Why LinkedIn invitations need to be purposeful

LinkedIn is about creating and nurturing relationships. It’s a marvelous tool for researching and connecting with people and helps you forge genuine relationships based on substance and value.

I’ve been on LinkedIn for many years now and have been steadily growing my network. I only connect with people I know personally or have connected with via an event or activity. As much as I am for prospecting and building new networks and business I draw the line at sending out impersonal LinekdIn requests, random or otherwise to people that I don’t know.

So why do so many people send out LinkedIn invitations with no explanation as to why they want to connect with you, no personalised note introducing themselves and no obvious reason for linking in?

In the last six months I have received more LinkedIn requests from people I don’t know with the standard line, “I’d like to add you to my professional network.” They neglect to provide any explanation or valid business reason (VBR) for connecting with me.

I’m at a loss to explain this lazy and careless approach. My view of this practice is that it appears insincere and grasping for business. On the other hand, a friend of mine says he accepts these random invitations to grow his database. He doesn’t send them himself because he agrees it seems unprofessional, but happily accepts invites from those he doesn’t know. While I see his point of view, I’m not convinced it’s worthwhile. Many people I speak to are expressing similar frustrations with impersonal LinkedIn requests. Is frustration of the recipient really the aim? In my opinion, sending impersonal LinkedIn invitations is the equivalent of spam.

I treat LinkedIn invitations like prospecting calls. How you position yourself is very important. You need to think about why you want to contact and connect with that person and develop a VBR. A VBR must be meaningful and relevant to the LinkedIn contact. It should be a reason why the LinkedIn contact should want to speak to you further. It must be of value and important to the LinkedIn contact and answer the What’s In It For Me (WII-FM) if they connect with you.

If I contact anyone I do not know via LinkedIn it would be with a well thought out message first seeking permission to speak with them to ascertain if it would be beneficial for us to connect/meet/work together.

So how do you deal with these potentially unsolicited LinkedIn invitations?

I have developed a strategy to test how genuine people are that ask to connect with me. Firstly, I look at each person’s profile to see if I do know them and if I can see some sort of benefit from our connecting.  Secondly, I send out the following message after I have received the “I’d like to add you to my professional network” invitation.

Hi XX,

Thank you for your invitation. I must apologise if we have met before however I am not sure where I know you from. Are you able to let me know how we are connected and how you think we would both benefit from our shared association?

Cheers,
Sue

It is very interesting what happens next. One of four things usually occurs:

• I never receive a response and I delete the invitation.
• I receive a detailed reply from the person stating how they know me and how they would like to benefit from our association. I usually accept the request if everything seems okay.
• I receive an apology that they may have made a mistake.
• I receive a “snippy” or “hurt” reply, upset that I would actually question their invitation.

I do not take my LinkedIn invitations and connections lightly. In the earlier days I probably accepted more LinkedIn invitations from people I didn’t really know. Today, however I see much more value in developing a real network of contacts who are seeking mutually beneficial outcomes and support from their peers.  Like any relationship, LinkedIn relationships have to start somewhere. So if you are thinking of using the festive season to build your LinkedIn network, consider starting off a new relationship on the right note, keeping in mind that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

Sue Barrett practices as a coach, advisor, speaker, facilitator, consultant and writer and works across all market segments with her skilful team at BARRETT. Sue and her team take the guess work out of selling and help people from many different careers become aware of their sales capabilities and enable them to take the steps to becoming effective and productive when it comes to selling, sales coaching or sales leadership.To hone your sales skills or learn how to sell go to www.barrett.com.au.