How do you automate LinkedIn follow-up for sales leads?

Follow-up is where responses come from, but doing it by hand doesn't scale. Mona Juneja built automation because tracking four or five manual follow-ups in a spreadsheet is monotonous and impractical.

Quick Answer

• On LinkedIn you can only message people after they accept your connection request.
• Follow-up is the key. You often need four or five touches before you get a response.
• Tracking that by hand in a spreadsheet is monotonous and doesn't scale, which is why automation exists.

Why follow-up is the part most people drop

Mona Juneja, founder of Bearconnect, traces her whole reason for building automation to the grind of manual sales follow-up.

"If you're a salesperson, follow-up is the key. You have to follow up four times, five times, only then you get responses. And many people miss that." — Mona Juneja

The problem is that manual follow-up collapses under its own weight.

"If you're doing that manually, you have to maintain some kind of Excel where you are tracking. It is so monotonous. It's not practical. That was my trigger point of working on automation." — Mona Juneja

The takeaway: the deals are in the follow-up, but follow-up only works if it's systematic. Automating the sequence is what keeps a small team from dropping the people who didn't reply the first time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many times should you follow up on LinkedIn?

Mona says follow-up is the key and that you often need four or five touches before you get a response. Most people give up too early and miss the responses that come later.

Why automate LinkedIn follow-up instead of doing it manually?

Because manual follow-up means tracking everyone in a spreadsheet, which Mona calls monotonous and impractical. Automation keeps the sequence consistent so no lead gets dropped.

Can you message anyone on LinkedIn?

No. As Mona notes, on LinkedIn you can only message people once they've accepted your connection request, which is why the connect-then-follow-up sequence matters.

Full Clip Transcript

Sure, it's a very valid question, and that's the elephant in the room whenever I'm speaking with anyone about LinkedIn automation. So when I had a nine-to-five job, I used to send connection requests manually to people. And then, as LinkedIn works, you can message people only if they've accepted your connection request. And if you're a salesperson, follow-up is the key. You have to follow up four times, five times, only then you get responses, and many people miss that. Now, imagine if you're doing that manually, you have to maintain some kind of Excel where you are tracking. It is so monotonous. It's not practical. And I used to always come up with excuses when my manager used to ask me, how many leads did you generate? So that was my trigger point of working on automation.