Pitch-slapping – the most insightful term I have come across describing a LinkedIn DM for about 20 years!
For the record, DM’ing people can be a good thing. However, there is an insatiable collective of hustlers (somewhere out there) looking to satiate their thirst for money at your expense.
A one-liner rapidly followed by a demand on Linked In leaves countless victims feeling used and abused. It’s as if you can hear the awkward laugh the leery sales machine makes as they play with their prey with no other care than to cross the line.
If you don’t reply instantaneously, you’ll be hit with your name and a question mark, intimating that you should not have dared to ignore their advances.
It’s funny because there is a valid way of using DM’s to communicate and connect with people but you have to understand the underrated art of context!
The first part of the context process is to ask yourself, “How can you add value to your existing audience?” Secondly, “How will you add value to people you are in second level connection with?”
I have realised that a lot of people are engaging and enjoying The Purpose People Podcast on YouTube and all the relevant Channels (Apple, Spotify, Amazon and Google). I got thinking, if I have created the podcast to make people feel like they are dropping in on a conversation, why not drop a DM via LinkedIn and invite them to do so? No pitch-slapping, just an invitation to enjoy what we have made, for free.
Well, guess what? It went down well. Very well indeed. It helped us to find some new podcast guests and reconnect with some people I love but haven’t connected with for a while. All through sharing and adding value, offering the gems that the podcast conversations throw up.
The real power of DM’ing lies not so much in selling as in serving. It’s like pulling someone aside and saying, “Hey, I’ve got something that could help you!”
This indirect approach has helped us build steadily and increase our reputation as a purpose-led company. It’s been an opportunity to show we care about others enough to say, “Hey, want some help, for free?”
Our ask doesn’t cost the recipient, but rather a ‘Like and Subscribe’. Simple. We aren’t doing it desperately but rather, “If you like what you see, let’s connect again” kind of way. This in itself keeps people curious enough to want to know more.
Too many people on social media get caught in the trap of trying to make sales alone, but you have to learn to do things differently to turn heads. Your news feed is the great shop window so why not show rather than sell? Think of the impact you are having and share that. Share evidence of your values.
Most of us have been pitch-slapped more than once and each time it happens the more frustrated we get with networking, both on and offline. It feels out of place in a world where people are trying to be kinder. The pitch-slapping minority gives networking and marketing a bad rap.
You see, when looking for connections in this manner you miss the powerful opportunity of collaboration. Networking itself is more than sales and yet sales come through it as a by-product of a fruitful relationship.
Take Introbiz Bristol. We launched at Lexus Bristol, where some relationships were formed and now, a year later, one of our Introbiz members has been handed the keys to a brand new Lexus. Sales come out of relationships formed and our Introbiz member was won over at Lexus when choosing his new car!
No pitch slapping, just good old-fashioned serving and the sale made sense in the long term.
Why is everyone in such a rush to sell? Is it desperation? Sign of the times? People want to enjoy relationships and to be loved, nobody should be so desperate as to take on a bad relationship just to avoid being alone!
Great relationships take time but because of crisis, people have stopped investing in the long term and push hard for the quick win, leaving both parties empty at the end of the exchange. In hard times, hard selling never works.
Adding value is about winning people through kindness, and this approach will always win in the long term. When people know that you care, people will want to keep you in their lives.
So, put an end to just “hitting people up”. Instead, show up by being willing to lift others. What’s wrong with loving your neighbour as yourself? You may very well take a step closer to fulfilling your purpose.
Get in touch and find out more on LinkedIn DM’ing as a strategy or just like and subscribe to The Purpose People Podcast and get some great tips!
Watch the latest episode of the Purpose People Podcast today via the link below.
