LinkedIn connection request messages: 12 examples that get accepted

A good connection request gets accepted and starts a conversation. A bad one gets ignored or, worse, marked “I don't know this person” — which hurts your account. Below are 12 examples that work, grouped by goal, plus the four rules that separate the ones that get accepted from the ones that don't.

The 4 rules behind every accepted request

1. Give a reason. People accept when they understand why you're connecting.
2. Be specific. Reference their work, post, company, or a shared connection — something only they would recognize.
3. Don't pitch in the request. The connection note is for getting connected, not closing. Save the ask for after they accept.
4. Keep it short. You have ~300 characters. Respect them.

For sales & business development

• “Hi Priya — saw your post on scaling the SDR team at Acme; the point about ramp time really landed. I work with sales leaders on exactly that. Would love to connect.”
• “Hi Marco — noticed we both work in B2B fintech and share a few connections. Always keen to learn how other teams are approaching outbound. Happy to connect.”
• “Hi Dana — congrats on the Series B! Scaling GTM after a raise is its own puzzle. I'd love to connect and follow along.”

For recruiters & hiring

• “Hi Sam — your work on the payments platform at Stripe caught my eye. I'm building out a team solving similar problems and would love to connect, no pitch.”
• “Hi Aisha — I recruit in the ML space and your recent talk on retrieval systems was excellent. Would be great to stay connected as roles come up.”
• “Hi Leo — we share a few connections in the design community. I'd love to add you to my network and keep an eye out for roles that fit your background.”

For networking & peers

• “Hi Nina — really enjoyed your newsletter issue on pricing experiments. Fellow PM here, would love to connect and trade notes.”
• “Hi Tom — we both attended SaaStr this year and clearly care about the same problems. Connecting so I don't lose track of your posts.”
• “Hi Grace — your thread on remote team rituals was one of the best I've read. Adding you so I can follow more of your thinking.”

For job seekers

• “Hi Rahul — I'm exploring product roles and admire what your team is shipping at Notion. Would love to connect and learn more about your work.”
• “Hi Chloe — I saw you lead design hiring at Figma. I'm a designer earlier in my search and would value being connected, even just to follow along.”
• “Hi Ken — fellow data engineer here. Your post on pipeline reliability mirrored a problem I just solved. Would be great to connect and swap approaches.”

How to personalize at volume without the grind

Writing one great request is easy. Writing a hundred is where people fall back on generic templates — and reply rates crater. This is exactly what Qampi automates: it reads each prospect's profile and recent activity and drafts a specific, human-sounding opener you can review before it sends — across LinkedIn and email, at safe, human-like limits.

What to do after they accept

Getting connected is step one. Wait a day or two, then send a short, relevant follow-up that opens a real conversation — reference why you connected and ask one easy question. Never pitch in the first message after acceptance; earn the conversation first. For the full follow-up framework, see our LinkedIn outreach playbook.