Guide : Best practices for your prospecting messages

24/07/2024

The secret of successful prospecting is:

🎯 Sending the right message to the right person at the right time.

The problem? Over 2/3 of companies screw up in the message and miss out on hundreds of deals.

Because your prospecting messages account for almost 30% to the success of your campaign, this guide gives you the best practices and the mistakes not to make to finally succeed in converting your prospects, so :

Welcome to the Guide : The best practices for your prospecting messages. 🎯

⚠️ Spoiler: after this article, you’ll never prospect in the same way again.

All the points appearing in 🔵 correspond to the action you need to take on each subject..

1) Best practice no. 1: The structure of your prospecting messages

The structure of your messages can be broken down into 3 essential elements for a good prospecting message: the hook, the value proposition and the call-to-action. ⤵️

The hook

We receive dozens, even hundreds of messages a day via LinkedIn. Yours needs to stand out and grab your prospects’ attention immediately: that’s the aim of the tagline.

Your prospects need to understand in 2 seconds: “Why am I being sent this message?”, in other words, what problem you can solve for them.

🔵 Your hook should be done in 1 phase

🔵 Your hook should ask a question.

A question is organically more engaging than a statement.

You’re inviting people to share and, by asking them to do so, you’re making it easier for them to get involved and participate. 🎙️

Second point: asking a question allows you to identify the need or pain (= pain / problem) that your prospects are facing (in a single step → respond to this need).

📊 95% of people read the first 5 words of a message, and make up their mind in 2sec whether to continue or not. We call this “scanning“. We’re faced with quantities of content and information every day. Our brains can’t absorb it all, so they’ll try to shortcut and select only the information they deem most relevant, by scanning only the first few words of a piece of content. (Examples of catchphrases in part 6) Sales templates ⤵️)

The value proposition

Once you’ve identified the need or problem facing your prospect, you need to tell them about your value proposition. In other words, identify how your product or service is unique and can solve their problem, and put it in front of them. Unlike the customer promise, the value proposition is geared towards the functional, emotional and social benefits your offering brings to customers.

For example:

🔵 Your value proposition should be clear and short, getting straight to the point (2/3 sentences maximum). In the example, we’re promoting our Waalaxy tool with a value proposition that fits into 3 sentences and directly outlines the benefits gained by using the tool:

The results obtained.
Time saved.
The free service.

How do you find your value proposition?

🔵 List the 3 benefits your prospect would gain by signing with you.(e.g. free of charge, time saved, rarity, innovation, quality, certifications: any distinctive feature) 🔵 Put a figure on the gains. Indeed, numbers are ultra-powerful in capturing our attention: they’re symbolic and have great power over our brains (without us realizing it).

Use odd numbers: they tend to be more attractive and memorable for the brain. They create an asymmetry that causes a “tilt”.
Use numbers under 10: they create a sense of urgency and exclusivity that increases engagement and conversions.

The call-to-action

The final step in your message structure is the call-to-action. You’ve identified your prospect’s problem, you’ve made your value proposition. To give him an idea of what to do next, you need to offer him a way out → an action to take. Your call-to-action can be:

🔵 A calendly link.

🔵 A link to a form.

🔵 A link to your website, blog, YouTube channel.

The choice of your call-to-action depends on your objective.

🔵 Put only one CTA per message, restrict the action you want them to take: either you want to redirect them to a phone appointment, or you want them to discover your website, not both. 🚫

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2) Best practice no. 2: Choosing the right Waalaxy campaign

Your prospecting campaign should consist of 3 to 4 touchpoints maximum. More than 4 messages and you’ll be considered a spammer (and for LinkedIn and, for your prospect), your offer will no longer have any legitimacy and you’ll lose your deal.

On the contrary, less than 3 touchpoints could cause you to miss out on a deal: follow-ups play a crucial role in closing, most people need to be pushed to take action.

👉🏼 A touchpoint = a connection note or a message. We recommend choosing between 2 Waalaxy sequences: 🔵 The sequence ‘Invitation (with connection note) + 2 Messages’ or the sequence ‘Invitation (without connection note) + 3 Messages’.

