Are prospects on LinkedIn ignoring your pitch after accepting connection requests? It’s because you’re asking for too much too soon.
Instead, invite new connections to follow your company page 24 to 48 hours after they accept your connection request. When you reach out, offer a clear reason to follow, such as useful content or peer examples, then nurture them for a couple of weeks before pitching.
A quick “follow our page if this is on your radar” is a lower friction move that warms people up with value first.
In this guide, you’ll get a weekly workflow your team can run in under 60 minutes to move new LinkedIn connections from cold to conversation.
Why the soft ask works better than jumping to a pitch
Direct pitches feel pushy, especially to prospects who just connected with you on LinkedIn.
On the other hand, a company page follow is a 2-second ask that builds familiarity without triggering sales resistance.
As prospects see your LinkedIn company page content in their feed for a week or two, your brand becomes familiar to them through this warm outbound strategy. They see tips, case studies, and peer examples that match their challenges.
By the time you follow up (day 10–14), they’ve seen proof points in their feed, so you spend less time explaining and more time qualifying. If your reply rate doesn’t lift, adjust content relevance.
It’s critical, considering that 53% of B2B sellers source prospects from LinkedIn. The soft ask positions you as helpful, not transactional, allowing you to stand out from competitors.
Here’s why this method builds a stronger pipeline:
- Lower friction: Asking for a follow requires minimal commitment from the prospect compared to a meeting.
- Reputation protection: You avoid being labeled as a spammer who pitches immediately after connecting.
- Proof of value: Your content demonstrates credibility and expertise before you get on a call.
- Warmer replies: Prospects who engage with your content are more likely to respond positively to a meeting request later.
The simple, repeatable playbook for the soft ask
In the following sections, we’ll outline a playbook that runs on a weekly cadence with safe volumes and a focused list. From building a prospect list and sending connection requests to inviting prospects to follow your page, here are the steps to follow:
1. Build a targeted list that actually cares
Start by defining your ICP (ideal customer profile) by title, industry, and company size. Use LinkedIn search or Sales Navigator to filter by role, region, and other relevant criteria. Combine role + company headcount + ‘posted in past 30 days’ to prioritize active users.
Try identifying 50 to 100 prospects that meet your criteria each week.
Remove competitors and agencies from your list since they rarely convert. Focusing on a tight list helps you speak directly to their pain points.
2. Send a warm connection request (short, human, no links)
Keep your connection request short, personalized, and free of links. Reference something specific about the prospect’s work or company to show you did basic research.
Don’t pitch in the first step. Just offer a reason to connect. Avoid links in the first note to reduce the chance of throttling or filters.
Template: “Hey [Name], noticed your work at [Company] on [topic]. We share insights on [topic] a lot. Would be great to connect.”
3. After acceptance, send the soft ask (24–48 hours later)
Wait 24–48 hours after a prospect accepts your connection request. The pause makes the interaction feel natural and avoids coming across as pushy.
Then, send a direct message that offers value, not a demo.
Position your LinkedIn company page as a resource they can opt into. You’re not asking for a favor; you’re offering help.
Here are three quick templates you can personalize. Use Social proof for peer-heavy segments, Content teaser when you have a pinned asset, Peer signal for broad ICP alignment:
- Social proof: “We post short playbooks on [pain point]. Follow if you want examples from [peer companies].”
- Content teaser: “We just shared a 3-step checklist for [outcome]—it’s pinned on our page. If it’s useful, follow for more weekly plays.”
- Peer signal: “Most [role] we talk with are tackling [challenge]. We post weekly tips. Worth a follow?”
4. Use LinkedIn’s “Invite to follow” feature (light touch)
For 1st degree connections who didn’t follow after your DM, use LinkedIn’s native “Invite to follow” feature. It sends a system notification rather than a message, which is a lower-pressure way to remind them.
Practitioner tip: James Roloff shows how the native “Invite to follow” nudge helps page growth (see post):
To access the “Invite to Follow” feature, you must have administrative access to your LinkedIn company page. You should either be a Super Admin or a Content Admin.
If you’re a Super or Content Admin, open your Company Page → Admin tools → Invite connections.
Filter or search your 1st-degree list, select targets, and click Invite.
Watch out for the invitation limit, though.
LinkedIn grants pages a monthly allowance of credits. When a person accepts your invite, the credit is returned to you. If they ignore it or decline, it’s lost until the next month.
Here’s a quick checklist:
- Timing: Send these invites two to three days after your soft-ask DM.
- Volume: Start with 10–20 invites/day per admin, watch monthly credits, and increase only if acceptance rate stays ≥30% and no warnings appear.
- Frequency: Don’t re-invite the same person for at least 30 days.
