It’s well worth repeating the importance of showing your gratitude for being inviting to someone’s network, especially if you’ve received a thoughtful, personalized note–not the default message LinkedIn provides.
In a previous entry I ranted about how sending a thoughtful invite on LinkedIn, instead of the “cold,” “lazy,” “uninviting” default message, is necessary to make a good impression on the potential connection. Now I’d like to remind those who have received the proper invite to say, “Thank you.”
If you receive an invitation to be part of someone’s network, reply to the sender by thanking him/her for being considered. It’s an honor the sender has chosen you, so show your gratitude. Don’t let the momentum end.
In effect, this is similar to walking away from a conversation at a social gathering. Would you simply walk away from a conversation without saying, “Thank you for the conversation?” Our parents taught us better than that.
What to Write. If I know the person who sends me the invite, I will thank the person and then add to my note of appreciation. My note will begin with, “Thank you for the invite. And thank you for the personalized message.”
And if I want to carry on the conversation, I will add, “It would be great to talk about our common interests, as we’re both in (the occupation). I’d be happy to call you at your convenience.” You may write a script and paste it into the note, unless you want to personalize your acceptance.
All too often some LinkedIn members invite someone to be in their network, receive an affirmative, and break the link by not showing their gratitude. The sender is notified of the acceptance, and leaves it at that.
This sends the wrong message to the new connection and essentially stops networking in its tracks.
What to Write. To make professional online networking effective, you must keep the ball in play, keep the lines of communication open. This is made easier by extending civility and appreciation for someone accepting your invitation to be in your online network.
“Thank you for being part of my network” would suffice. Or you may add, “I invited you to be in my network because we’re both (occupation) or (interested in) and think we can be of assistance to each other.”
Invites can be one of our best reasons to communicate via LinkedIn. It’s important to do the right thing, and that is to say, “Thank you for inviting me to be in your network” and “Thank you for accepting my invite.”
Photo: Johnna Phillips, Flickr
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Bob, another great article. When someone connects with me I thank them and then ask them what I can do to help them. Sadly the high majority never respond. They are simply collecting Linkedin connections. So dont be overly surprised if you never hear from them again.
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Thank you Kevin. It’s common courtesy to thank someone for an invitation, just like I’ve thanked you for your comment. The only time I don’t thank someone is when they don’t bother to write an invite. I hate to just hit “Accept” but, hey.
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Pingback: 3 Things You Need to Know About LinkedIn Invitations | Tim's Strategy®
How do you respond to someone who was a horrible experience that invites you to Linkedin? I do not personally want to associate myself with the idea that I think this person is knowledgeable, reputable, or reliable, if I do not truly feel that way or that others will be hurt by that person. This person cost me a lot of money.
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Ignore, ignore, ignore. You are not obligated to accept an invite. You are not required to invite anyone.
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Thank you for this blog.
I agree.
But when I go in my android to the LinkedIn app’s notification that the invitee has accepted, I am presented with a blue envelope and the word “Message” right next to the invitee’s picture.
I would have thought that the address field in the message would be filled with the invitee’s address, but it is not, nor is their address available from the options I am presented with as I attempt to type their address.
This does not seem user friendly.
What is the solution? LinkedIn has their address and I don’t.
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Here is what I said…modify it to work for you…template
Hi Bill,
Thanks for inviting me to join your network. I see that you do xxxxxxx–that’s interesting to me. What sort of xxxxxxx do you cover?
I am a software entrepreneur and the applications I make use xxxxxx as inputs. It’s complicated, but essentially xxxxxxx are the blades and my software is the handle–together we work better.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Tom
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Very good, Bill. You include a value statement in your thank you message. I think I’ll do the same, in regards to my assistance with LinkedIn strategy.
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How do you respond to someone who you know and like but don’t want to contact via Linked In ?
I briefly looked at linked in a couple of years ago. When I trealised how useless and spammy it was, I removed all my details. It now doesn’t recognise my email address so I can’t use it (and I don’t want to).
BUT I get invitations from people to join. Some are randoms, but most are people I know – though I’m not necessarily in contact with them. I’d like to reply ‘Hi, I’d love to be in touch but please use this email address instead’.
I don’t even know whether they’re really trying to contact me or if it’s just linked in spamming their address book.
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Hi Adrian.
I sounds like people are using their e-mail list to invite you to their LinkedIn network. Or they could see your account which is still active, because you haven’t shut it down. I would write a kind default message stored on your desktop, telling them that you’re no longer active on LinkedIn. But if they want to communicate via e-mail, that would be fine.
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As I improve my profile I am finding myself receiving more endorsements. Is there a quick way to thank the LI Member for the endorsement – vs. looking up the connection, going back to their profile and PMing a thank you to them? Just wanting to improve my LI skills. Thank you.
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Have you set your email setting to alert you when people endorse you?
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I have sent personalised requests to managers and employees of companies I admire. They accepted my invite in most cases, but did not send a response mail. I was wondering if its acceptable to thank them for connecting with me on LinkedIn and then use that as a spring board to talk about my interest in their company.
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Absolutely, Emma. If you’re worried as coming across as desperate or pushy, don’t. Some people don’t know enough to thank whomever invites them to their network.
Bob
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I was just sent an invite the other day without any personalized messages, which I accepted. However, I do not recall any previous encounter with the sender. After I accepted the invite nevertheless, he replied addressing to me, “Thank you for connecting?”. This led me to do a bit of digging to be familiar with the general LinkedIn etiquette and I stumbled on your article. I understand now (I am fairly new to LinkedIn) that sending a thank you note is the professional approach but do you agree to his approach on replying to me with mere ” Thank you for connecting?” as I did not send him a thank you note?
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