Leaving LinkedIn Is Good for You: What Works
How to Gain a Ton Of Business Through Meaningful Introductions
Daniel Alfon
Download Article as .PDF?
LinkedIn messaging is still broken.
Part One: Recap
You’ve bumped into a hot prospect (Marcus,see below).
Scrolling, you discover that your “Shared connection” (Rene,see above) is someone you really know.
Naturally, what will you do?
Shoot your common connection a LinkedIn message?
Wrong answer. LinkedIn messaging is broken.
In a nutshell?
I LinkedIn messages don’t get delivered to everyone’s inbox
II Hitting “Reply” will not email your connection
III The default LinkedIn messaging sends a new email each time you press enter
To see what’s broken, check out What’s Broken here:
Wot ! Daniel- do you recommend NOT sending messages on LinkedIn?
Yep. I’d say messaging people on LinkedIn is the least efficient method to communicate with them:
Don’t get me wrong – I love LinkedIn. But as I once pointed out, shrewd users know when to step out of LinkedIn.
Part Two: Do This Instead
Let us see what to use instead of LinkedIn’s broken messaging.
Let’s make it meaningful, be productive, and keep our eyes on the ball!
I. Make It Meaningful:
To start with, if the conversation is really meaningful in your eyes, then you’d better make it meaningful.
I know, I know. When you spot who can introduce you to a hot prospect, it’s such a thrill !
Still, automatically assuming you now need to message that person on LinkedIn is a an act of laziness. And a dear mistake,too. Consider this:
Why are you sending your message on LinkedIn?
If you & I were speaking, and I were to tell you our friend Rene could connect you to the person you want, would you go to LinkedIn, look him up and message him?????
Of course not.
Think. There are many other ways to communicate with your connections other than shooting them a LinkedIn message.
Most are more productive, too.
II. Be Productive:
Yes, LinkedIn is great. If you know how to use it, you’ll find tons of fabulous prospects. Just don’t confuse being activewith being productive.
When you spot that prospect, stop – and use your head.
> Ask yourself: Is this conversation urgent or important?
Chances are it’s important, but you can wait 2-3 days if the answer’s yes. Then why not remember your objective? Your objective is to get a powerful intro to the prospect in real life!
III. Keep your eyes on the ball:
When you’re asking a shared connection if he’s feeling comfortable making an intro, what you really need is an honest answer.
You should therefore pick the communication channel most likely to result in knowing the honest answer to the question: Would you feel comfortable introducing me to my prospect Marcus?
- An honest answer could be “No”.
- An honest answer could be: “Marcus Who? Am I connected to him?“
- An honest answer might be: “Meh”.
If the answer is one of the above, you know where you stand. Sometimes, even when the answer is No, you’ll have more than one shared connections. In that case, you may decide to ask someone else – or even reach out directly to Marcus. Yes, a valuable intro’s always better, but when you have no valuable intro then it’s really up to you.
Think (sorry if I ask you to think a lot). Imagine sending a LinkedIn message and not getting any answer. Would you follow up (how many times,by the way? When?)? Would you ask someone else to make the intro? Would you walk away from this prospect? In many cases, you’re left in the dark because you did not pick up a meaningful channel.
Consider the following sequence:
Meeting > Call/Skype > email > Whatsapp > LinkedIn message:
- Will a LinkedIn message result in an answer? Not sure
- Will a Whatsapp message result in an answer? Maybe.
- Will an email result in an answer? Could be.
- Will a call/Skype result in an answer? Probably.
- Will a meeting result in an answer? Yes
If your sequence is different, use yours!
The point is this: for a few seconds more, you’re more likely to get an honest answer. You deemed this conversation important, not urgent, remember?
IV. Switch:
Switch to whatever works best.
When reaching out to a connection,maximize chances of a reply by switching to whatever works for both of you.
You don’t always have your connection’s phone number, but you can always access their primary email.
Embarrassed to ask where you’d find your connection’s email? The answer’s on the right.
If you’re connected to the person, click on “See Contact Info”, and you’ll see the primary email !
Johanna Rothman is an author, consultant and speaker I was privileged to meet and learn from.
Can I find the email for my connection? How?
V. Pick up the darn phone:
A phone call asking “Johanna, would you feel comfortable introducing me to Carol Eckardt?” would have been a better choice.
Even if the answer is “Sorry,I don’t know Carol well” you’re better off, because you can either ask someone else or contact your lead directly.
Ideally, your connection agrees to make the intro. On the art of the email intro I may elaborate another time – email me (duh) at LinkedInBusinessDanielalfon@gmail.com if you’d like me to cover great intros soon,will you?
PS: DON’T ask to be introduced on LinkedIn. Ask to be introduced in real life. Here’s a clue.
Stay tuned!
Posted on October 11, 2018
Download Article as .PDF?
