SDRs Stop Randomly Requesting Prospects on LinkedIn – Problem Tactics Part 2

Have no idea what I am talking about? Read Part 1 here.

Tons of people connect with prospects via LinkedIn and successfully convert leads into prospects every day. I almost guarantee that conversion is not happening with the first or second touch point.

A better idea is to think about at what stage in this potential relationship with a prospect you are in, and how to go about breaking through all of the noise that decision makers deal with.

Chances are you’re going to need to write a message that speaks directly to the pain they are feeling, or shows some value other than outright pitching them as soon as they connect with you.

I have seen a ton of success with this formula:

    Buyer Persona Pain
+  Brevity
+  High Level Personalization
+  Simple Ask
=  Successful First Touch

Imagine a prospect named Mary.

Mary is a VP of Demand Gen at a SaaS Company of 150 people. It’s likely she has a small team and might have limited resources. She has a fairly active blog on managing a marketing department with a limited budget, and for some reason she likes Nickleback.

Here is a way to craft a message for Mary that could easily be reproduced quickly using this formula:

Hi Mary,

I recently saw your post on marketing budgets for small SaaS companies. I thought we could connect because I am always on the lookout for good content and like to learn.

Best,
Will

This simple message can then be reproduced for any prospect who has a similar role to Mary, but is far more likely to help you connect than just sending the LinkedIn connection request message. Here is how you can make this scalable:

Hi (Name),

I recently saw (data from their LinkedIn account). I thought it was interesting because it’s something we deal with at Obility. I thought we could connect because I am always looking to learn about what bottlenecks that Demand Gen experts are facing.

Best,
Will

This message isn’t all about me; it appears personal and it is a fairly simple ask. Even better, if I make a request like this and then follow up with another play in my cadence (Phone, Email, Text, ect.) I can thank her for connecting with me without seeming completely out of the blue.

NOTE: DO NOT SEND YOUR PITCH VIA LINKEDIN, at least at this stage. It’s best to be anticipating having 2-3 different touches in a different channel at this point.

LinkedIn is an essential tool for your SDRs to hit their meeting goals, but it requires getting them to understand that a slight increase in quality could have dramatic effects on the success of their outreach. It requires active coaching and committing to preventing cutting corners.

Next time you receive a random connection from a stranger and it pisses you off, make sure to double check if you are allowing or even encouraging your SDRs to do the same thing.