I was chatting with a business owner the other day about online networking. He said he was getting massively frustrated with Linked In – he understood that it was important that he had a presence on the network – but just found himself inundated with connection requests, and plenty of them were from people he didn’t know.
I asked him what he did with all these requests – he replied that he simply clicked ‘ignore’.
Then the topic of conversation moved on to a face to face networking meeting that we had both been to (in fact, it was where we had met a couple of weeks previously). I asked him what he’d been thinking when I had approached him and introduced myself – and he said that he was delighted to have a conversation, as he was feeling slightly lost as a first time attendee at the event.
Given we go to networking events to help us develop our businesses, it is highly unlikely any businessperson would deliberately ignore someone they didn’t know at a networking event – so why on earth would anyone want to do it online?
Networking is networking, whether it is offline or online – it is all about building relationships. Sometimes, those relationships lead to something. Sometimes, they don’t. Having met someone face to face, if the relationship goes ‘wrong’ in some way, you simply don’t see that person any more. Likewise online – it is very easy to disconnect with contacts in Linked In should that be necessary.
The key to accepting contact requests is to then do something about them: are you going to build a relationship through online conversation, or arrange to meet for a 1-1? Just remember: even if you don’t know the person that is trying to connect with you on Linked In, you never know who they might know. Your next dream client may be just one connection away.
How do you handle connection requests? – I’d love to hear what you do.
Charlie Lawson – BNI National Director and Word of Mouth marketing expert, whose passion is to see BNI members succeed in their businesses.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to see someone else who has the same approach to LinkedIn as me. Just because you don’t currently have a relationship with them doesn’t mean you couldn’t in the future.
As with all networking you just never know where connections will lead. The key is to not just accept the request – you’ve got to follow up on it and encourage a conversation with the person.
Definitely! Thanks for taking the time to comment…
Agree 100% Charlie. People are still struggling with the fact that LinkedIn is perfect for networking all week long and not just at events. Takes priority over email every morning here at JRSM.
Fascinating. I have to say, I’m still on a journey learning LinkedIn – it definitely isn’t yet at the stage where it takes priority over email…
I think LinkedIn gives businesses an addtional opportunity to see if they can work together. We’ve arranged many meetings solely from a conversation that has started on here. It also gives you an idea of the type of businesses who want to work with you. And i agree- you just never know where that connection will take you!
Good work – great to hear!
The key word in your reply for me is: ‘we’ve arranged many meetings solely from a conversation that STARTED on here’ – you’re quite right, you never know where the connection will take you!
I take your point, but as someone who works in sales I am constantly approached by recruitment consultants interested in nothing more than increasing their ‘pool’ of candidates. The more LinkedIn becomes a tool for lazy recruiters, the more it suffers as a networking tool.
True enough – I hear you, that is annoying.
The point I’m making is that these recruitment consultants aren’t using LinkedIn as a networking tool properly – they’re just effectively hard selling, not building relationships.
Thanks for commenting!
The proper etiquette is to introduce yourself to someone you are adding who you don’t know. Most requests I get from strangers do not do that so I question their motives. It’s most likely that they are looking to boost their contacts number.
Yes, there are definitely plenty of people, on all Social Media platforms, for whom the number of contacts/friends/followers is paramount. Really though, it isn’t the number – it’s the amount of engagement.
Very much quality as opposed to quantity…