaps that’s why the new leader was brought in). Hence, they are more likely to shop for new solutions.
• Because the person is new, they likely have less attachment to the organization’s existing supplier.
• Often, new leaders are given a budget for new solutions. Or, at least, the green light to change suppliers.

That all makes for the perfect person to sell to – someone who is motivated to make new investments and has executive buy-in to do so. In the next three bullets, we’ll cover how to best connect with them.

First off, research the new leader to understand their background and what’s top-of-mind for them.

Let’s say you have Personas set up in Sales Navigator and see a new hire matching that Persona has just joined one of your target accounts. This is good news, as it represents a promising new opportunity.

The next step – research them. At a minimum, check out their LinkedIn profile, and see their background, skills, and interests. If they are active on LinkedIn, see what’s top-of-mind for them based on what they post about and what content they interact with.

This alone increases your chances, as members are 78% more likely to accept your InMail if you view their profile first. That’s because viewing someone’s profile means you’ve done some research on them, and then can personalize your outreach accordingly.

Save the new leader as a Lead in Sales Navigator, so you stay up-to-date with their activity.

Here comes the next step. Save that person as a Lead in Sales Navigator. Then, you’ll be kept up-to-date on that person’s activity, such as if they are mentioned in the news or if they post on LinkedIn.

Per the latter, if they do post on LinkedIn, Sales [In]sider and SAS Global Social Selling Lead David J.P. Fisher recommends commenting on their post. Why?

“By commenting on their post, you move from an unknown to a known,” Fisher wrote. “They might not know you well (yet), but you have distanced yourself from the hordes of other sellers that the prospect definitely doesn’t know. This increases your chances of having them respond to your outreach on LinkedIn and other channels, such as email or phone calls.”

Finally, it’s time to send an InMail. Here’s what a good one can look like.

You’ve researched the person. You’ve saved them as a Lead, and perhaps even interacted with their content.

Now, it’s time to “shoot your shot” and InMail them (unless, of course, you have a hidden ally who can recommend you in). What should you write?

Good question. McKee shared a template of exactly what he’d send:

“(Person’s Name)! Huge congrats on the new role. I know the next few months will be crazy but if you are open to it, I would love to grab 15 minutes from you in January to talk through some topics around coaching and talent. I have been fascinated with how you all approach this from reading your sustainability reports. Congrats again and talk soon!"

What he’s done here:

• Congratulated the new hire on their new role.
• Acknowledged the situation they are in as they ramp.
• Made a direct ask about how he can help.
• Referenced something about the person/company that shows he’s done his research.
• Ended on a positive note.

All in five sentences. Not too shabby.

You might choose a different route – here are nine ways top sellers are making their prospecting stand out. But, the most important aspect is to personalize the message to that person, and make an ask that feels reasonable.

Will you convert every new hire into a new customer? Of course not. But, new hires can be one of the best relationships you can build – use this template as your first step toward creating a longtime ally.

Get more sales thought leadership like this by subscribing to our weekly blog newsletter.