The short answer.
A connection request gets accepted when it shows you know who the person is, gives one credible reason to connect, and asks for nothing beyond accepting. Keep it under 300 characters, two or three sentences, no pitch. Personalized requests get roughly 50% higher acceptance. The templates below are organised by scenario, and if you'd rather have a human write them at scale, that is what Occura does.
See how Occura runs this for youWhy most requests get ignored.
A LinkedIn connection request note has 300 characters and about five seconds of attention. In that window the recipient decides one thing: is this a real person with a real reason, or another sales approach. Most requests fail that test in the first clause, because they lead with the sender, stay vague, or sneak in a pitch.
The good news is that the bar to clear is low. A note that simply proves you know who they are and gives a credible reason already beats the silent majority of requests sent with no note at all.
Three parts, nothing more.
Every request that works has the same three parts: a hook that proves relevance, a reason that is about them not you, and a soft close that asks for nothing but the connection. Here is what that looks like in one message.
Saw your post on cutting SDR ramp time, we work with a few RevOps leaders solving the same thing. Thought it'd be worth connecting.
That is 118 characters. It references something specific, gives a reason that signals relevance without selling, and closes without asking for time, a call, or a reply. Acceptance is the only action requested, which is exactly the action you want.
Templates by scenario.
Use these as a starting point, then make each one specific to the person. The variable parts in green are where the real personalization goes. Never send them as-is to a list.
Saw your comment on [post topic], good point about [specific detail]. Working on the same problem over here, thought it'd be worth connecting.
[Mutual] and I work together on [topic], and your name came up around [area]. Would be glad to connect.
Both at [event] this week. Your session on [topic] was the one I keep thinking about. Connecting so it doesn't get lost.
You're building [what they do] at [company], which is exactly the kind of team we spend our time around. No pitch, just keen to connect.
Saw [company] just [raised / hired / launched], congrats. We help teams at exactly that stage, would be good to be connected.
Fellow [role] here, and I've been following what [company] is doing on [topic]. Always up for connecting with people solving it well.
The mistakes that kill acceptance.
If a request gets ignored, it is almost always one of these. Each one signals “sales approach” before trust exists.
- Pitching in the request. A price, a calendar link or a demo offer in a connection note turns a relationship into a transaction before it starts.
- The immediate ask. “Would love to pick your brain” or “quick 15 minutes?” asks for time you have not earned. Ask for the connection, nothing else.
- Talking about yourself. A paragraph on who you are and what you do is the fastest way to get archived. Lead with them.
- Being obviously copy-pasted. If it could go to a hundred people, it reads like it did. The variables have to be real.
- Being too formal. Stiff, corporate language reads like a template. Write like a person talking to a peer.
A connection request is not a cold email. Its only job is to earn the connection, so the real conversation can happen after.
When to send.
Timing will not save a bad message, but it lifts a good one. Requests land best mid-week, in the windows when people are actually in their inbox rather than buried in meetings or already checked out for the weekend.
- Best days: Tuesday through Thursday
- Best windows: 8 to 10am or 1 to 3pm in the recipient's timezone
- Avoid Mondays (inbox overload) and Fridays (low engagement)
If you are running outreach at any real volume, spread sends across these windows and pace them like a human would, rather than firing a fixed batch at the same minute every day. That pacing is also what keeps an account off the restriction radar.
Key takeaways
- A request is accepted when it shows you know them, gives one reason, and asks for nothing else.
- Personalized requests get about 50% higher acceptance. A note at all lifts it 20 to 30%.
- Use the three-part framework: hook, reason, soft close. Keep it under 300 characters.
- Personalize the variables for real. A template sent to a list reads like a template.
- Never pitch or ask for time in the request. Earn the connection first.
- Send mid-week, mid-morning or early afternoon, and pace like a human.