LinkedIn is, without a doubt, one of the best platforms to connect with potential prospects and partners. But there is a certain way to go about it in order to build successful relationships. Most people connect by sending a short LinkedIn message.
To make sure you connect successfully, here are the methods you need to remember when creating your message.
Write a custom message
Clicking the connect button and just going with the generic template message from LinkedIn is the easy option, but it often won’t help you connect with prospects. People need to feel a personal connection with you straight away, which is why you should write a custom message. Look at their summary, pick out the keywords that relate you two together and use these to build your custom message.
Explain why you are getting in contact
Connecting with strangers is a wary experience, even on LinkedIn. Most people only connect with others when they know what the person wants. They won’t want to connect with someone who just wants to sell to them off the bat. Instead, find a reason that relates to why you need them or how you feel you are already connected, whether it is in a LinkedIn group or the industry you work in.
Make them feel like you need them.
Everyone likes to feel wanted and it’s the same in business. By asking for their help, you stroke their ego enough that your prospects will feel complied to connect with you and reach out. Then, once you’ve established what you need from them, you can focus on what they need and build your product pitch into that.
Build up a relationship
Just because you may not have met in person yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t build up a relationship. Share your experience of an event you both attended or a LinkedIn group you are both in, recommend them if you’ve heard them speak or find a similar connection. Once you’ve built up a relationship, you can talk about setting up a call or meeting for business purposes.
Never pitch your product or services in a LinkedIn message
If you’ve done all these steps and you are finally ready to add some value, do not start pitching your product via a LinkedIn message. You’ve worked so hard to build this relationship, switching to a sales mode could destroy all your hard work. Instead, ask politely if you could set up a call or face to face meeting to discuss further business relations.
Don’t worry if they decline. You can still send them some valuable content about your product as a courtesy rejection. In fact, with GatorLeads personalised URLs, once you are connected you can send them an email to their email inbox rather than LinkedIn mail and use this URL to direct them to your website. Once you’ve done that, GatorLeads can track their movements on your website to tell you exactly what your LinkedIn lead is interested in.
Find out more about the social media marketing methods we would recommend.
