We all know that using LinkedIn for sales can be tricky. Why? Due to limitations, business audiences, and the platform's unspoken rules.
Yet, a targeted sales message on LinkedIn is still a powerful way to bring quality prospects and loyal customers.
In this article, we share our tips on handling communication effectively and offer a collection of great LinkedIn message templates for getting more sales.
How to message a prospect on LinkedIn?
- Step 1. Make your message as short as possible
- Step 2. Avoid pitching when sending the first message
- Step 3. If it is outreach, state why you write
- Step 4. Confirm whether the prospect is ready
- Step 5. Give something worthy for the lead to reply
- Step 6. Follow up no less than three times
Note. Even though these steps are universal to prospecting and selling, ensure you know the basics of cold messaging on LinkedIn. Before sending a LinkedIn sales message, build a solid profile and discover the platform's messaging options.
Step 1. Make your message as short as possible
How to approach leads and get more sales? Well, you can start with writing a short message that is clear and structured. The tactic to send short sales messages on LinkedIn comes from these significant reasons:
- LinkedIn has a 300 characters limit for connection messages.
- Long content pieces require more time and effort from prospects.
- Short pieces are on point and are to provide higher response rates.
Step 2. Avoid pitching when sending the first message
The best LinkedIn prospecting and selling practices underline: avoid pitching in your first message.
Why? Your LinkedIn prospecting messages aim to qualify a prospect and often get insights on their pain points.
Having this info will allow you to offer value and support relationship building.
However, many salespeople tend to ignore the general practice and start pitching if they have a good reason or an appropriate occasion. That’s why our collection below has various templates, even with offers in them.
Step 3. If you apply outreach, state why you write
Make sure you show your intentions to prospects when connecting. If they are professionals, their inboxes will be full of cooperation requests, business communication, or proposals.
Thus, when developing your LinkedIn sales messages, ensure you:
- Properly introduce yourself
- Explain the relevance of your LinkedIn sales message
- Communicate as if it is real-time, not digital conversation.
Step 4. Confirm whether the prospect is ready
Often, selling is only possible with prospecting, ensuring that the customer is ready for a call, offer, even a free magnet.
Include the question that will enlighten you on how the prospects feel about communication (unless you are 100% sure that the prospect is ready).
What are good questions for a LinkedIn connection message sales teams would ask in this regard?
- «Which of our product’s options would you like to try?»
- «Does this solution seem to suit you?»
- «How does it sound to you?»
Step 5. Give something worthy for the lead to answer
If approaching a prospect with a sales LinkedIn message, you should already know what they desire.
Therefore, show them that you have a proper solution without getting into specifics. You can introduce your solution with the data, case, or real example from your previous sales experience.
Step 6. Follow up no less than three times
An important part of LinkedIn selling is the effective follow-up sequence. What to consider there?
Firstly, provide additional value. Always follow up after the connection request is accepted; the subsequent Linkedin sales messages of yours have a high chance of getting a reply.
Secondly, do not accept a quick answer, as the response rate after the second follow-up usually drops. Yet, it can increase after the fourth attempt.
Therefore, have a defined approach to following up, making it polite and extremely specific in regard to value.
Thirdly, you have various ways to follow up, via InMail or email
Note. You can get corporate emails of prospects straight from their LinkedIn pages and follow up with them via email.
How to write a LinkedIn sales message of your own?
To write the sales message, you need to know your prospect well, do enough research, and understand how you will approach the prospect. It will make your communication clear, concise, and to the point.
Here are the crucial steps for developing a worthy LinkedIn sales message:
- Tip 1. Find an occasion to write to a prospect
- Tip 2. Determine the prospect’s stage of the customer journey and the value to offer
- Tip 3. Define and apply the structure
Step.1 Find an occasion to write to a prospect
Successful LinkedIn sales messages are those that get high response rates. Accordingly, the best tactic is to reach people who already know who you are.
That’s why it is crucial to find the right occasion and connect before sending an actionable LinkedIn sales message.
What are some popular occasions and possible steps for you to take?
- Prospect/customer’s promotion: promotion means they will look for more efficiency, so bring advanced solutions.
