How to introduce yourself the right way on Alignable.

On Alignable, you introduce yourself to other businesses by sending a connection request. Once accepted, it will allow you to spark a conversation with your new connection and potential referral partner or client. How you send a request, can determine the chances of it being accepted, and your chances of successfully building a trust-filled relationship that will turn into referrals.

🗒️  Do your homework

Before introducing yourself, do your homework by viewing their profile first. Ask yourself if that business fits your ideal customer, or if they share ideal customers with you before spending a connection credit on them. Make sure you understand why you want to connect with them.

✍️   Be genuine - craft a custom introductory message

Now that you know who you want to work with, craft an introductory message stating why you want to connect. Customized connection requests have, on average, a 10% higher acceptance rate. Here is how to send a custom message with your connection.

👋  Getting connection requests accepted

You should average about a 50% to 60% acceptance rate for connection requests. If for some reason a business does not respond, follow up with a phone call and use Alignable as an icebreaker to tell them why you are calling and why you were looking to connect. Using Alignable as an icebreaker turns a cold call into a warm call and can help move that relationship to the next step.

💬   You've connected - spark a conversation

Make sure you send your new connection a message as soon as you connect. It's very important to do this as soon as possible as you are fresh in their mind. We'll remind you via Notifications. If you want to start a conversation, simply go to their profile, or the Messages tab, and send them a message.

🤝  How to build trust - what to talk about

• Do: Be helpful. Talk about them and how you can help their business grow. If you help them, they'll want to help you in return by sending referrals your way. The more successful referrals you exchange, the more they will trust you with their clients. 
• Don't: ask if they want to buy what you sell. Business owners get sold on average 10 times per week. If you come across as sales-y, they will get turned off, and will not be excited about building a relationship with you.

‎☕  Meet in person or over a call

We cannot stress this enough! Once you have a conversation going with another business, ask to meet over a call or grab a coffee. It's the best and fastest way to build trust with a person you want to convert into a client or exchange referrals with. The quicker they trust you, the more likely they'll refer you to their clients and businesses they know. 

Whether you follow these steps or not, you are only going to find success if you invest the time in building these relationships. Ultimately, the more relationships you spend the time building in the short term, the more clients you'll get in the long term.

For a more in-depth guide on who to craft a winning connection request, including sample messages you can send potential clients and partners, click below:

How to Craft a Winning Connection Request

Next: What you should do every week.

• Your Weekly Checklist: 15 minutes per week.

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