As you mature in expanding your business, the number of people that want your time, your attention and to sell you something only increases. This is a normal, everyday part of business. You need to sell your business to customers just like others need to sell their business to you.
The majority of this outreach is sent to you via LinkedIn messages or email - and you receive it everyday. As marketing, inside sales and sales development representative (SDR) approaches evolve to AI-powered automation, the volume should only increase for you. The creativity of select outreaches will also increase as it remains vital to stand out and personalize to increase a response rate.
The reality is that most of these messages will still get zero response, a "thumbs down" or similar emoji (please don't send these...) or a poetically written replay such as "please take me off your list."
As an entrepreneur you understand the hustle and appreciate the effort to grow a business. You can sympathize with the volume of quiet rejections you know these outreaches result in. That is exactly why you need to put your guard up in reading these messages to strike a balance between protecting your time and being an empathic human. To embrace this balance I would consider focusing on the following actions:
Protect Your Time and Your Focus
Your default position is that 98% of these messages are not for you. They are a distraction ...with multi-colored hyperlinks.... trying to steal away your attention and slow the growth of your business. As you sift through these messages, you will read one that is funny, interesting or genuinely compels you to respond to learn more.
At this moment ask yourself, do I need this solution, could this meeting positively impact my results, is meeting this person business critical for me or would this conference actually increase my pipeline by 15%? If the answer is "no" - your protective nature worked and maybe you just simply respect the differentiated messaging. This default position will enable you to protect your most valuable assets, your time and your focus.
Take a Small Percentage (%) of Intuitive Risk
In complete contrast to the previous action, you must also be critical in finding better solutions to your business challenges. These outreaches can include valuable opportunities for you. Your ability to scan, narrow them down to the most relevant and schedule the right 15 minute calls at risk is where your entrepreneurial sense is required.
The intuition you need is to only focus on the very small percentage (%) of outreach that could impact your business results. There could be a better software solution, welcome upgrade to a current supplier, innovative approach to gain efficiency, opportunity to save money, event that could increase your pipeline, partner relationship that could increase your channel sales, etc. A small percentage (%) of intuitive risk is also your default position.
Expand a Positive Reputation with Empathy
As you exercise the above actions, it is important that you do not squander the opportunity to extend your network with a positive reputation. You may not need what the outreach is pitching or the timing may be wrong. If that changes in the future, you want to ensure you go above-and-beyond to build a positive reputation.
Responding at all and with empathy is a quick way to do to others what you want them to do to you. It only takes a couple of minutes a week with the right process and responses. I would highly encourage you to consider the below approach and apply it where you can to be a more effective founder.
Six (6) Responses to Say "Not Interested" with Empathy
With the above actions in mind, here are the ways you can empathetically respond to confirm you are not interested. I have used these templates for years and would suggest adding your tone (how you speak) to them, make sure to fill in the "< >" for your business and use them as a guide (or copy/paste if you they are perfect for you).
Tip: Add your completed templates as a "signature" in your email software to quickly drop them into an email or copy/paste into LinkedIn.
(01) Request to meet, virtual session, buy you coffee, etc.
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. I am fully focused on some key business milestones right now with very limited time available but I appreciate the offer. Let's keep in touch on LinkedIn. Thanks again and look forward to next time. Have a great week.
(02) Request to join a group, community, local meeting, etc.
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. I am fully focused on some key business milestones right now with very limited time available but I appreciate the offer. Please keep me posted on future events. Thanks again and look forward to next time. Have a great week.
(03) Request to work at your company
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. I appreciate your interest in exploring potential positions at <your company name>. Unfortunately, we do not currently have an open position that would be a potential fit. Please feel free to follow our LinkedIn page <add link> and careers webpage <add link> for future notifications on open roles. Let's keep in touch for when/if that may change in the future. All the best and have a great week.
(04) Request to meet with a new outsourcing partner
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. We <or I> are not in need of any outsourcing partner services at this time but I'm glad we are connected when/if that changes in the future. Thanks again and look forward to next time. Have a great week.
(05) Request to meet with a new hiring recruiter or firm
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. We <or I> are not in need of any recruitment services at this time but I'm glad we are connected when/if that changes in the future. Thanks again and look forward to next time. Have a great week.
or
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. We (or I) have our preferred recruitment partners selected and are not looking to make a change at this time. I'm glad we are connected when/if that may change in the future. Thanks again and look forward to next time. Have a great week.
(06) Request to sponsor or attend an event/conference
Hi <insert name> - thank you for your message and I hope you are doing well. We have finalized our upcoming event/conference plans and are not expanding that plan at this time. Please keep me posted on your future events as our plans may change in the future. Thanks again and have a great week.
Please consider this empathic strategy as you aggressively protect your time and your focus. Your network and your business will both benefit from your actions.
