Why I Want to Connect With You

#LinkedInConnectionRequest #BuildRelationships

Used and Abused

My last few posts have been about how people use or abuse LinkedIn. I want people to understand this amazing tool and use it to their advantage. To understand why someone would want to connect with you. Rather than just clicking to connect, never building a relationship or following the connection acceptance with a sales message before they even know if I am a prospect. #BadSalesForm

This post on what salespeople can do to be productive on LinkedIn (as of 7/15/19) has 5,671 views, 75 likes and 34 comments which leads me to believe it was useful. I share 5 things every salesperson and any business person can do to get great results on LinkedIn.

In this post, I am mostly complaining about lame connection requests and (as of 7/15/19) has 3,564 views, 49 likes and 33 comments stating that people feel the same way I do, but of course, some are more empathetic than I am and some are not. I share a few of the lame requests I've gotten lately and mention that it's best to find something in common to put in your connection request, but I don't really explain what I believe would work better than these lame requests.

Why I Want to Connect With You

So here it is. My explanation of what would make me or anyone want to connect (not just feel obliged to connect) or reject your request.

Instead of: I'm a fan of yours, let's connect.

Try this: Alice, I'm a fan of yours and enjoyed your recent article on bringing buyers to consensus. Your post on lame connection requests got me laughing. I feel the same way. I'd love to be connected and continue to learn from you, as well as offer any resources I may be able to provide.

Instead of: Howdy Alice, I really want to connect. As such, I’ve decided not to send you the generic LinkedIn invite! Fingers crossed (By the way, you are not the only one using this approach, not sure who is out there teaching it.)

Try this: Alice, we haven't met yet but I really want to connect with you because I am looking for women in sales to follow and interact with. I read your posts and agree with your sales methods. Recently, you inspired me to ask for more referrals and it's working.

Instead of: I ran across your professional profile and thought we could benefit from being connected.

Try this: Alice, I am building my network by connecting with sales leaders who share great content, and because it appears we both serve a similar audience I'd like to explore the benefits we might share from our connection. I'm always happy to share your content and make introductions and hope you are open to doing the same.

Instead of: Hey Alice, your profile caught my attention! I would love to connect with you!

Try this: Hey Alice, your profile caught my attention because you are always sharing such great advice for salespeople. I also saw you made the Reuters Top 50 Sales Experts list. Congratulations! I'm guessing your company is growing, and I've been able to help experts like you get in front of the right audiences. I don't know if my service is right for you but let's connect and discuss it.

Build Relationships

I hope this gives you some good ideas you can share with your team. Don't cut and paste or robo-send a sales message. Please, mention something you have in common, share some great content or ask a few questions. Do something to build the relationship and learn whether I am a prospect before you start selling. If I'm not, I may be a great referral source, so you don't want to alienate me by sending me spammy sales messages. #BeHuman #MakeAConnection #BuildRelationships

Get Training

What I'd really like you to do is make sure your team is trained to use LinkedIn and of course any social media they are using. The best way to do this is to call my friends at Vengreso, and please tell them I sent you. They will come in and train your whole team, or you can use their terrific online programs.

P.S. If your robo-spam sales emails are working to get you tons of qualified leads, keep doing it. I urge you to evaluate how you are using LinkedIn and ask yourself if there is a better way? Maybe more quality and less quantity would be better. Maybe if you sent 10 quality messages you would get 8 quality responses, rather than sending 1,000 cookie cutter sales messages all about your company and products and getting 2 responses. Or maybe you could improve the target and the messages using AI as ScaleX does. Evaluate your current results and make changes that will get you great results.

Do you have any stories about lame or awful connection requests? If so, share them in the comments below.