On Waalaxy, “start your campaign” choose your sequence”.
Filter by “Invitation” and “Message”, then adjust the number of messages required.
For the campaign without login, in the step, you’ll just have to click on “without login” to move on to the “Message” step.

Should I put an invitation note or not?

→ Not including an invitation note means missing out on more than half your prospects. Indeed, acceptance rates vary between 30 and 50%, whereas if you manage to capture your prospects’ attention while delivering your value proposition by staying under 300 characters, then 100% of your leads will be exposed to your offer.

Don’t know how to start a campaign on Waalaxy? Follow the guide. 🕵🏼‍♀️

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Get your first customers this week

Take advantage of the power of Waalaxy to generate leads every day. Start prospecting for free, today.

3) Best practice n°3 : The importance of your prospecting follow-ups

🔵 Your first messages should have the same structure. Let me explain: → If your prospects haven’t seen or read your first message, then there’s no problem in reusing its structure. → If your prospects have seen/read your first message but haven’t responded, it may be that your message wasn’t impactful, that it didn’t come at the right time, in which case: 🔵 Retry the sending by modifying:

The tagline, the value proposition and the call-to-action. (When we say keep the same structure we mean this one 👈🏻).

“Did you see my previous message?” type follow-ups should be banned 🚫 for several reasons: → If your first messages haven’t converted, this type of message doesn’t add anything, it still won’t convert your prospects. → You’re wasting characters and losing the attention your first words should provoke. Worse, you’ll force them (for the bravest) to make an effort to go and find your message again. Definitely don’t do this. 🛑 🔵 The last follow-up message you send must change strategy: your objective on this last message is to get a response, whatever the cost(positive or negative). To achieve this, you’ll need to create a “pattern break“.

To put it in context, a pattern break consists in introducing something incoherent into a usual sequence – a break in form – that puts a person in a state of confusion / that pushes them to become aware of something. Applying this principle to your follow-up message consists in sending your prospects a message that they don’t expect at all / that they’re not used to receiving (if ever).

– How do you create a pattern break in your prospecting messages?

🔵 Use courtesy (if you’ve been using courtesy until now).

🔵 Use humor or provocation. We’ve put together the TOP 10 of our tested and (dis)approved humorous follow-ups. 🎁 (tip: steal them from us)

By using this technique, you’re going to have a number of people who may not appreciate the approach and will respond (very) unfavorably; but, there will also be a handful of profiles who respond favorably because you’ve managed to capture their attention.

🧠 It’s much more effective than sending yet another conventional message and ending up with no one offended, but also no one interested.

👉🏻 What we’re trying to optimize here is the number of positive responses. We’re not trying to minimize the number of negative responses. The nuance is fine, but it’s very important.

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4) Best practice no. 4: Rules for writing a good prospecting message

Here’s an exhaustive list of the rules for writing a good prospecting message: some of them may shock or surprise you. All these tips have been tested, and are definitely approved. ✔️

🔵 A good prospecting message should be no longer than 500 characters

🔵 Be concise and effective. Don’t use run-on sentences, avoid adverbs or any form of complex figure of speech that leaves room for interpretation.

🔵 Don’t say “I” and “we”, focus instead on your prospects, so “you” or “you” depending on whether you’re on first-name or last-name terms with them.

🔵 Don’t give your first name, last name and signature, all this information is already obviously present on your LinkedIn profile.

🔵 Personalize your messages to make them more human. At the very least, use the [firstname] variable, possibly the [companyname] variable. Avoid the [lastname] variable, which sounds too formal.

🔵 Banish politeness. It’s advice worthy of a pattern break, but… it’s true. It adds nothing, and every character should be used wisely to serve one of the 3 elements of your message structure (teaser, value proposition, CTA).

🚫 List of polite formulas to proscribe:

Kind regards.
Greetings.
Looking forward to.
Yours sincerely.
Have a nice day.
Thank you for the addition.
Thank you for accepting my invitation.
I would like to contact you.
I would like to join your network.
Did you receive my previous message?
I would love to join your network.
Thank you for accepting my connection request.
Thank you for agreeing to the contact.
I just wanted to make sure you received my message.
Etc.

