When I want to reach out to someone on LinkedIn, finding them is just the start.
I do a lot of research on the person and their company and then I write the message.
I start by reviewing their LinkedIn profile. This is where most people start their research. It is also where most people end their research. That’s why a lot of outreach messages seem to revolve around where people went to school or who they used to work for.
Their profile is a nice start, but that’s not good enough for me. My goal is to mention something in my message that makes them stop in their tracks.
So I also….
- review their LinkedIn activity
- research people that seem to be their peers at their company
- check both their company website and the company page on LinkedIn
- Have a look at how this info stacks up for their competitors
You would be surprised at the information you can pick up doing this. My goal is to send them something like, “in doing my research, you appear to be investing 20% more on R&D than your competitors.”
If I do this well, when the person reads my message, three things come across:
- I have not just sent them some cookie cutter crap with their name swapped in at the top like most people do.
- I have really put some effort into this.
- I am different from everyone else out there.
Is this time consuming? Yes, but not as much as you think it would. I know what to look for and I have done an awful lot of these messages. And with a much higher success rate, it is absolutely worth it. If I do it well the recipient of the message above is obsessed with wanting to know just how the heck I figured out they were spending more on R&D.
Let’s face it. If I really want this person to become a customer of mine, someone I want to have an ongoing successful business relationship with, why wouldn’t I invest the time to show them some respect up front?
Of course, a lot more goes into an outreach message than just upfront research, and sometimes my research efforts don’t yield anything of value, but the ability to add a wow statement that sets me apart is worth the effort.