5. Nurture for 1–2 weeks, then ask for a quick chat
Post content on your company page that speaks to prospects’ challenges at least once a week as part of your lead nurturing automation strategy. Pin a case study, share short tips, or show before/after results. Include clear call-to-actions, too.
After one to two weeks, prospects will have seen your value multiple times in their LinkedIn feed and will be familiar with your brand name and expertise. Now is the time to move the conversation forward.
Ask for a quick compare-notes chat (15 minutes) or offer to send a relevant case study—one clear next action, not both.
Template: “Noticed your comment on our post about [topic]. Open to a 15-min chat to compare notes?”
Personalizing your soft ask (90 seconds per prospect)
Now that you have the playbook, here’s how to customize messages quickly.
Personalized messages signal that you’re not sending mass, generic outreach. They increase the likelihood that prospects will read your message and click through to your page.
In one published dataset, personalized invites saw a 9.36% reply rate vs. 5.44% without a note (Belkins study; methodology and audience may differ).
You only need one detail to make your soft ask feel real. Spend 90 seconds per prospect finding a relevant cue, then plug it into a template to personalize outreach at scale.
3 fast cues to reference
Look for these three signals on their LinkedIn profile:
- Recent post or comment: If they commented on automation tools, reference that topic in your invite.
- Example: “Saw your comment on CRM workflows. We post similar tips on our page.”
- Job change or new role: New hires and promotions signal fresh priorities and new budgets. Use those as conversation starters.
- Example: “Congrats on the VP role. Our page shares tips for scaling teams in your industry.”
- Shared group or event: Common ground builds trust instantly.
- Example: “Noticed we’re both in [group]. We share content that group members find useful.”
3 soft ask lines you can personalize fast
Here are three plug-and-play lines you can customize in seconds.
Line 1: “Hi [Name], saw your post on [topic]. We cover that a lot on our LinkedIn company page. Follow if you want weekly tips.”
Line 2: “Hey [Name], most [role] at [Company type] are tackling [challenge]. Our page posts practical playbooks. If you’re working on this now, follow for weekly how-tos.”
Line 3: “Hi [Name], we just published a checklist on [outcome] that [peer companies] use. It’s pinned on our page. Follow for more, if you find it helpful.”
Guardrails that keep you safe and credible
LinkedIn monitors connection request volumes, message frequency, and page invitation activity as part of their platform compliance rules. That makes it imperative that you stay within normal LinkedIn behavior to protect your account and brand reputation.
Follow these guardrails to keep your outreach compliant and effective:
Safe volumes and timing
LinkedIn’s algorithm flags sudden spikes in activity. Steady, consistent volume mimics human behavior.
Start at 10–20 connection requests per day within LinkedIn’s safe automation limits, increase gradually only if you see no warnings and acceptance rate ≥30%. Volumes vary by account age and reputation:
- Connection requests: Start at 10–20/day, adjust based on acceptance rate and account health
- Soft-ask DMs: 24–48 hours after acceptance
- Invite to follow: 2–3 days after the DM
Spread activity during local business hours. If your ICP is active on weekends, adjust accordingly.
Common mistakes (and quick fixes)
Many sales reps rush the process and hurt their results.
Here are the most common outreach errors and how you can correct them:
- Pitching in the first message: It feels transactional and leads to immediate rejection.
- Fix: Lead with value and a resource, not a demo request.
- Generic asks: If you sound like everyone else, you give the prospects no reason to engage.
- Fix: Add one personal cue from their profile to show you paid attention.
- Weak company page: If your page is empty or you post erratically, they won’t feel like following it.
- Fix: Pin proof (like a case study) and post weekly tips.
- Too many invites: It triggers LinkedIn limits and blocks your activity.
- Fix: Cap your daily sends and rotate through different segments of your list.
If you see an invitation notification warning from LinkedIn, pause immediately. Pause 48 hours, cut volumes by 50% for a week, tighten targeting, and increase the delay between steps. Restrictions often lift after a short period if you slow down. Monitor your account status and resume gradually.
Track relevant metrics to prove impact
You need to know if your targeting is right and if posts trigger follows, comments, or DMs. Simple KPIs measured weekly show whether your soft-ask strategy is working.
Use these numbers to coach your team and refine your approach. If one metric is off, you’ll know exactly where to fix the funnel.
5 simple KPIs and benchmark targets
Use these as initial targets for 2 weeks, then set team-specific baselines from your data:
- Connection acceptance rate: Aim for 35–50%. It tells you if your targeting and message quality are on point.
- Soft-ask DM reply rate: Aim for 10–15%. It indicates interest in your value offer.
- Page follow rate: Aim for 20–30% from new connections. It shows how relevant your content appears to them.
