LinkedIn Outreach Done Better
Right, let’s talk about outreach. Not the scattergun, throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks kind of outreach. That’s like trying to herd cats with a leaky bucket, it makes lot’s of noise but not much more. You could send a hundred “cold DMs” a day, fire off emails like a Gatling gun manned by a caffeine-addled squirrel… Or, get ten warm ones out. I’m getting old, but even at my time people knew… “Ten warm”, not a hundred that feel colder than a penguin’s backside in January.
No, we’re talking about the refined art of connection, not the brutal smashing about with messaging. Something much cleverer, a system that operates using finesse. The underlying notion of it all? Well, think less ‘quick cash’, think more ‘slow burn’. Not so much the clattering and banging, we’re seeking long term connection. It needs the patience, needs the time and attention.
The foundational principle, the very bedrock of the whole caper, is trust. It’s not about buying someone to use something, it’s more akin to building a city, brick by careful brick. And, mind you, we’re not using those cheap bricks they try to pass off at the builder’s merchant’s, where it gets mouldy and dusty. No, we’re going for quality here. Solid. Impressive, long-lasting, the finest you can find. So how do we make sure of trust? It needs more than being good and proper on just one medium of contact. We have to spread to them all. Trust comes from consistent, thoughtful engagement. The sort where you don’t get a feeling of ick, when you engage with people’s stuff — it has to be quality, before the main interaction. Commenting, posting, not just any old rubbish, either. Things of substance. Things that make you sound, you know… intelligent. Like you know what you’re on about, what you actually believe and do.
That sets the scene, laying down the foundations for the next bit. What some folk like to call, “the warm outreach.” We’re not going into the realms of complicated magic (well, you may be surprised), we’re using psychological trickery! Simple, clever stuff — all based on stuff like, three psychological principles.
The 3-Steps
You see, getting it right, with that ‘warm outreach’, that’s the key here. This process follows some core tenets:
Firstly — attention
Let’s be very clear on that. The idea here isn’t about pitching. Oh no, it is about weaving a web of interest. The first message? The “first” message, my dear people, should grab their attention. Don’t pitch, the user has to notice that you got them. They are supposed to be aware, and see with great excitement, that you are on a journey together! Make it seem that you did a bit of detective work, have read a bit. Not in a way a burglar would “investigate” a home, in a way a person who knows and is ready to get their shoes and jackets dirty for a long, long way of understanding!
A nice compliment and an open question work best.
Secondly — value. Now here’s a thing many seem to ignore. Did you know 80% of new information evaporates quicker than spilled potion of the forgotten, no longer in the best memory location? And you can’t do much against forgetting; it comes for us all. Well, I tell a story for illustration; in the past, people wrote a list, a list of their possessions! Why, do you think? Well, they have no photo cam! And what should have been on such a list? Of course the important stuff, right? I’ll not go into too many details, as not to spoil the great ending for the more elaborate section I have coming below, but you know what you should value in the person, right? That bit of follow up, that “hey, have another look” call, is the key here, after awareness. You make a nice list, that you give to them! Personalized and of real benefit! So it doesn’t work out to have a go again later… it works a charm. Not as irritating nudge in their back, more a hand.
Give it time, let the stuff you have out, that stuff where you have the insights, sink in. Make some more insights available. Like a nicely made booklet (on real paper, if possible) — where it’s of that great material, nice colours and smells as new, and reads just of pure brilliance?
And last, but not at all least — scarcity
So what do you do after having handed them your valued information and all they stuff of yours that proves what you say, and nothing much still happens, there is no spark and you feel lost? Now here’s a bit, if that’s what you were wondering. What do you do if you’ve spent hours, days maybe even weeks, and nothing to show for it. Not even a little, not even a slight reaction? It feels a bit sad to walk away, like giving away some old thing you liked for far too long. Or you make some space by removing, let go. We had that case already: what is the thing you like very much?
What is your precious object you would write a list about, in our modern days? So in our contact that is of course not the stuff we send out in one go. And if after we sent that person of high interest our best stuff nothing happened… Well.
“I notice there isn’t the connection here, well I leave it for another day, good bye”
Time is Too Valuable
The simple reality is, that the target audience is very valuable, but your time, your engagement, even more so. We’re not selling stuff with the highest frequency of sending message and being very visible and everywhere; we want people to value things and to engage for great purpose, even when we don’t know what that would be for them.
Did you know that, according to LinkedIn’s own data, 44% of buyers reported that they appreciate when salespeople initiate contact only after demonstrating insight into their specific business needs? And in 2023 69% of B2B buyers said the most important thing a salesperson can do is “listen to my needs”? It all shows the old magic of paying attention!
Think back and keep in your thoughts that there is something of great value in not being too visible, not being overly accessible to many. So make your time even more precious, by not being too aggressive in connecting and letting go, after it was enough time for someone to see if it is worthwhile and if they feel they value it too. If after that one has not got back… why bother? Rule of three. Don’t push. It makes you look like the dodgy wizards, with those wobbly hats, that go about after too much pushing their old, rotten magic wares onto others and makes things not any better. It will not do anything good for your reputation!
No… there are plenty out there who are happy to do great things — as long as they were able to make the decisions to trust a process of “the slow burn” of being engaged the right way and with quality.
It is not you to ponder too much about decisions made that lead nowhere. Make better choices in where you want to see success. Only he knows what it all means.
Find more great things that will help understand how society works and connects at https://platformeconomies.com — and get my book on everything IT Architecture now, while you are at it: https://a.co/d/bOqXOoB
