This wraps up our four part LinkedIn Response Series. Over the last few episodes, I covered your headline, your banner, and how to turn profile views into real conversations. In this final episode, I'm showing you how to take those conversations and turn them into booked appointments.

Never Pitch First

The fastest way to kill a new LinkedIn conversation is to pitch right away.
When someone replies to you, keep the conversation focused on them before you bring up your product or service.

Make The Conversation About Them

One of the easiest ways to find something to talk about is to look at what the person posts on LinkedIn.
I'll drop a prospect's profile link into Claude or ChatGPT and ask for ideas on how to start a natural conversation with them.
If they post about something like running marathons or self improvement, use that as your opener. Ask a real question about it.

Use Voice And Video Messages

Voice and video messages inside the LinkedIn app get far better replies than plain text.
Record them natively in the LinkedIn app, not through Loom or another video tool. It feels more real, and prospects respond to that.
Always end your voice or video message with a question. That question is what pulls the reply out of them.

Give It A Day Or Two

Don't ask for anything the same day someone replies to you.
Wait a day or two, then ask a permission based question tied to something specific about them or their company.
This is what turns small talk into a real business conversation.

Message The Right People

None of this works if you're messaging random people.
Build your outreach around people who fit your ideal customer profile. Target the accounts and titles you actually want to work with.
Relevant messages get relevant replies.

Turn It Into An Appointment

Once someone shows interest, ask if they're open to a five to seven minute conversation.
If you can't explain what you offer in five to seven minutes, that's a sign to tighten up your pitch first.

"If you can't explain what you offer in five to seven minutes, you don't have a right to ask for someone's time." — Donald C. Kelly

Resources

Learn the full system inside the LinkedIn Prospecting Course.
Email Donald directly at donald@thesalesevangelist.com to ask about joining the next cohort.
Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.
Step up your sales game with Sales Mastermind. Get accountability, stay motivated, and tackle the blockers keeping you from hitting your goals.
Visit Blue Mango Studios for help creating podcast production content.

Sponsorship Offers

This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey . We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.