M
M

Madridgal

Manager Corporate Partnerships

Executive
Catalyst
Valued Contributor
+4

Cold outreach - LinkedIN

I work in business development for a nonprofit and do a lot of my outreach by "creeping" on LinkedIn.


I found that when I add a note to a contact request, a lot of times they don't see it


Do any of you use this and /or have any tips? Is professional LinkedIn worth investing in?

🔎 Prospecting
💌 Cold Emailing
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23 comments

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poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
9
☕️
The note turns into a message when the request is accepted. They literally cannot miss it and it opens the dialogue. If they're accepting and not replying, then it's your messaging, not the method.
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
2
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
Dis guy gets it 
ragnarlothbrok
Politicker
1
Key account manager
this drilled it home, I need to work on those notes! cheers @poweredbycaffeine 
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
4
Rolling 20's all day
I find more connections from blank requests, and then do what you can to engage with them over a week or two on content they post. Then reach out. 
When someone sends me a connection request with a note it's almost always trying to lead directly to a pitch, which instantly makes me put up defenses.
Madridgal
Executive
0
Manager Corporate Partnerships
Very very true!! I will be trying this for sure - thanks so much
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
You're welcome. Try to leave valuable comments on what they post if possible. 
novacorps
0
Business development associatee
This is so true!

ragnarlothbrok
Politicker
1
Key account manager
I have been sending notes recently with requests, to this date not one has read the message, yet they accept lol. I never saw the value in sales Nav on there either but some people claim to have had good success with it. I guess a lot depends on you, how you want to use it and what are you looking to achieve from it. You may find there are better platforms or software (pretty sure of this lol)
dcarb
Good Citizen
1
Account Manager
Sales Nav doesn't really give you much additional capability.  Sales nav is really just a money grab by LinkedIn.  At some point you will hit a "limit" on the number of profiles you can view of people you are NOT connected to.  I don't know the exact number but it's in the range of 50 per month.  Once you hit your max you will get a message when you try and look at someone's profile and it reads something like "It appears that you are using LinkedIn for prospecting or recruiting.  You need to upgrade to Sales Nav or Recruiter version".  I've been using Sales Nav for about 8 months and it's nothing special.  The search function is a little better and you can save searches but definitely not worth 80 bucks a month IMO.
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
Probably because they get 100s' of such messages.. You might want to try sending requests without a note (A/B testing)?? Worked for me - this way you might engage and ask them, interact with their posts and they can see when you share something.. Just a thought 
jefe
Arsonist
1
🍁
A/B testing sounds like the right path here. Hard to get real data any other way. 
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
absolutely right + shouldn't be afraid of failing...
Madridgal
Executive
0
Manager Corporate Partnerships
that's a great idea - I think I'll try doing that! Thanks so much
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
sure np, its all about experimentation...
cw95
Politicker
1
Sales Development Lead
I’ve been trialling this recently and found no notes has created more acceptance rate. Not an exact science tho ay
sellingsellssold
Politicker
1
SDR
I send notes and messages, I find this way the prospect is able to look and respond on their own time. 
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
Engage, in some way, with the content they share.  When they respond start a dialogue.  Turn that into a connection request and off you go.  Starting with a connection request (message or not) is a creepy way to start a relationship.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
I always write a quick note tailored to them.
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
I leave connection requests blank. Just my personal preference
West
Politicker
0
Salesmanager
I use a third party that sends invitations for me with a "semi" personal note. When the conversation starts I'll pick it up from there.
dcarb
Good Citizen
0
Account Manager
I have a couple of friends that have 8k-10k connections and they both swear that adding a note doesn't make a difference.  They send 30-50 connection requests per day (without automation) and they say that they've done it both ways and insist that sending the request without a note is far more successful.  

Most people don't see the message until they've accepted  your request.  The can see it before they accept if they pay attention but few people actually do.  I think some people that actually see your note might be clicking "ignore" because it's obvious that you are going to try and pitch them something.  

I personally add a note but I try to make it as personal as possible.  I look at their profile and try to find something in common.  If I can't find anything then I look through their feed and try to find something that they are interested in.  That works pretty well because most people love it when then think you are interested in something that they've posted.  #narcissism 😂 If you look at their feed and the last activity that you see is 3 or 4 months old then I wouldn't bother sending the request because they are not active enough on the platform.
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
I'm 50/50 on if it makes a difference. Most people don't respond to the note I added though, so I think it doesn't.

Shoot an email to them if you want to send a message.
Or leave a horses head in their bed when they wake up......
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
You can add a message or just click the connect button.

Play the long game, don't be sales-y. Just talk to people and try to have a good conversation with them. Keep the focus on them and don't try to be the knowledgeable one.

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