Ask LinkedIn connections for examples, not generic feedback

You have a useful conversation on LinkedIn, but when you ask, “What would you like me to create?”, the replies are usually polite: “Anything that helps with productivity would be great.” That answer is too broad to guide a product. A better question asks for a specific moment, task or decision the person has already faced.

Why generic feedback stays generic

A question such as “Would you buy a course about presentation skills?” gives people very little to remember. They have to imagine a future product, predict their own behaviour and give you an answer that feels socially safe. “Yes, that sounds useful” is easy because it costs them nothing and reveals little.

Specific prompts reduce that effort. They ask the person to retrieve something that happened: the last time they prepared a presentation, the point where they got stuck, or the workaround they used. Those details help you see the difference between a broad interest and a problem with enough friction to justify a guide, template, coaching call or course.

Start with a recent situation

Begin with a time boundary and a concrete action. “In the last month, when did you have to explain a complex idea to a client?” is more useful than “Do you struggle to communicate clearly?” The first question points towards an event. The second invites a general self-description.

1. 1Ask what they were trying to do: “What were you preparing or deciding?”
2. 2Ask what made it difficult: “Which part took longer or felt less certain than expected?”
3. 3Ask what they tried: “Did you use a template, ask someone, search for an example or start again?”
4. 4Ask what happened next: “What was the result, and what would you change now?”
5. 5Ask what would have helped: “What resource would have made that task easier at the time?”

You can send these questions in one message, but a short sequence often feels more natural. Start with the situation, then follow the detail that sounds most revealing. If someone says they spent an afternoon rewriting a proposal, ask which section caused the delay. That follow-up may be more valuable than a dozen high-level ratings.

Prompts that uncover professional detail

The wording matters because each prompt points to a different part of an offer. A repeated workaround may suggest a checklist or template. A task that needs judgement may suit a coaching call. A sequence people must practise could become an online course. If the same problem appears across several replies, you have a stronger starting point than a collection of preferences.

Turn replies into examples, not testimonials

When you review the replies, separate three things: the person’s exact situation, the action they took and the result they wanted. Do not turn a private conversation into a public endorsement without permission. Instead, use the underlying pattern to make your explanation more concrete.

• Vague: “This helps you communicate with confidence.”
• Sharper: “Use this before a client presentation when you have useful information but no clear order for explaining it.”
• Vague: “Plan your content more easily.”
• Sharper: “Start with the question a buyer asked, choose one useful answer and turn it into a short teaching post.”

You can also build a simple evidence table for yourself: situation, repeated phrase, attempted solution, missing step and possible product format. Keep the person’s words separate from your interpretation. That makes it easier to notice when you are describing a real pattern rather than projecting your own preferred solution.

Make the request easy to answer

A LinkedIn connection is more likely to reply when the request has a clear reason and a small boundary. Explain that you are studying a professional task, not pitching them. Ask for one recent example and say that a few sentences are enough. You can offer to share what you learn, but do not imply that a reply guarantees free work, a discount or a finished product.

Try a message like this: “I’m looking at how independent consultants prepare proposals. Could I ask about the last proposal you wrote? What was the hardest section, what did you try, and what would have made the process easier? I’m looking for real situations rather than general feedback, so two or three sentences is plenty.”

Move from research to a small offer

Once you can describe the repeated situation in one sentence, choose the smallest useful format. A downloadable worksheet can test a narrow process. A hosted online course makes more sense when people need a sequence of lessons and practice. A coaching call may be the better first step when the problem changes substantially from person to person.

Give the offer a specific job. “A proposal planning pack for consultants writing a client response this week” tells a potential buyer when to use it and what it is for. You can sell that product from a storefront on store.fan, send the link to the people who helped you understand the problem, and watch which questions still appear before purchase.

Keep the first version narrow enough to improve. If the replies mention three different situations, resist combining them into a large bundle immediately. Start with the situation that has the clearest trigger and consequence. After delivery, ask buyers which step they used, where they stopped and what they expected but did not find.

Use follow-up questions to sharpen the page

The same questions that improve your research can improve your sales page. Explain the starting situation, name the task, show the common workaround and describe the result the buyer can work towards. For a broader storefront, store.fan’s store designer lets you organise those products so visitors can move from a focused resource to a more involved offer.