Sam often gets asked the same question by sales teams working on an outreach cadence: “Where does my LinkedIn touch go in the sequence?”
And the answer is……it’s complicated.
There’s a process to finessing your LinkedIn outreach strategy that’s not as simple as “send a message on day one” or connect with everyone you get your cursor on.
The typical/ineffective course of action goes something like this:
- Day One: Profile View
- Day Two: Connect on LI (likely via a blank connection request…le sigh!)
- Day Three: Send an email, make a call
But this strategy screams “I’m a sales person!”, and will potentially turn off buyers, and ruin your chance to authentically connect and nurture the contact.
Instead, connect authentically following this #samsales cadence:
- Day One: Show Me You Know Me® (#SMYKM) email
- Day Three: Send a follow up email with NO new information in it.
- Day Seven: Skip the profile view – most leaders aren’t checking profile views. Comment thoughtfully on one of their posts, then scoot to the connection request and send a note along with it:
“Hi Kim! Really enjoyed your post about X, looking forward to learning more from you!”
You need to show an authentic reason for the connection, otherwise it will look sales-y and like you’re robo-messaging every profile in your network.
When can you pitch? Easy fingers! Certainly not as soon as they accept your request (hello, pitch slapping!) Simply say, “Thanks for connecting!” They will be pleased you didn’t hit them with a sales pitch immediately, and you will have gained a new connection – that alone is a HUGE win!
Once you have earned the right to pitch by sending them a few personalized emails first, you can say something like:
“My name might look familiar as I’ve sent you a few emails. I’d be appreciative of the chance to tell you about (value prop) if there is interest …”
Result? Less work in the end because you’ll see open rates pop, reply rates increase, and you’ll build a better network and brand for yourself all at the same time.