Discover How to Connect on LinkedIn with C-level Executives

Discover How to Connect on LinkedIn with C-level Executives (5 Steps) in the Right Way? Digital world offers many opportunities for you to connect with C-level executives – emails, cold calls, referrals, etc., but LinkedIn tops the chart. Over 45% of LinkedIn users are C-level decision-makers. And they are not there to find BuzzFeed quizzes or wedding photos or memes but to do business. They look for content that can change the way they do business and there lies the fruit of opportunity for you. But the problem is How to Connect on LinkedIn with C-level Executives ? You don’t know how to connect on LinkedIn with these decision-makers! What to say with your connection request to these people? Or how to follow up while connecting on LinkedIn? Well, that’s not a secret code to crack. You just need the right message to connect on LinkedIn with these decision makers. And that’s what I will tell you in this post. So, read on as I reveal the exact steps to connect on LinkedIn with your desired decision makers; how to approach them the right way so they don’t bypass you.

5 Steps to How to Connect on LinkedIn with C-level Executives (decision- makers) 1. Define your target audience Heard this a dozen times? That’s because you can’t escape the truth! Even to connect on LinkedIn with C-level decision makers, you have to be clear about your target audience. C-level decision makers are many, but everyone won’t show interest in your business; not everyone would benefit from your services. Bottom line? Define the personas of C-level decision makers you wish to connect on LinkedIn. This small initial step will take out all the hassle out of it. To define the personas, write these key points about your target decision makers: ▪ Age, gender, location ▪ Industry to target ▪ Their behaviours, motivations, and aspirations ▪ Their pain points or challenges in their profession ▪ How can you meet those challenges with your solution? 2. Search for target C-level executives Once you know the C-level executives you have to target, it’s time to search them on LinkedIn. For the purpose, you can:

▪ Use search filters of LinkedIn like location, industry, company size, etc. ▪ Save those searches to receive recommendations from LinkedIn ▪ Identify the groups where your C-level decision makers are present 3. Send connection request with a message Majority of people send connection requests on LinkedIn by just clicking on the ‘Connect’ button one after the other. And then complain of not getting it accepted. Of course, you won’t be! Because your strategy of sending connection requests is faulty! With the above approach, LinkedIn sends a connection request to your desired audience with a default message, “Please add me to your LinkedIn network”. Now, just put yourself in the shoes of the C-level executive you are connecting to. If you receive such a message with a connection request, how likely will you accept it? Very less, right? Same holds true with the other person. Being a C-level executive, his LinkedIn inbox would be flooded with such messages. Why should he/she connect with you? Are you giving them a valuable reason to connect? That’s the point! Always send connection requests on LinkedIn with a personalized message. And what that can be? Let’s see a few examples: Hey (name of the person),

I stumbled upon you through a mutual connection, (name). I love what you are building with (their business name) as every (importance of what they are doing) Would love to connect to know more about you! Your name Dear (person’s name), I’m also in the (common group name), and I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. The piece you shared a week ago about the future of journalism was pretty thought provoking. I’d love to keep in touch and learn more about your work. So, what are the key takeaways from these examples? ▪ Send connection request to build a connection, not a sales pitch ▪ What inspires you about them? ▪ Why does it inspire you? ▪ What do you want to happen from the message you send? By following these points, you’ll increase your acceptance rate! 4. Keep your first outbound message short Congratulations! Your target decision maker has accepted your connection request! That means you made a great first impression with your connection message. But that’s half the battle won! What’s next? Keep them interested in you so that eventually they become your paying customer. So, now it’s time to send them your first outbound message. Important thing to remember here is to keep your message short, catchy, and valuable. A short welcome message comes in handy at this hour! Something like: “Thanks for accepting my request. Looking forward to a great mutual connection!”

5. Follow up with a thoughtful message Well, many people have a varied opinion on this! Some prefer to send a direct sales pitch after the welcome message, while others don’t. I consent to the second approach. Though LinkedIn is a platform for B2B communication, we all are humans. And everybody wants to talk with a human, not a salesman. So, rather than sending a sales pitch after the welcome message, I recommend sending a thoughtful message. To come up with one, read through the profile of that decision maker, and try understanding what their pressing business challenge could be. Share a tip or two with them from your knowledge bank, which you think might help them in overcoming their challenge. This makes the opponent feel cared for; that you understand their business situation and are ready to address them with your expertise. And Lo! You might have the decision maker asking for more info; thus, giving you a chance to showcase your product/service. Go for it now. You have struck the chord to start your dialogue with the decision maker. Here are a few examples of such thoughtful follow-up messages: Hey (person’s name),

Upon publishing our recent blog post, “Post Title”, I immediately thought of you and your company. The blog post examines many aspects of (what it talks about), complete with quotes from thought leaders and a variety of data points. I would love to hear your thoughts on the post, including any feedback we could use in the future to provide our audience with better content. Of course, don’t hesitate to share some of your favourite blog posts. I am always keen to read what other industry professionals have to say. Thanks for your time. Cheers, Your name and company Hey (person’s name), I recently learned that you are business acquaintances with a close friend of mine, (his/her name) In a recent conversation with (friend’s name), he/she mentioned that you might be interested in a new service we are rolling out. Do you happen to have a few minutes next week to jump on a phone call? I would appreciate the opportunity to share more about the service, while also getting to know each other a bit more. Thanks for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon. Cheers, Your name and company Hey (name of the person), As an expert in the field of (your expertise), I take great pride in helping clients increase traffic and revenue through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other notable social platforms. I was reviewing your social profiles and love what your company is doing. There are a few other things you could do to take your strategy to the next level, such as (tell them the tools or strategies to use for improvement) Do you have time to jump on a call to discuss some of these basic tactics? I simply want to talk more, provide some advice and learn more about your business. If this sounds good to you, shoot me a quick reply. Thanks for your time! Cheers,

Your name and company What to take away from this post? Connecting on LinkedIn with C-level executives is not as hard as you think. It just takes 5 steps in the right direction to connect and engage with your target decision makers on LinkedIn. Define your target audience first, search for them on LinkedIn, connect on LinkedIn with a welcome note, and follow up with a thoughtful message which could be your blog post providing valuable information to help their business, tools or strategies to implement and take their business to the next level or a genuine piece of advice. Before I leave, a few words of wisdom! Whenever you get a positive response from a C-level decision maker, make note of what you did right to reuse it in your future LinkedIn campaigns. Over to you now! Did you try these 5 steps to how to connect on LinkedIn with C-level Executives (decision makers)? Let us know how it worked for you! You may also like ▪ How to Drive Attention with your Best LinkedIn Headlines This article orginally appeared on: https://linkedojet.com/blog/how-to-connect-on- linkedin-with-c-level-executives-in-the-right-way/