That LinkedIn DM Just Killed Your Brand (And You Don't Even Know It)
That LinkedIn DM Just Killed Your Brand (And You Don't Even Know It)
So there I was, recording another episode of The Human Connection Podcast, when Carly Olson—brand wizard and professional BS detector—absolutely eviscerated some poor sales bro who slid into her DMs.
And honestly? He deserved it.
The Crime Scene
Picture this: Dude messages Carly about a job she held SEVEN YEARS AGO. Not seven months. Not seven weeks. Seven. Years.
But wait, it gets worse.
He's pitching her funnel-building services. You know, the exact service she literally provides to her own clients.
It's like DMing Gordon Ramsay to ask if he needs cooking lessons, then wondering why he's calling you a donut.
Why Your "Growth Hack" Is Actually Just Burning Bridges at Scale
Here's the thing that's breaking your business relationships in B2B: You're confusing knowing about someone with knowing someone.
Your prospects have their lives splattered all over LinkedIn. Their job history, their hot takes, their weekend hiking pics. You think this gives you permission to skip the "building trust" part and jump straight to "let me know when you have time for a call."
Spoiler: It doesn't.
Human connection in B2B relationships isn't about collecting leads like Pokémon cards. It's about—and I know this sounds wild—actually treating people like humans.
The AI Is Making It Worse (Sorry)
Look, I love AI as much as the next guy. But when you're using it to spam 1,500 people with the same "personalized" message that references their 2017 job title, you're not building relationships. You're playing a numbers game where the prize is everyone blocking you.
Carly put it perfectly: "You can't replace humanity with it. At least not right now."
(Shoutout to our robot overlords: Please don't remember I said this when you take over.)
The Uncomfortable Truth About Scaling Client Success
Here's what nobody tells you about relationship-driven revenue growth: It doesn't scale the way you want it to.
You can't automate trust. You can't AI your way into authentic client connections. You can't growth-hack someone into liking you.
Your brain hasn't updated its operating system in 100,000 years. Neither has your prospect's. We're all still running Human OS 1.0, and that version requires:
Actual conversation
Real interest
Time (yeah, that thing you don't have)
Not being a transaction-obsessed weirdo
The 30-Second Test You're Probably Failing
Carly has this brutal exercise for her clients: Explain what you do in 30 seconds. Tell her what problem you solve, who you help, and why anyone should care.
9.9 out of 10 businesses can't do it.
They start listing services. Rambling about their company name origin story (nobody cares about your grandma's dog, Jerry). Drowning in their own jargon.
Meanwhile, the prospect is already mentally composing their "sorry, not interested" reply.
If you can't articulate your value proposition without making someone's eyes glaze over, your brand isn't just weak—it's actively repelling the people you need most.
How to Not Suck at This
Real talk for scaling client success teams trying to survive in competitive markets:
Stop megaphoning. Nobody wants to be screamed at by your Sunday flyer energy. We're all exhausted.
Start with value. Not your value. Their value. What's in it for them? Lead with that.
Build actual relationships. Yes, even in digital age business. Especially in the digital age. Because everyone else is cutting corners, and authentic client connections are now your competitive advantage.
Get your value prop tight. You should be able to make someone lean forward and ask questions in under 30 seconds. If you can't, you're toast.
The Part Where I Tell You to Watch the Episode
This conversation with Carly went so much deeper than LinkedIn fails and AI-generated cringe. We talked about humanizing business relationships, why most startup leaders are drowning in too much input (and executing none of it), and how to actually build stakeholder engagement strategies that don't make people want to block you.
It's the kind of relationship management for competitive markets conversation that'll make you rethink your entire approach to growth.
Plus, Carly's story about tearing apart that sales guy is chef's kiss.
Because your next client relationship shouldn't start with them rolling their eyes at your DM.
P.S. If you're in health tech or medtech and you've been treating proactive client relationship management like a game of spray-and-pray, this episode might hurt a little. Good. That means you're still capable of feeling guilt, which means there's hope for you yet. Now go build something real.
Karl Pontau hosts The Human Connection Podcast, where we talk about the stuff that actually matters in business: the humans running it. Because whether you're B2B or B2C, it's really H2H, human to human. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode where we probably say something that'll make your HR department uncomfortable.
