Free guide · scorecard · 6 parts

Know exactly what to fix in your LinkedIn outreach, every Friday

A short weekly review for a campaign that is already running. Three numbers, the step where people drop off, what the replies say, and a table that tells you which one thing to change next week.

Free. The whole guide is on this page; no email needed.

Cover of the guide: Know exactly what to fix in your LinkedIn outreach, every Friday
Jonathan Lis, founder of ZenMode

I'm Jonathan. I build ZenMode: I write the code, answer the support emails, and my own outreach runs through it. Most campaigns don't need a new tool or a new strategy. They need one honest look a week and one change at a time. This is the short Friday review I'd run on any campaign. Questions: hello@zen-mode.io. I read everything.

Jonathan Lis · founder, ZenMode

Who it's for

Founders and small teams with a LinkedIn campaign running, who see the numbers but do not know which part to fix.

You leave with

A filled-in scorecard for this week, the one change you will make, and a log that shows next Friday whether it worked.

What's inside

  1. Write down three numbers
  2. Find where people drop off
  3. Find the weak step
  4. Read what the replies say
  5. Choose one change
  6. Know when to pause

How it was put together

The review uses only numbers your own campaign produces. The thresholds are left for you to set, because what counts as low depends on your market, list and offer: we quote no benchmark. The diagnosis table is our rule of thumb, labelled as ours. Screenshots are ZenMode's demo with sample data.

Part 1

Write down three numbers

You cannot fix what you have not written down. Take the same three numbers every Friday, for the same campaign and the same length of time, so this week can be compared with last.

Fill in

Connection requests sent
This week, this campaign
Acceptance rate
Of the people you invited, how many accepted
Reply rate
Of the people who accepted, how many replied
The Friday scorecard

Number 1

Requests sent

This week, one campaign

Number 2

Acceptance rate

Accepted ÷ invited

Number 3

Reply rate

Replied ÷ accepted

Find

The biggest drop

Request → accepted, or accepted → replied

Change

One thing only

The list, the note, or one follow-up

Next Friday

Did it move?

Same campaign, same 7 days, compare

Now do it in ZenMode

Open Analytics, pick the last 7 days and the campaign, and copy the three numbers. Export the view as CSV or PDF if you keep your log elsewhere.

Analytics with 7 days, acceptance rate and reply rate highlighted
Last 7 days: acceptance rate and reply rate. ZenMode demo, sample data.
Setting Analytics to the last 7 days and one campaign. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Part 2

Find where people drop off

Every campaign loses people in two places: between the request and the accept, and between the accept and the reply. The bigger drop is where your fix goes.

Biggest dropIt usually meansLook at
Request → acceptedThey do not see a reason to connectWho is on the list, your profile, the note
Accepted → repliedThey connected but the messages give no reason to answerFollow-up 1 first, then the rest

Now do it in ZenMode

Read the conversion row on Analytics: requests, accepted and replied, side by side for the same dates.

The conversion row with Accepted highlighted
The conversion row shows where people drop off. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Part 3

Find the weak step

If replies come almost all after one message, the others are not doing their job. Two cautions before you act: a step with few sends tells you little, and replies keep arriving for days after a message goes out, so the most recent week always looks lower than it will.

Fill in

Replies after follow-up 1
And how many were sent
Replies after follow-up 2
And how many were sent
Replies after follow-up 3
And how many were sent

Now do it in ZenMode

Read Reply rate by step on Analytics, for the same campaign and dates, and write the three steps into the scorecard.

Reply rate by step with follow-up 2 highlighted
Reply rate by step points at the weak message. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Part 4

Read what the replies say

A reply rate counts answers; it does not say whether they were good ones. Lots of "wrong person" means the list is off. Lots of "not now" means the timing or the offer is. Lots of "asks for information" means your messages leave out something people need.

Fill in

Interested and asks for information
Your positive replies
Not now
Put each one's date in your CRM
Wrong person, not interested, request to stop
What these have in common

Now do it in ZenMode

On Practitioner and above, the campaign's Reply categories card counts its replies by category: interested, asks for information, not now, wrong person, not interested and request to stop.

The Reply categories card with Not now highlighted
Each kind of reply, counted for the campaign. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Part 5

Choose one change

Change one thing a week. Change three and next Friday you will not know which one moved the number.

Fill in

This week's one change
What you changed, on which campaign, and the date
If this is lowChangeKeep the same
AcceptanceThe list first; then the noteThe follow-ups
Replies after acceptingFollow-up 1: one easier questionThe list and the note
Replies at one stepThat step's reasonEvery other step
Lots of "wrong person"The job titles in your targetingThe messages
Replies, but no meetingsHow you answer: shorter, one next stepThe campaign

Now do it in ZenMode

Make the change on the campaign page: targeting, the note or one follow-up. Then read Next queued messages to see what the next people will receive.

Follow-up 1's message box highlighted
Change one message; leave the rest alone. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Part 6

Know when to pause

Some weeks the right change is to stop and rebuild rather than tweak. Pausing costs you nothing; sending a sequence you no longer believe in costs you the list.

Pause when (our rule of thumb)Then
Replies are mostly "wrong person" or "not interested"Rebuild the list before anything else
You would not send the note yourself, by hand, todayRewrite it, then resume
Requests to stop show up more than once in a weekRead those threads, then rebuild the list and the note
You cannot answer replies this weekPause until you can

Now do it in ZenMode

Press Pause on the campaign. It stays as it is, and you resume it when the rebuild is done.

A campaign header with the Pause button highlighted
Pause the campaign while you rebuild. ZenMode demo, sample data.

Print this

Every Friday

  • Same campaign, last 7 days
  • Requests sent written down
  • Acceptance rate written down
  • Reply rate written down
  • Biggest drop found
  • Weak step checked (enough sends?)
  • Reply categories read
  • One change chosen and logged with the date
  • Pause decision made
  • Last week's change checked against this week
Download the checklist (PDF, no email needed)

Do this guide in ZenMode

ZenMode books you more meetings from LinkedIn: it finds the right people, writes the messages, and keeps every reply in one inbox. It is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that sends while the app is open. Practitioner, Master and Dojo include a 14-day free trial, first time only.

Start your 14-day free trial