LinkedIn Cold Message Fail

I received a LinkedIn Cold Message notification on my Apple watch that said:

“HI Michael, I hope you have a nice day. I’d like to know a little more about”

Now, since this was on my watch, that is all I could see. So, I opened my LinkedIn messages on my computer to read the rest.

I knew it was one of two things…

• They are interested in learning about my sales workshops, or
• They are going to try and pitch me something…

So, I log in, open the message, and here’s what I see:

“HI Michael, I hope you have a nice day. I’d like to know a little more about you and what you do at your business.”

And my immediate reaction is NO, NO, NO and NO! This is NOT how you reach out to prospects!

This is NOT what you say (verbally or written) to a new potential prospect.

Look, the OBJECTIVE of what you say after your salutation is to PIQUE your prospect’s interest to where they are willing to have a dialogue with you. That’s it!

And this salesperson FAILED to do that at the highest level with his LinkedIn cold message.

Here’s the kicker… this sales rep has been in sales since 2006, according to their LinkedIn profile, which further proves my belief that “how long you’ve been in sales does NOT equal your skill level in sales”.

And look, I’m not ragging on this guy… this poor sales tactic happens every day! Just ask any decision-maker, in any industry.

This begs the question of why is he using LinkedIn to reach out to me, rather than use the phone?

I will tell you why:

I’m betting dollars to donuts that he was failing BIG TIME on the phone, and became tired of being verbally told: “no, thanks, not interested, we’re all set (click).”

So, he probably read somewhere that “cold calling is dead,” written by someone else that can’t sell over the phone, and was told to “social sell” by connecting with people on LinkedIn and reach out to them that way.

I’m pretty sure I will win that bet so, I like sprinkles on my donuts.

The problem is he is making the same mistake via LinkedIn that he most certainly was making over the phone!

It’s NOT the median you use to reach out to your prospects that counts, it’s the message!

So, what did he do wrong?

Let’s break it down so we can all learn and get better, together.

His first sentence created DISTRUST right from GO. Which is the exact OPPOSITE of what you want to have happen at any time during the sales process, let alone the first 5 seconds.

“I’d like to know a little more about you and what you do at your business.”

• I don’t believe he wants to know more about ME, or what I do, in order to help ME.
• How hard is it to look at my website for 30-seconds to see what my company offers and look at my LinkedIn profile to see what it is that I do?

I’m mean, seriously. I know I’m pretty hot under the collar right now about this, but COME ON! It’s 2018, not 1980.

So, right out of the gate, I’m turned OFF. Again, the exact OPPOSITE of how you want to start the sales interaction with your Linkedin cold message.

The message then goes on to:

“We are headquartered in (EDITED). Since 2012, we deliver custom web design, development, mobile apps & SEO solution to clients in 20+ countries worldwide. Our hourly rate is $25. We work on the wide spectrum of technologies like WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, Shopify, Magento, PHP based frameworks (Zend, Laravel, CodeIgniter), Front end technologies (HTML, CSS, Angular JS, Vue JS), .Net, Python & RubyonRails. Our objective is to achieve 100% client satisfaction by offering reliable and adaptable IT solutions with end-to-end customization. I would love to connect with you this week over a quick call to learn more about your business & your needs and provide a robust solution to grow. How’s your calendar looking this week?”

My one simple reply:

No Thanks.

So, what could he have said in his LinkedIn cold message to pique my interest and get an appointment?

Lots of things:

• Hi Michael, I have an idea for a stronger call to action on your website that could generate 10 to 15% more leads per month. Let’s talk?
• Hi Michael, noticed you’re using PPC to drive leads. If I could show you how to increase qualified traffic while reducing your monthly spend by 18%, could we schedule a quick call? Would love to share my idea with you.
• Hi Michael, we recently helped (sales training competitor) increase sales by 32% via online traffic and there’s a possibility we could do the same for you. Are you open to scheduling a quick call this week?

These are just some examples of how he could have taken what his company does and word the opener in a way that benefits ME and my business.

Hope this helps.

– Michael Pedone