Social Selling: How to Create LinkedIn Invitations That Get Accepted

If you’ve ever sent an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, you’ve seen the screen below. If the person is a work colleague or a friend, then checking the appropriate circle and clicking “Send Invitation” can work just fine. But if your invitee is a potential customer or partner with whom you’ve corresponded with once or twice, this is when it pays to get strategic.

It’s no secret that large networks facilitate social selling success. To help you build your professional network by:

1. Sending better invitations that resonate with the person you’re sending them to, and
2. Helping you feel more comfortable sending connection requests to valuable prospects and partners…

Here are 5 ways to get better results with your LinkedIn invitations:

1. Customize your invitations

Notice the line “Include a personal note:” with (optional) in parentheses in the image above. The truth is, if you’re serious about connecting, and especially if it’s an important prospect or partner, a personal note should be viewed as mandatory.

To save time, you can create templates for specific networking groups however these should be used as a starting point, not as the final draft because it’s important to…

2. Tell a story

Personalize your invitation by explaining the context of your connection request. Why do you wish to connect? What is the benefit this person will gain from connecting with you?

Feel free to reference a recent conversation, LinkedIn Group discussion or other event that brings you closer to your invitee.

3. Capitalize on incoming requests

Think of each request as a new opportunity. Reply with a personal message explaining how your customers benefit from doing business with you along with a description of your ideal prospect. Use incoming requests as an opportunity to include a call to action or to reference relevant content.

Kicking off your professional relationship in this manner sets the stage for networking opportunities and referrals, increasing your sales lead generation results.

4. Know your limits

You have 300 characters to work with. Make ‘em count. If you have room to spare, try deepening the relationship at the outset by calling attention to the LinkedIn Groups or other social/industry platforms you’re active in.

5. Know your boundaries

Create your best invite and then let it be. Sending multiple invites to the same person can make you appear desperate, and can inhibit your ability to establish a relationship with the invitee (or those in the invitee’s professional network) in the future.

If your invitee doesn’t accept, there are other tactics such as blogs and LinkedIn Group discussions you can use to get on the networking radar.

Best-in-class social sellers take advantage of every opportunity to rise above the “sales noise.” Sending personalized, relevant invitations to connect immediately puts you in higher company than the large majority of sales people who fail to do so.

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Why Manage LinkedIn Endorsements?

Why Manage LinkedIn Endorsements?

LinkedIn endorsements are meant to provide credibility and networking opportunities.

Has LinkedIn ever notified you that someone has endorsed you for skills and expertise that have absolutely nothing to do with your actual skills? Or worse, you don’t know the endorser at all, so how can he or she endorse any skills you have?

Sometimes people are endorsing you so you’ll see the notification and they’ll be on your radar. Other times, people are endorsing you because they’re friends or colleagues and they think they’re helping you.

Either way, if people are endorsing you for the wrong skills, then your real skills are being overlooked. Luckily, you can help people endorse you for the skills that really matter to you. Below I’ll show you how.

#1: Set Your Skills and Endorsements

If you want to control which skills are most prominent on your LinkedIn profile,set up the Skills & Endorsements section of your LinkedIn profile. This lets you subtly encourage others to use those skills when they endorse you.

If you don’t have the Skills section on your profile, go to Edit Profile and look to the right. You’ll see a list of sections recommended for you. Click on the Skills option to add it to your profile.

It’s important to have the Skills section activated on your LinkedIn profile.

You can add up to 50 skills to your profile, so go ahead and set those skills yourself. Don’t be shy. Tell the world what you want to be endorsed for. Don’t let a bunch of strangers decide how you present your areas of expertise!

As you begin typing your desired skill, you’ll see a list of related skills you can choose from (but you don’t have to). The list is likely compiled based on how others have searched for people with a particular skill.

Decide what skills you want to be endorsed for.

When you first add skills to your profile, they’re listed in the order you entered them. As soon as people start endorsing you, though, the skills you are most endorsed for will rise to the top of the list.

Your 10 most endorsed skills will show up automatically; the other skills are listed under them.

You can decide what skills others can endorse you for, but they determine the top 10.

When someone endorses you, you get an email notification with the option to Add to Profile.

LinkedIn tells you when someone has endorsed you.

When you click Add to Profile, you’ll end up on your LinkedIn profile and see a list of all of the potential skills you can add to your list.

Here’s where you exert your control: If people endorse you for the wrong skills, you don’t have to accept the endorsements! Just click the Skip button.

You don’t have to accept skill endorsements that don’t fit with your profile.

At least once a month, visit your LinkedIn profile and do a quick cleanup. In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Endorsements section and click Edit. Remove any skills you don’t want to be endorsed for.

You can remove a skill by clicking the “X” next to its name, or you can add new skills as necessary.

Edit your skills list about once a month.

#2: Manage Endorsements

If you find you’re still getting too many endorsements for the wrong skills, it’s time to demote those skills.

In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Expertise section, click Edit, then click Manage Endorsements. You’ll see a list of your skills and all the contacts who have endorsed you for each.

Manage your endorsements to ensure your best skills are front and center.

Click the skill you want to manage to see who has endorsed you. Now you have the option to show or hide either all of your endorsements or individual endorsements.

If you uncheck any boxes in the Show/hide list, the number of endorsements counted for that skill will go down by the number of boxes you uncheck.

So let’s say in the example above, I wanted to move Blogging out of the top 10. This skill currently has 167 endorsements. I could uncheck 100 boxes and that skill would be left with only 67 endorsements, allowing another skill I care about (with more than 67 endorsements) to rise into the top 10.

#3: Spread the Networking Love

Networking is the primary goal of LinkedIn, so don’t be afraid to meet new people, rally your community or give back to others. Everyone is looking for relevant (not random) endorsements.

To help build your top 10 skills, write to your lists and ask them to endorse you for a specific skill or two. Be clear about what you’re asking for so you don’t end up with additional “helpful endorsements” for skills you’re trying to de-emphasize.

Don’t forget the importance of reciprocation! When others endorse you, be sure to endorse them as well, but ask them what skills they’re most interested in promoting!

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