- Prospect/customer’s moving to another company: offer possibilities to extend the partnership and upgrade/downgrade the package.
- Digital event: follow-up the active prospects after the event.
- Major trends: provide solutions to upcoming industry challenges.
- Relevant prospect’s activity: answer their post or issues to introduce value.
- Reactions to your posts: connect to get a warmer response upon recently developed interest.
Step 2. Determine the prospect’s customer journey and decide on a relevant value
Should you send messages on LinkedIn to get more sales without understanding at what stage your customer is? No! Instead, be specific and target prospects with appropriate value propositions.
In this regard, ask yourself:
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Do they know my company?
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Are they interested?
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Is my offer relevant?
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Are they ready to buy?
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Should I develop relationships first?
From there, identify what can be attractive to them and link it to the offer. For instance, webinar guests will likely be interested enough to try the trial.
On the other hand, re-engaging with old customers will require presenting new conditions or advanced options from you.
Thus, determine the customer journey first, then consider what you can offer. And only after it, start developing messages on Linkedin to get more sales.
Step 3. Stick to the structure
Once you define your invitation to the customer journey and the value, it is time to think of message architecture.
The common sales message on LinkedIn has the following structure:
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[Prospect name]+[Your name]+[What you do or where work]+[Commonality between you and the prospect]+[Observation linking the prospect to the value]+[Your value proposition: trial/offer/invitation/lead magnet]+[Your question to qualify the prospect]+[Your request to join the customer journey]
As you can see, each of the elements adds to the development of the conversation, hooking the reader, making the communication less awkward, and setting its flow.
Best LinkedIn connection request for sales (with the proper structure)
Best LinkedIn sales messages (20+ templates to use)
You can suppose that choosing the LinkedIn sales message would depend on the approach.
However, you are likely to use the general structure and try to make messages extremely short (except for InMails) and specific.
We have gathered various collections of Linkedin message templates for sales. There, you can find inspiration for writing connection messages, InMails, and follow-ups.
Note. Most of them, except for connection messages, take an approach different from cold outreach tactics. Why? They are simply aimed at qualified prospects and customers that know or heard about you, your product, or your company.
Best LinkedIn connection messages for sales
Linkedin sales message template #1. Connect via observation
Linkedin sales message template #2. Connect with prospect’s struggle in mind
Linkedin sales message template #3. Connect after the event
Best Linkedin Inmail templates for sales
Linkedin sales pitch example #4. InMail connection message with the case study
Linkedin sales pitch example #5. InMail offer with a lead magnet/roadmap
Linkedin sales message template #6. Very straightforward InMail connection message
Linkedin sales message template #7. InMail message inviting to a webinar
Linkedin sales pitch example #8. InMail to re-engage with the customer
LinkedIn follow-up templates
Linkedin sales message template#9. Writing to the lead you connected with before
Linkedin sales message template#10. Simple follow-up sales message
Linkedin sales message template#11. Follow-up message upon the event or webinar
Other LinkedIn message templates for getting more sales
Linkedin sales message template#12. Message to offer magnet or trial
LinkedIn sales message template#13. Targeting a prospect from a group
Linkedin sales message template #14. Writing to active prospects from the event
Linkedin sales message template #15. Message aimed at those who liked your post
Linkedin sales pitch example#16. Message to a loyal follower
Linkedin sales pitch example#17. Re-engaging with customers
Linkedin sales message example#18. Message to the client after the free trial
Linkedin sales message template#19. Message to the customer who was promoted
Linkedin sales message template#20. Message to the customer who moved to a bigger company
Linkedin sales message template#21. Message to the customer who moved to smaller company
Summary
- Sending a LinkedIn sales message to a prospect requires you to focus on clarity, relevance, and accuracy, not forgetting that your communication should be brief, smooth, and non-intrusive.
- Try to avoid pitching in the first messages, have room for questions to qualify the prospects, and have a strategy for a proper follow-up.
- When developing a sales message, consider the occasion to write, the prospect's stage within the customer journey, and the structure to be applied.
- Considering the platform's various messaging options, the best LinkedIn message for sales would be the one that suits the occasion; thus, use InMails, especially when it is hard to approach a prospect with a connection request.