The first message after they accept, and the follow-up

They accepted. The mistake is to pitch within the hour.

Rules

1. Under 60 words.
2. Ask about the thing they said, not about their needs. "How did the spreadsheet thing end up?" beats "What are your biggest challenges?".
3. One question. Two questions get zero answers.
4. Nothing to click. No calendar link, no deck, no case study.
5. Wait at least a day after the accept.

Examples

Merci pour l'accept. Je repensais à votre post : vous avez fini par garder Sales Nav ou vous avez trouvé autre chose pour les listes ?

Thanks for connecting. Your comment about the 25 percent acceptance rate stuck with me. Did you end up changing the targeting or the note?

Thanks for accepting, Marc. Curious how the SDR search is going; did the first candidates come from the JD or from your network?

Each one refers to the exact thing that earned the invite, asks one question the person can answer from memory, and gives them nothing to click.

The follow-up

If there is no answer after 5 to 7 days: one line, and it gives them an out.

Pas de souci si ce n'est pas le moment, je voulais juste savoir comment ça s'était fini.

No worries if now is not the time; was only curious how it turned out.

One follow-up. A second one is a sequence, and sequences get screenshotted.

When they answer

The conversation is theirs now. Answer the question they asked, add one thing that is useful without the product, and ask one more question. The product comes up when they ask what you do, or after the third exchange, whichever is first. A message that answers with a pitch ends the thread.

Timing

Event	Wait before the next piece
profile visit and reaction	2 days before the note
note sent	until they accept; withdraw after 3 weeks
accept	at least 1 day before the first message
first message	5 to 7 days before the one follow-up
follow-up	nothing; the thread is closed unless they reopen it