- Time to pitch: Wait 10–21 days after they follow. It’s the appropriate nurturing duration before asking for a call.
- Meetings per 100 invites: Aim for 5–10 meetings. It varies by segment but tracks overall conversion effectiveness.
Track these metrics weekly.
If acceptance rates drop below 35%, refine your ICP or improve personalization. If page follow rates stay under 20%, audit your company page content. Make sure it speaks to real challenges prospects face. And if you can’t land enough meetings, your pitch needs improvement.
Light CRM workflow to keep it clean
Set up simple stages in your CRM to track progress. It prevents you from pitching people too early or forgetting to follow up.
Stages: Cold → Connected → Soft Ask Sent → Followed → Pitched → Meeting
Here’s what to do at each stage:
- Connected → send soft ask within 24–48h
- Soft Ask Sent → wait 2–3 days, then send native invite to follow
- Followed → add to nurture list, monitor engagement for 10–21 days
- Pitched → schedule follow-up if no reply in 3 days
Log every follow-up as a task so nothing slips through. Report by segment and sales rep to figure out what works and which reps are performing better. Tag prospects with the source (search, post engagement, referral) and the soft-ask template you used for greater tracking.
The data helps you identify which approaches drive the most meetings. Review it weekly with your team to refine messaging and timing.
Automation with PhantomBuster (keep the human touch)
To make the most of the soft-ask playbook, PhantomBuster Automations let you build the same workflow once, then run it weekly without rebuilding lists or copy-pasting between tools.
Here’s how the four Automations connect into one continuous workflow:
- Extract ICP-aligned lists: Use LinkedIn Search Export Automation to pull prospects from your saved searches or filters. The list exports directly to a spreadsheet or your CRM.
- Enrich profiles for personalization cues: Run the AI LinkedIn Profile Enricher Automation to add role, company, recent posts, and job changes—so your soft ask references one timely cue instead of generic language.
- Draft personalized soft-ask messages: The AI LinkedIn Message Writer Automation generates message drafts using the enriched data. Always review these drafts before sending to ensure they sound human and relevant.
- Pace outreach within platform limits: Use LinkedIn Outreach Automation to schedule connection requests and reminders at human-like intervals. Keep final send and timing rules within LinkedIn’s limits, and review drafts before sending.
The same prospect record flows through each step without manual export, so you spend time refining targeting and messaging instead of copying data.
Safety note: Start small. Test messages on 10–20 leads first. Review the outputs and follow platform limits. Increase volume gradually as you confirm your approach stays compliant and effective.
If you want to run this playbook in hours instead of days, start a 14‑day trial and connect the four Automations above in one workflow.
FAQs
When is the best time to send the soft ask after a connection is accepted?
You should wait 24 to 48 hours after they accept your request. The delay allows the interaction to feel natural and gives you room for a follow-up without seeming desperate or pushy.
Do I need to be a page admin to use the “Invite to follow” feature?
Yes, you must be a Super Admin or Content Admin to send invites to your 1st-degree connections to follow your page.
If you do not have this role, you should use a direct message to ask them to follow instead. Be sure to send these requests to only those members who will likely be interested in your page.
How long should I wait before asking for a meeting?
Wait for 10 to 21 days after a prospect follows your company page. During that period, your content appears in their feed multiple times, building trust and familiarity before you pitch.
What should I do if someone ignores my invite?
Move them to a later nurture list and wait at least 30 days. Re-engage them with a new resource or insight, as they might not be ready to engage right now.
What kind of content helps earn followers on a company page?
Practical tips, short case studies, and role-specific guides help attract followers to your company page. Content that solves a specific problem or shows a peer achieving a result works best.
Can I use this strategy without Sales Navigator?
Yes, you can use the standard LinkedIn search and company signals to find prospects. It requires more manual filtering to ensure quality, but the core strategy of connecting and inviting remains the same.
Which parts of this process should I automate?
With PhantomBuster Automations, you can automate list building, enrichment, and draft copy—while keeping final message edits manual to ensure they feel personal and relevant.
Will inviting people to follow my page lower my acceptance rates?
It shouldn’t reduce acceptance if you space the steps. Monitor weekly acceptance—if it dips, increase the delay or refine targeting. Connect first, wait a day, then send the invite. That way, you don’t overwhelm the prospect with multiple requests at once.
When should I skip the soft ask and request a call immediately?
If you see clear buying signals like a relevant job post or an urgent comment, you can skip the soft ask. Similarly, if a mutual connection provides a warm referral, you can move straight to a meeting request.
How do I report the success of this strategy to my leadership?
Build a weekly dashboard that tracks acceptance rates, follow rates, and meetings booked per 100 invites. Compare these results to your previous direct pitching metrics to assess the value of the soft ask.