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LinkedIn outreach research and benchmarks

What really happens after you hit send. Benchmarks from real campaigns, why people do what they do, and what to change on Monday morning.

Outscale benchmarks, from 112,149 prospects reached in real campaigns. About our research

1 in 6“Thanks” conversations that booked when someone proposed a timeOutscale benchmark

Replies and meetings

What happens after somebody writes back, and the answers that turn a reply into a meeting.

All in replies and meetings

How to reply when a LinkedIn prospect just says thanks

“Thanks” is a maybe with good manners.

Ask for the call. When a prospect replied with only “thanks”, proposing a time booked 1 conversation in 6. Leaving it booked 1 in 53.

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Someone proposed a time16%
Nobody did1.9%

Outscale benchmark: “Thanks” conversations that went on to book a meeting

1 in 572

against 1 in 6 when somebody named a date

Outscale benchmark: “later” conversations that booked when nobody proposed a time

What to do when a LinkedIn prospect says “not right now”

“Later” is a diary entry, and nobody keeps the diary.

Name the date now, even if it’s months away. When a prospect said “later”, proposing a time booked 1 conversation in 6. Leaving it booked 1 in 572.

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How fast should you reply to a LinkedIn message?

Within the hour, with a time in it.

Within the hour, and with a time in it. A first answer that proposed a time booked 1 conversation in 4 when it went out within the hour. A fast answer with no time in it booked 1 in 26.

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We already do this in-house.Makes sense. How’s that going at the moment?Patchy, if I’m truthful. Nobody has the time.32% came back warm

Outscale benchmark: objections answered with a question that came back warm

How to handle objections on LinkedIn

Answer it with a question.

Answer an objection with a question. When the first answer asked a question, 58% of prospects wrote back and 32% came back warm. When it handled the objection, 20% wrote back and 4% came back warm.

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Running outreach at scale

Keeping many profiles and campaigns healthy without watching every one by hand.

All in running outreach at scale

How to coach a sales team on LinkedIn replies

Coach the ask.

Coach the ask. The inboxes that proposed a call most often booked 2.6 times as many of their conversations as the inboxes that asked least. Ranked by speed, there was no pattern at all.

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Asked most7.1%
Middle6.3%
Asked least2.7%

Outscale benchmark: conversations that booked, inboxes in thirds by how often they proposed a call

How many LinkedIn replies go unanswered?

The reply arrived. Nobody was home.

42% of the LinkedIn replies worth answering never got a single message back, including 28% of the people who said they were interested. Quiet inboxes dropped more of them than busy ones.

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13%100%

Outscale benchmark: replies left unanswered, one bar per inbox