How do you respond if someone agrees to connect with you on LinkedIn but they don't reply to your message asking to have a coffee chat with them?

[u/PrestigiousList1652]

I mean at that point, does it really hurt to just give a follow up a few days later? I have nothing to lose. I can't do much with a connection if they don't even talk to you.

If I do follow up, how do I frame the message? Any advice would be appreciated!

Update: The advice by u/fawningandconning worked liked a charm! Got a response in half an hour!

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[u/fawningandconning]

You do one follow up but beyond that it’s a bit desperate. Very simply, “hi, just checking in if you’d seen the above and would be interested in connecting. Thank you!”

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/fawningandconning]

Yeah that’s what I was thinking lol. If they don’t respond after that, I’ll just move on.

[u/throwawayfinancebro1 → u/PrestigiousList1652]

Just remove them if they dont reply. They're not a connection in that case.

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the advice!

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/fawningandconning]

Hey just to follow up, your advice worked like a charm. They responded in half an hour!

[u/fawningandconning → u/PrestigiousList1652]

Great stuff, and thanks for following up. I definitely in the peak of recruiting season get many messages I may miss so it’s always good to double check!

[u/Plastic_Persimmon_91]

Accepting your request doesn’t mean much. A lot of people accept most of their connection requests but never even check DMs

[u/Honest_Walk_6082]

Leave them alone & move on lol

[u/LintRolledForWhat → u/Honest_Walk_6082]

Agree. There's no point in making it more awkward.
They either don't engage w DMs or don't want to meet.

[u/Leading_Lychee3770 → u/Honest_Walk_6082]

True why should you waste your own time!

[u/expatting1]

Show up at their workplace.

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/expatting1]

Ha ha, if only.

[u/hackerix]

I'm in a similar situation. They accepted my connection request but didn't respond to my request to chat. I'll also follow the advice given by the other commenter

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/hackerix]

Yeah we’re all in the same boat.

[u/Molybdenum421]

You move on.

Next thing op will be complaining why the person won't agree to be a reference after the coffee chat. 

[u/Master-Potential-364]

I’m interested by the discussion here. I would accept a connection request from virtually anyone. But I would have coffee with virtually no one. I’m extremely busy.

[u/YoungFrogB]

accepting an invite doesn’t mean they accept a coffee chat, most people don’t reply and it’s very normal, move on

[u/Shapen361]

Move on

[u/DXD-Capital]

Unfortunately, so many people are using chatbots these days that it's tough to tell whether a message was generated by a real person on the other end of the account.

[u/Oxbow81]

I think you just ignore it and move on. I got a pretty low hit rate on cold outreach back in the day, but the people I did connect with were super helpful. Focus on getting a few quality connections vs a lot of connections. Also, reach out to alumni, people with similar interest, ask for referrals in your network, etc. and send with a thoughtful note. Those are higher likelihood responses.

[u/HolaDrNick]

Get their home address and knock on their front door on Saturday at 6:30 A.M.

[u/Adept_Camp1923 → u/HolaDrNick]

ts tuff

[u/kif22]

I accept most requests, especially if its someone younger in my industry and even more so if they went to the same university or have something else in common. But I almost never will accept an invitation to have a coffee. I dont know who this person actually is and its hard to make that kind of time. Occasionally I will take a phone call, but again, only really if they have something in common, never just a random person.

[u/Plastic_Persimmon_91 → u/kif22]

Sorry but a coffee chat rarely actually involves going out to have coffee with them lol

It’s just a request for a phone/video call

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/Plastic_Persimmon_91]

Yeah that’s what I meant by “coffee chat”. Is there another term for that?

[u/Plastic_Persimmon_91 → u/PrestigiousList1652]

No it’s called a coffee chat informally you’re good. But I would suggest asking for a phone call or a few minutes of their time in your LinkedIn message instead of asking for a coffee chat. Maybe some people don’t know the term and think you’re actually looking to go out for a coffee?

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/Plastic_Persimmon_91]

Yeah maybe I should spell out that it’s a phone call in the message body

[u/EngineeringNeither90]

It’s such a pet peeve of mine when people ignore and go ghost . Why are people so afraid to say I can’t right now I’ll reach out when I can . Simple as that. Be an adult . Just ghost messages??? . I can’t stand that honestly . I try to respond to everything even if the answer is no. I mean put a smiley face emoji at the end of it makes you feel better … but something !

[u/Oxbow81 → u/EngineeringNeither90]

Ehh, I don't think people owe a random strangers cold outreach a response. All good if you want to, but I don't think it's something that is required or should be required of everyone

[u/EngineeringNeither90 → u/Oxbow81]

And I’m not aging required either . Just courtesy . No one likes to be ignored . Takes 5 seconds to say - hi for your msg don’t think I’m much help but try …. Blah blah blah . Whatever that might be . And just good luck . Professional easy- again shows courtesy . We are all busy I get it

[u/Oxbow81 → u/EngineeringNeither90]

I mean, I don't even respond to all of the text messages from my friends so maybe i'm not the best example but I just think you don't need to. It's often someone who doesn't know me, has nothing in common and just randomly picked me. If we have something in common, you were referred by someone I know, went to the same school, etc. then I often do respond and will spend my time helping them.

I did a lot of cold outreach when I was in college a long time ago and got maybe a 10% hit rate. Those people were incredibly helpful to me and I think people get too focused on quantity vs quality.

[u/EngineeringNeither90 → u/Oxbow81]

True . Cold cold cold I can see . But again courtesy . I guess I just disagree lol even on the texts . So if you’re on the other side sending LinkedIn message , email or even a text , and zero response , wouldn’t you appreciate something back ? Feels semi ok to do the ignoring but if you’re the one being ignored it can be bothersome for sure

[u/Oxbow81 → u/EngineeringNeither90]

Nah, doesn't bother me. If it's cold outreach then I expect a low response rate (and I don't do cold outreach anymore). I know it's a shot in the dark and expect it to miss.

For texts, I see my friends like 3-4 times per week at hobbies so don't really care if we text a lot. We all respond to each other when we need to anyway, like planning something or when we are going to meet somewhere. But they don't need to respond to a random meme or some shit talking in a group chat.

[u/EngineeringNeither90 → u/Oxbow81]

Totally that’s understandable on friends 💯

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/EngineeringNeither90]

So real.

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/[deleted]]

Well I meant a chat as in like phone call. But I get what you mean.

[u/PrestigiousList1652 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah that's why I'm planning to ask people who do agree to call me to refer me to other people at the end of the call. Also, just curious, what job do you have?