You’ve decided to use the business networking site, LinkedIn.com as a tool to follow up with potential clients, build relationships and cull business opportunities. Yet, you don’t understand why more people don’t click “accept” when they initially receive your LinkedIn invitation.
And it’s all because you sent this:
“So what’s wrong with this invitation,” you ask? “It’s the one pre-populated by LinkedIn, so it ought to be good enough”, you figure.
Well, the truth is that it’s not good enough for following up and building business relationships. Sending a generic invitation like the one above, causes your invitations to be deleted, ignored, or worse, completely rejected.
It’s a sure-fire way to turn off those who receive your well-intended invitation, reduce the number of “accepted” invites, and stunt your relationship-building activities.
4 Reasons Why Your LinkedIn Invitations Are NOT “Accepted” (and What to Do Differently):
1. They don’t know you.
Literally. Your interaction at a recent business conference or networking event was one of many they had. When they receive your LinkedIn invitation ‘as is,’ the first question they ask themselves is “How do I know this person?” Don’t assume that you made a favorable impression and ‘expect’ them to remember you by name. So in your opening sentence, refresh their memory about who you are and the memorable encounter you both shared.
2. They haven’t heard from you in ages.
Remember the good ol’ days from college, B-school or Company X? Well, you may. But your recipients may not. If it’s been ages since you spoke or exchanged an email (let alone a holiday card), reconnect first. In your opening sentence, admit to the lapse in contact. Then share a short personal update, followed by an invitation to keep in touch. For example, “Hi Lynn it’s been ages since we last exchanged emails. How have you been? Saw you on LinkedIn and thought I’d try reconnecting….” You’ll win more “accepts” from this approach versus the generic invite.
3. You haven’t personalized the note.
The system pre-populates the recipient’s first name but that alone doesn’t make the note personal. The sterile tone of your invitation provides no incentive to know, like or trust you. How you invite people to your network says a lot about how you value the relationship, and how likely they’ll assist you when you need to tap into their relationships with others. It’s a fact. We choose to help those we trust and those we like because we know them. Express a sincere interest in the recipient’s well-being or current business challenge.
4. You haven’t given them a compelling reason why they should “link” to you.
Your generic invitation feels more like an ulterior motive to access the golden eggs (their precious contacts) without taking care of the goose (cultivating a relationship with them). Because they do not know you to like or trust you, any request for assistance down the road, wouldn’t yield the results you’d expect. There’s no incentive to happily forward leads and broker introductions on your behalf. And the manner in which you invite them doesn’t engender trust or better treatment once they join your network. Instead, create value by explicitly offering “access” to your network. Suggest they join your network to find someone who can help them solve a specific problem and as the ‘goose’ or connection, you’ll broker an introduction.
Bottom line?
If you want to build a highly responsive network of contacts using LinkedIn.com, then stop sending out LinkedIn invitations the wrong way. Instead, take 90 seconds to craft a short and personal invitation that reconnects and incentivizes your recipients to join your network. An “inviting” invitation leads to more clicks of the “accept” button and continues to move the relationship forward.
Start implementing these suggestions now and see how quickly people respond favorably to your invitation.
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