Sales Hacked
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B2B SaaS · linkedin dm

The LinkedIn DM That Outperforms 'I'd love to connect'

How a top AE earns the reply on LinkedIn without a calendar link, a pitch deck, or a single mention of their product.

White hat
3/10
Brand: Top-quartile enterprise AE (representative) Companion: see this on Marketing Hacked →
The source
Hey Devon —
 
Read your post on the SDR-to-AE promotion problem. The bit about '1we're great at hiring SDRs and terrible at making them AEs' is something I hear from almost every CRO I talk to right now.
 
We just published a teardown of how Gong handles that bench-to-quota transition — no pitch, just the playbook. 3Want me to drop the link?
 
4Either way — solid post.
The reveal
1
The Mirror
Discovery

Verbatim quote of their words, in quote marks. Signals real reading, real attention. Almost impossible to ignore — they wrote those exact words and now see them played back.

2

Vague enough not to overclaim, specific enough to position the AE as someone who talks to many CROs. Subtle authority play.

3
Foot-in-the-Door
Negotiation

Asks for a yes/no on receiving content — not a meeting. Smallest possible commitment. Once they say yes, the next conversation is qualitatively different.

4

Permission-to-decline embedded in a compliment. Removes the obligation to reply, which paradoxically raises reply rate.

Recipe

  1. Open with a verbatim quote of something they wrote, in quote marks.
  2. Add one line of context that positions you as a peer who talks to many people in their seat.
  3. Offer content (not a meeting), and ask one yes/no question.
  4. Close with a 'no obligation' line. Reply rate goes up, not down.

What not to do

Sending an Inmail with 'I'd love to connect to discuss synergies' or pasting a calendar link in the first message. The block rate on those is now indistinguishable from spam.

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