Imagine if you owned a shop and popped out for a few minutes to grab some lunch, leaving your capable assistant on duty.

On returning you notice someone staring into your shop window, viewing your goods on show.

What do you do?

Option 1: Ignore them and return to your desk to eat your sandwich

Option 2: Say hello, explain you run the store and ask them if you can be of any assistance.

I know that some people would feel awkward about option 2 but I think it’s the obvious choice if you are keen to increase sales.

The approach needs to be done in a friendly, non-pushy way but surely you have to say something – right?

How does this relate to LinkedIn?

Have you ever clicked on the who’s viewed your profile link?

Yes, you and just about everyone else!

LinkedIn profile views are by far their most popular feature but most people fail to act on the knowledge they have obtained.

In effect they are simply walking past, ignoring the (potential) customer and heading to their desk to eat their lunch!

Why not send them a message, say hello and ask if you could be of any assistance?

I did this recently and look what happened?

Within 48 hours I received this response;

Apologies for the small characters above, the message reads:

Morning Mark,

Good to connect.

I was wondering if you have any further information on in house training courses which you run. I work for a company called xxx and we have a sales team of circa 20 people who could do with some hints/tips, how make the most out of LinkedIn, building a rich profile and general posting / connecting with customers.

Our teams are split between the North and South with 10 people in each team. I wonder if you can provide some further details of the type of training and format that you deliver, along with some costs and if you could also advise whether holding x2 sessions for our national sales team based on their geography would be a problem.

My work email is x

Regards

Nick

BINGO!

You need to be careful and make a judgment with this kind of approach, based on the profile of the viewer.

I wouldn’t normally ask someone to connect without some prior contact but in this case an invitation was the only approach possible, he had a strong sales background and experience tells me that sales people usually enjoy a bold approach.

Note how I also offer to help him by offering to introduce him to my connections, this is key to getting a positive response.

So next time you see someone staring into your ‘shop window’ via the LinkedIn profile views, say hello…you never know where it might lead!

Are you winning business on LinkedIn? If you need help you can start by downloading my FREE ‘9 steps to winning business on LinkedIn’ cheatsheet.