Having Problems Booking Meetings on LinkedIn? Try These Tips.

Are you trying to book meetings with leads on LinkedIn? What do you do when a prospect isn't responding?

A member of our prospecting mastery course (we'll call him "Joe") has trying to reach the CIO of a major retail chain ($130B in revenue) (we'll call the prospect "Andy"). 

Joe sent Andy a connection request, and Andy accepted. So then Joe sent him a DM (direct message) thanking Andy for the connection, mentioning a recent award Andy's company had reached, asking a question about the award, and asking for a meeting to get acquainted and discuss a separate topic (unrelated to the award). 

Andy hasn't responded, and Joe asked me what to do next. 

Here are some tips I shared with Joe. 

1. Based on Andy's profile activities, it looks he's only on LinkedIn every couple of weeks. So be patient. People with this level of activity won’t respond right away. 
   
   
2. Because of his C-level role at a Fortune 100 company, Andy is probably getting inundated with messages and sales pitches. Many of them are probably mentioning the same award, which might make this come off as just another sales pitch. I'm finding that mentioning awards ONLY works if the person I'm approaching was directly involved in winning the award. In this case, it was unlikely that Andy played a direct role. 
   
   
3. I’d also argue that Joe may be targeting too high, given the service he's offering. CXOs at Fortune 100 firms have deputies who make all but the most critically strategic purchasing decisions. If Joe finds the right deputies, he’ll have better luck. 
   
   
4. Targeting lower will generally make it easier for Joe to get his foot in the door. Then, once he's had conversations with several people at the user level, Joe will have better ammunition to network up to the C-suite, IF it's necessary for the deal. 
   
   
5. Joe's message had 3 distinct topics - thanks for connecting / congratulations on the award / question about a separate topic related to diversity and inclusion / invitation to get acquainted. Even though the message was brief, it probably came across as complicated to the recipient. It works better if you keep your messaging very brief and confined to one topic.
   
   
6. Joe's message effectively included 2 CTAs (calls to action) – the question and the invitation to meet. I find that it's best to include only one CTA. Keep your messages very simple with a simple ask. Make it easy for your prospect to respond.
   
   
7. Sometimes, it’s better to try to engage a prospect in a bit of a conversation over DM before you invite them to meet with you. Then try for the meeting once you get a conversation moving. So for example, Joe could have posed one question about something that Andy's interested in and that can start a dialogue.
   
   
8. And finally - I've seen several others struggle to get access to very senior people in the retail industry on LinkedIn. So if your prospect doesn't respond, try taking the same approach in emails and phone calls.

Want more tips on how to book meetings with cold leads on LinkedIn? Join Prospecting Mastery and get the complete methodology I'm using to book meetings with a 71% success rate. 

About the Author: Candyce Edelen is founder of PropelGrowth, where she teaches B2B entrepreneurs and sales professionals to build authentic, human-to-human relationships on LinkedIn. Her strategies have helped clients shift from spammy automation to genuine outreach, resulting in higher-quality leads and increased sales. Candyce is passionate about helping professionals build trust and create a reliable, predictable sales pipeline. She's also a firm believer that you can't automate a relationship.