So, you have gotten a new connection, they read your LinkedIn message you sent, and they have responded. Yay!But, now what?If they are the awesome “yes, I would love to talk to you more about how you can help me!” they are the ideal reply because you can just go in and set up a time for a meeting.But if they reply in a meh or negative way, then what? How do you engage these people?We’ve been doing this for awhile so we have some tips and examples of ways to take meh and uninterested into a new piping hot lead!

1. Find personal information they have on their profile and include it in your conversation. 

Some people are just going to respond messages with a *thumbs up* or *thanks* and while those are not ideal, taking 30 seconds to look at their profile and find something to respond back with and see if there’s any interest can be game changing to their interest level. Below is an example of finding personal info on their profile  and taking someone who was just happy to connect and turning them into a highly interested lead!

Example: This client is the head of marketing for a Van Conversion company and wants to get people interested to pass along to their sales team aka ‘van gurus’.

She took the time to look at this guy’s profile after he said “That is great Kaylee! Glad to have you aboard!”

Kaylee then found a unique thing about his profile, that he is retiring to fish, included it, and look how the conversation turned out!

2. Utilize different aspects of messaging to personalize and separate yourself! 

B2B doesn’t have to mean boring to boring. Especially because you are a person, connecting with another person! On LinkedIn on your computer, you have the ability to attach pictures, PDFs, GIFs, and emojis.

On your phone, you have the ability to be even more creative. You can send them a personal video, and even send voice messages. You can get really creative!

Example 1: Braden, HyperSocial CEO, and Connor, HyperSocial CSO,  get creative with memes to add in some humor to messaging.
Example 2: Connor, HyperSocial CSO, also loves using the voice messaging option to respond to people.

3. Apologize and be honest if someone has a negative response to messaging. 

Not everyone is going to take your messaging exactly how we intended for them to take it. (That’s why we optimize copy and target audience along the way). Ignoring them makes the chance of them reporting you as spam higher, and responding with an apology, can even turn them into a lead!

Example: This client is a copywriter and with his original messaging, we did not see the COVID-19 crisis coming. With a simple apology, he actually turned this lady into a lead!

Overall, once someone responds, be yourself, don’t be pushy, and just connect with people in a real way. They will appreciate that you are a real human and it will take your results to the next level.