Stop Pitching in Your First LinkedIn Message
We all get these in our inbox. "Hey, my name is so-and-so and I help salespeople lose 20 pounds and be the best they can be in their career." You read it, think "OK, thanks," and never answer.
Most people start pitching the second someone accepts their connection request. I go the other way. LinkedIn works best for me when I treat it like a cocktail party. You walk up to somebody, start talking, and ask them questions. Nobody at a party opens with their product.
Start a conversation and stop there
All your first message has to do is start a conversation. Ask about something in their world: a hire they just made, a post they wrote, a change at their company, or a problem everyone in their role is dealing with right now. Keep it short enough to answer from their phone.
If they reply, keep asking questions. You're trying to find out whether they have the kind of pain you solve, the same as you would on a discovery call. When they tell you about it in their own words, then you've earned the right to suggest a call.
Your connection request is your first message
If you're paying for Sales Navigator, use the note on the connection request. Once they accept, that note becomes the start of your conversation thread, so it's doing double duty. Write it like the opening line at that party, and leave the pitch out.
It's higher context and higher trust than a cold email. They can see who you are, who you know, and what you post before they ever reply. That only helps you if your profile and your first line sound like a person.
Events work the same way
My goal at conferences has always been to start conversations and understand people's pain. Selling comes later. Reps who run demo after demo at a booth come home with a stack of badge scans and very few real deals.
Don't count conversations as pipeline
One last thing. Just because you had a good chat with someone, don't go create an opportunity in your CRM. I've watched reps come back from a conference and add 60 deals to the pipeline. It looks productive, everybody knows it's gaming, and it wrecks your forecast. Ask your questions first, and only open a deal when there's a real problem behind it.
Happy selling!