'Stop met geautomatiseerd benaderen van potentiële klanten op LinkedIn'

The Netherlands has more than nine million LinkedIn users, so the potential customers are certainly there — which is exactly why organisations send connection requests in bulk. Efficient, maybe. Effective, no. Toni van Dam hears from commercial directors that they are tired of the stream of messages, and the network has learned to spot a templated opener within a line. LinkedIn's own terms do not allow automated outreach either, so you are risking the profile you spent years building.

The question that comes first: what do you actually want from LinkedIn? If the answer is new commercial opportunities, a large network is not the goal. Building a relationship online works the same way it does in a bar — you think of an original opening and focus on the one person you want to talk to. Make sure your first message could only have gone to them: name a specific activity, achievement or challenge.

And once you are connected, don't launch into your own story. The odds that a new connection is in buying mode are small; stay top of mind with your content, so that they think of you when that moment does arrive.