I recently gave a virtual workshop on content marketing tips for business development. We discussed how to address your best prospect and the language and strategy that works. Someone asked about “cold emailing”. Does it work?
And of course, the answer is, “yes – and – no”.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever received an unsolicited email —–
I get them all the time. I mostly consider it entertainment that breaks up my day. I’ve received emails promising to help me hire my next 20
employees; to set up and maintain the vending machines in my break room; and to set me up with email marketing. Clearly none of these companies bothered to see who I was, my background, or how I was set up.
I work with a small virtual team and don’t need 20 employees, my break room is my dining room (it may actually be fun to have a vending machine in there) and yes, I already know a thing or two about email marketing.
The point is that if you receive a list of “leads”, you can’t just market to all of them blindly. That would appear to be easy but it would actually be a waste of your time.
A more appropriate course of action would be to research each potential lead. Look them up on Google, review their website and their LinkedIn profile.
Does the business owner and/or the company match your perfect prospect profile? There’s plenty of information already on the web that can help you weed out the top prospects before you call or email them.
And when you do reach out to them, you’ll want to make the message personal, and reference what you’ve already learned about them. Make mention of something you read on their LinkedIn profile or their website that points to their possible need for what you offer.
Do not blatantly point out that what they have is ‘wrong’ or ‘broken’ and that you’re just the company to fix it. No one wants to hear that and especially not from a stranger. I receive emails all the time telling me what’s “wrong” with my website (because I’m missing a feature they happen to sell) and how I should be relieved that their company can save the day. ::Delete::
Keep it short, positive, polite, and respectful. Give a brief introduction of your company and what led you to believe your email may be welcomed. Tell them what you do and who you do it for. Then ask if they are interested in hearing more.
One of the latest trends in cold emailing, to me, is the most obnoxious.
I’ll receive an unsolicited message, and then 2 days later, they will express their annoyance with me that I didn’t respond. They’ll use thinly veiled threatening language, like, “this may be your last chance to fix XYZ in your company by working with us”.
Oh right, because I’m super drawn to working with companies who threaten me!
Positive and respectful will rule over aggressive every time. But don’t forget the key ingredient – showing that you’ve taken the time to look at their company and feel there’s a synergy if you work together.
If you hate spam, then don’t do what the spammers do! Write a message that YOU would like to read.
If you’re having trouble with turning leads into customers, there could be a few areas that are preventing it from happening. You can try 1,000 things and bang your head against the wall; or you can fast track it and book a strategy session.
Schedule yours here: https://calendly.com/susana-f/strategy-session