“Hi! I’d love to connect and learn more about what you do.”
Sure. Sounds reasonable.
Connection accepted.
Thirty seconds later:
“Are you struggling to scale your business?”
Well, I wasn’t. I was eating a sandwich.
Apparently, “learn more about what you do” meant “wait for you to click Accept so I can unload this sales pitch.”
We haven’t had a conversation. You haven’t asked a question. But you’ve already determined that I need your coaching, software, marketing system, or revolutionary process for unlocking my potential.
My potential was doing fine before you arrived.
I understand that LinkedIn is a professional network. People do business there. Selling something isn’t a character flaw.
But there’s a difference between building a professional relationship and ringing the doorbell while carrying a PowerPoint.
At least give me time to forget that we’ve never spoken.
My favorite is the follow-up.
“Just bumping this to the top of your inbox.”
Yes, I saw it the first time. Its position in the inbox wasn’t the problem.
Then comes:
“Do you have fifteen minutes for a quick discovery call?”
What exactly are we discovering? You haven’t shown any interest in what I do, but somehow my calendar is the next stop.
You asked to connect. I accepted. That’s the entire transaction so far.
Ask a real question. Read something I’ve written. Figure out whether what you’re selling has any relevance to me before explaining how badly I need it.
And if you’re reaching out specifically to sell something, say so. I might be interested. I might not.
But don’t dress it up as professional curiosity and then have the fucking invoice warming up before I’ve said hello.