LinkedIn invitations: should we accept them? My reflex method to find out!
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world. Near 610 million users use the LinkedIn platform to prospect, get information, extend their professional network, set up a digital strategy for their company, seek (and find!) new opportunities, get jobs to start working life, offer their services, present their products … In short, on LinkedIn, it’s cosmopolitan, varied, and the entire professional social spectrum is represented. All trades are present on LinkedIn, all positions also, and the big plus of LinkedIn is its ability to privilege the human being behind the job title. Indeed, millions of people connect to each other on LinkedIn every day, and it is the relevance and quality of these woven networks that are the strength of the use of LinkedIn. A sloppy network, not very coherent, and which prefers volume to content, will sooner or later show limits and weaknesses. So how do you know which LinkedIn invitations to accept and which not? Should we accept all LinkedIn invitations, or on the contrary only accept those from people we meet in “real” life? I have developed a reflex method to finally find out!
1. Accept LinkedIn invitations: several schools
When it comes to whether or not to accept invitations on LinkedIn, two schools seem to stand out.
- Those who accept everyone
- Those who only accept those they have already met “in real life”
Of course, that might not be your case, well of course, this does not represent all LinkedIn users, of course, all is not that binary! This is only an observation that allows us to better understand the dynamics of LinkedIn invitations and their processing by the various network users!
Ideally, you should be between the two to establish a cohesive and effective network for your goals on LinkedIn. Let’s see together how to do this, thanks to a reflex method to know which invitations to accept on LinkedIn.
2. Accept LinkedIn invitations: the advantages of a reflex method
At this time when everything goes quickly, sometimes too quickly, it is a good omen to know how to optimize your time and the use that you have of it. On LinkedIn, things are even faster! Realize, in a few clicks, you can go around the world by visiting the profiles of entrepreneurs located on another continent, learn about the existence of a young and innovative company still in the test phase, come across the ideal resume template of a candidate looking for opportunities… In short, on LinkedIn everything is possible in a few seconds!
It is for this reason that having a method reflex concerning the management of your LinkedIn network is of importance capital city. By saving time, prioritizing what needs to be and focusing only on what will prove beneficial to your network, you will save a considerable amount of time on both the execution of the method reflex, but also downstream of it.
Indeed, the consistency of your network will be respected thanks to the reflex method to accept or not the LinkedIn invitations . By keeping a guideline in the development of your network, by respecting a precise mesh (it is up to you to define which according to your sector of activity and your own objectives), and especially by knowing those who constitute your network, all your activity on LinkedIn will be facilitated.
3. LinkedIn invitation: the PIPU © reflex method of PROINFLUENT
A reflex method is a process that you will define upstream and execute automatically each time the need will arise. In the military world, reflex methods are widely used: they make it possible to react quickly to a problematic situation. The principle of the reflex method is based on a acronym. Simply !
For example, in the event of a problem, here accept or not a LinkedIn invitation, the idea is to answer the question “Should I accept this LinkedIn invitation or not?” ” by a acronym corresponding to the objectives you expect from a LinkedIn invitation.
To go quickly, the best is to define three or four keywords that you can easily remember under the force of a acronym.
For example at Proinfluent we imagined the PIPU method : Relevance, Interaction, Prescription and Utility .
- Is this profile Relevant ?
- Is he likely to Interact on future publications?
- Could he become Prescriber or recommend me?
- Finally, is it to me Useful short or long term?
If the person’s profile meets 2 of these criteria, we accept it.
During the various LinkedIn training that I offer to my clients, the question of LinkedIn invitations comes up frequently. Many wonder if accepting all LinkedIn invitations is a good opportunity in a social selling strategy LinkedIn . To the various questions regarding the acceptance of LinkedIn connection requests, I answer: “ Why are you on LinkedIn? “ .
The answer is often: “To develop a professional network and an audience of qualified prospects. “.
This is why I have chosen to deliver this method. By implementing the reflex method, you will know straight away whether or not no, the person who asks you to join their network will be able to improve quality of yours.
Please note, these four keywords are not one absolute truth. You can quite choose new ones, not take any only one, or even ten! It’s up to you to decide and make based on your goals and purpose on LinkedIn.
4. Accepting LinkedIn invitations: reflex method… but not only!
On LinkedIn as in life, you need to use common sense to move forward properly. If the reflex method is very effective (you can use it in your personal life to solve certain problems), it has the disadvantage of being very little nuanced, if at all. It is true, it is also its strong point! We do not use a reflex method to “think”. It is used to gain in productivity, and act as quickly as possible.
However, the nuance is required for who wants get rid of strong opinions and try to perceive long-term opportunities term. And, the long term is precisely the very essence of social selling on LinkedIn . It is therefore, I believe, essential to adopt the reflex method in associating it with some reflections in order to be able to accept or not the invitations LinkedIn .
For example, you are a production workshop manager and you receive a connection request from a dentist. Do you accept this person’s LinkedIn invitation? According to your reflex method and its adage “Relevance, Interaction, Prescription and Utility ”, no. And yet … This dentist may be at the search for a special machine that your company could supply, or, conversely, may his services and advice be of great value to you one day. usefulness.
Another example, you are a salesperson for a company that distributes household appliances and a designer automobile sends you a LinkedIn invitation. As with the dentist, your reflex method would make you refuse this invitation. But this nobody can become one of your customers for a need in his personal life, or, conversely, put you in touch with someone influential in the automotive sector to find a good deal if you want to change your vehicle.
There are tons of examples like these. You will have understood it, to base oneself on a simple “yes” or a simple “No” is not always the right solution in the long run.
Your professional network must be coherent and in phase with your objectives to be able to get the best out of it, one way or the other. The activity on LinkedIn obviously goes through the constitution of your LinkedIn professional network . It is thanks to him that you will be able to gain visibility , expand your audience, be able to be recommended , etc. But keep in mind that a network works both ways. You can help members of your network even if, at first glance, some of them are not in your “specifications” of the model connection request. They could, one day, be of great help, or change direction and become perfect prospects for your target customers, or even put you in touch with people who would need your knowledge to solve a problem.
In any case, work on your social selling, produce content with high added value for your audience, say your corporate image and quality work. So you will not have maybe you will always answer favorably to all of the keywords in your go-to method for LinkedIn invitations!
Finally, do not forget that if the use that have LinkedIn is strongly determined by your network, it is also determined by largely thanks to your LinkedIn profile , which is neither more nor less than your digital storefront. To make your profile an exceptional showcase, I invite you to free download the checklist to have a perfect LinkedIn profile !
Should you accept a LinkedIn invitation: what to remember
- A reflex method allows you to quickly make a decision about a given situation.
- Define keywords in accordance with your objectives concerning your professional network on LinkedIn or take the Reflex PIPU method from Proinfluent ©.
- Remember to always qualify things in your use of LinkedIn, sooner or later you will gain!