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5) Best practice no. 5: Adopt the network’s codes

LinkedIn prospecting messages are sent via their Instant Messaging service. We’re not on an email exchange, so you need to adapt your writing codes to this channel:

🔵 No formalities.

🔵 A short, concise message that gets straight to the point: don’t spread yourself too thin.

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6) Sales templates for your prospecting messages

Here are a few sales templates you can steal from us for your prospecting messages:

Hello {firstname}, is {problem you’re solving} a topic that speaks to you? If so, I think you’d be interested in {value proposition}

Here’s the link to my Calendly {link from Calendly)

–

Hello {firstname}, I saw that you may be experiencing difficulties regarding {problem you’re solving}.

I think {value proposition} would bring you {benefit 1}, {benefit 2}, {benefit 3}.

We can talk about it in a quick 15 min phone interview (insert phone number)

–

Hello {firstname}, I know how {problem you’re solving} can be problematic.

At {name of your company}, we see things simply. We make it possible to {value proposition}, thanks in particular to {benefit 1}, {benefit 2}, {benefit 3}. I’d like to discuss this with you face-to-face in a quick fifteen-minute call. Are you available tomorrow at 10 a.m.?

–

Hi {firstname}, don’t you think that {problem you’re solving} could be solved a lot more simply? At {name of your company}, we think so. And in fact, we’ve done it. {value proposition}, clear and unambiguous. Shall we talk about it?

–

Before, to solve {problem you’re solving}; you had to do {pain 1}, {pain 2}, {pain 3}. Today, all you need to do is {value proposition}. How does that sound {firstname} ?

–

{firstname}, have you ever had {problem you solve}? At {name of your company}, we allow {value proposition}. Interested? – {firstname}, imagine you want {problem you solve}, what do you do?

At {your company name}, we allow {value proposition} Sound interesting? – Hey {firstname}, we’ve never accepted that {problem you solve} is such a {bread/pain} process, so we have {value proposition}.

I think it’s worth 15 minutes of your time to discuss it. 10am tomorrow?

–

{firstname}, if you had the choice between {problem you’re solving} and having a coffee, what would you do? At {company name}, we {value proposition}. Shall we have a virtual coffee?

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FAQ

Can I update my Waalaxy campaign message?

You can edit your prospecting messages and connection notes in your Waalaxy campaign at any time. To do so :

Go to your campaign.
Click on “Modify” and “Edit my campaign”.
Go to the “Message” step and modify the content.
Save your changes.

Do prospects who respond to my Waalaxy campaign receive the rest of the messages?

No, as soon as your prospect responds to a connection note, a message or an email, he automatically exits the campaign. You’ll find him back in your Waalaxy campaign as “Has replied”.

When will my Waalaxy messages be sent?

Your Waalaxy messages are sent:

When you are in your Waalaxy working hours; you can configure the days and hours of Waalaxy activities from the “Settings” > “Account activities” tab.
When your prospects have met the campaign conditions (conditions + action deadline).
When your daily action quotas allow you to send message actions. You can see them from the “Queue” tab on the right.

Can I activate/deactivate read confirmation on LinkedIn?

Yes, you can. To do so:

Go to LinkedIn.
Go to your profile in the drop-down menu.
Click on “Preferences & Privacy”.
In “Messaging experience”, click on “Read confirmations and input indicators”.
Activate or deactivate the option.

Is there an alternative to LinkedIn Messaging?

Waalaxy has developed the Waalaxy Inbox, an alternative to LinkedIn Messaging. 📮

Let’s face it: LinkedIn Messaging sucks. In short, the Waalaxy team wanted to remedy the situation by creating Inbox:

Enables automatic reminders.
Directly integrated into your Waalaxy tool.
Can send GIFs, emojis and links.
Allows you to tag your prospects from within your messaging system.
Program messages in advance to be sent later.
Save “recorded responses” so you never have to rewrite phrases or words you use all the time.

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