Phrases that should be stricken from cold outreach playbooks:
“I saw that you work for X company.”
You never even saw my profile, a script did. You’re lying.
“It would be great to add you to my personal network.”
Humans don’t talk that way. Also, you don’t want to connect, you want to sell me something. You’re lying.
“I am impressed with your work.”
Please mention one thing you actually saw in my profile. You’re lying.
“I noticed…”
“I have been looking at…”
“I’ve looked into…”
You’re. Lying.
--
When you reach out to a stranger, they are already on their guard. It’s probably some genetic thing from thousands of years ago. Using inauthenticities like “I saw your profile and want to connect” is an unnecessary self own — it erodes whatever minimal amount of trust might exist and makes the prospect run to safer interactions.
So what to do, if not bullshit platitudes?
Speak to the way the problem makes the prospect feel.
“If you have this problem, you probably feel this way...”
If they don’t have that problem, they weren’t going to hire you anyway. And if they do have that problem, you’ve done more than any other salesperson ever has: you’ve connect to them as a human being. They might even ask for a solution.
#sales #linkedin #beinghuman