Networking: Focus on Quality, not just Quantity

Jim Schibler
Dec 17, 2015
3 min read

“I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn.”

How many times have you received this generic message from someone you don’t know, or barely know?

Do you really want strangers in your network? Don’t you wonder why the sender didn’t include a personal note indicating why you should consider connecting?

As an active networker, I get several of these generic invitations every week. If the volume were higher, I’d ignore them altogether, but for now, I give the sender the benefit of the doubt. If I don’t recognize the sender at all, I send a simple reply like “Have we met?”— fewer than 10% of those generate a response, and often it’s “oops”. If I do get a personal reply, or if I recognize but don’t really know the sender, I’ll ask for a 15-30 minute conversation before accepting the connection request. After that conversation, we’re no longer strangers: I know what I can say about my new network member, and I can keep my eyes open for opportunities to help him or her. At that point, I accept the connection request, then follow up with a personal message to offer my help and outline ways my new connection can help me.

My network is an important asset, and I want to protect that asset from infiltration by people who won’t treat its members with the respect that I do. I only want to include people who understand the importance of high-quality connections, and who understand that effective networking involves at least as much giving as taking. I’m willing to let my network’s members see other members, with the understanding that they’ll ask me to make introductions rather than cold-calling each other (“I see you know Jim, and…”). Etiquette matters, and a referral is always preferable to a cold call.

As to why I receive so many generic connection requests, I’ve concluded that there are several causes:

Some invitations are sent in bulk – such as when a user allows LinkedIn to access personal contact lists. While some people may think this is a great feature, I strongly dislike it, because it’s indiscriminate and impersonal. (I know someone from whose account a generic invitation got automatically sent to a former boyfriend, who wondered if their romance was rekindled. Awkward!)
Some places in LinkedIn (People You May Know galleries, mobile site, mobile app) let you send individual connection requests, but do not clearly indicate that you won’t be able to customize the text. To anyone who understands the importance of personalization, this is a major shortcoming.
Some senders seem to be eager to grow the size of their network, without paying much attention to the quality of the connections they establish. It sometimes feels like these people, who I jokingly refer to as 'promiscuous networkers', are shooting for a high score without really understanding the game. Having a large network is certainly good, but it's only really helpful if the connections are of high quality.

The first two causes can be addressed by functionality changes within LinkedIn. The third cause is a people issue, and can only be improved by getting people to appreciate the value of keeping their connection quality high.

Summing up, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for personal involvement in the process. Investing the time to personalize invitations and to get to know people builds a network of high quality, and pays big dividends when the time comes to reach out for referrals and recommendations.

Photo credits: Crowd © James Cridland on flickr; Question Man © pankorn at freedigitalphotos.net

#Networking #Etiquette