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

“Later” is the fourth most common reply on LinkedIn

“Try me after the new financial year.” “Ask again in March.” “Back from leave on the 12th.”

11% of everyone who replies opens with a “later” like that, with a date or a reason attached. Only three replies come up more often: a flat no, a “thanks”, and “we don’t need this”.

A “later” is a real answer. They like the sound of it and they can’t face it today. The diary’s full, the budget’s spoken for, the boss is away. And March looks wonderfully empty from here. Everyone pictures a future self with more time than they’ll ever have.

So they say later, and they mean it. Then they forget, because that’s what happens to anything that isn’t in a diary.

The promise nobody keeps

Here’s how salespeople first answered a “later”.

The promise is the polite move. “Of course, I’ll reach out in March.” It respects their timing. It ends an awkward moment without risking a no. And it hands the job to future you, who turns out to be exactly as busy as future them.

84% of those promises were never followed by another message. Not in March. Not ever. And 33% of the people who said “later” got no answer at all.

Name the date, and 1 in 6 books

Propose a time for when they said, and 1 conversation in 6 booked. Leave it, and the odds were 1 in 572.

A date in March costs them nothing today. Future them is always free, so yes is easy. And once it’s in both diaries, nobody has to remember a thing.

“Later” is sooner than you think

65% of the “later” conversations that ended in a meeting agreed it within a week of the “later”. The meeting might have been months away. The yes came straight away.

Interest has a short shelf life. The moment they reply, you’re on their mind. By March they’ve forgotten your name, and you’re starting from cold.

What to do today

• Name a date in your first reply. “Makes sense. Shall I put 20 minutes in for Tuesday 8 April at 10? Easy to move if things change.”
• Make it easy to move. A date they can shift costs them nothing to accept.
• No date? Keep the diary yourself. Put a reminder in for the day they named, and write first.
• Audit your promises. Search your inbox for “I’ll reach out” and count how many you kept.