Remember that old scene from the movie, Mr. Mom where the father, Jack, has to drop off the kids at school for the first time and everyone is honking at him and telling him βyouβre doing it wrongβ? Itβs as if you can feel his embarrassment and horror at driving in the driveway incorrectly when itβs pouring down rain.
Fast forward to today and you know how you receive daily cold LinkedIn messages or emails that begin with a pitch? Donβt you just want to tell them, βyouβre doing it wrongβ?! I do. Every. Single. Day.
In this day of βgive value firstβ these cold pitches seem even more annoying. Some of them don’t even make sense or are downright rude.
My Favorite Lousy Cold Pitches
Here are some real messages I’ve received recently from people I don’t know:
βWeβre accepting 3-5 new clients this month.β
βYou havenβt answered my emailβ
βI am available to call you Thursday at 10:00 am.β
βI a excellent writerβ (typo intended β this email was sent from a non-US writer trying to get my business)
βI havenβt heard back from you β this is my last attempt to set up a time to talk on the phoneβ (oooh, scary!)
βAre you in the market for a new website? Weβre an India based web design companyβ¦β (uhβ¦really? Selling websites to a web design company??!!)
Seriously β these are messages Iβve received from strangers trying to sell me something. Now, I believe in social selling β in fact, itβs the number one way I get new clients. When I first started using LinkedIn for lead generation, I was a little over-zealous and listened to one salespersonβs suggestion for how to pitch via direct message as soon as someone connects.
I carefully wrote my βthank you for connectingβ message, including a link to my calendar. And it did work β I regularly had 5-7 new appointments every month. I got the occasional flaming response, but I felt the upside response was worth it.
This was several years ago and today, LinkedIn messaging has been oversold by gurus who want you to buy their programs. Everyone seems to have the same messaging and itβs all a sales pitch right out of the gate.
Being on the receiving end of these LinkedIn messages AND direct emails from people who have connected with me on LinkedIn, I can say to 90% of the senders that they are indeed, doing it wrong.
How to fix your bad pitching
Hereβs how to fix it.
- Donβt do it. At least not that way. Start with a simple βthank youβ and leave it there for now.
- Look at their profile and endorse or recommend them for the skills they have listed. View recent posts theyβve shared and like/comment on them. This will not only help their SMO, but also make them aware of you.
- Next, come up with something of value to your new connectionβ¦something that helps them be better at their work or as a person. It could be a link to a download, an article youβve written or a resource you enjoy using.
- Finally, when the time is right, you can pitch. A little. You might say something like βlet me know if youβd like to learn more about our XYZ program that is designed to help you XYZβ
A few things to remember:
- Youβre building a relationship. You donβt go to a networking mixer and immediately pitch, do you? No β you ask about the other person, exchange business cards and consider getting together over coffee if it makes sense. Social selling is similar to this concept, except the business cards are LinkedIn connecting and coffee would be a phone or video call.
- Giving value is a good way to build trust and familiarity with what you have to offer.
- Creating and sharing high quality content directly on your social media accounts will also help set you up as an authority in your industry.
Make sure youβre not βdoing it wrongβ and you should see much better results from your lead generation efforts! Want our help? Click here to learn more about our LinkedIn Lead Generation service.