Harry Hecht
While cold calling might not be one of the most productive ways to generate sales leads, cold e-mailing isn’t. Judging from my Gmail inbox it is certainly on the rise and it’s time to take notice. I know many sales professionals that live and die by the e-mail introduction and use it effectively. But the question remains, how effective is e-mail at making a sales introduction?
The answer, it all depends. E-mail introductions are most effective when there is some context related to the communication and has content that is worthy of the recipient’s time and attention and of course, ACTION. The absence of either will limit any opportunity for meaningful engagement. In other words, the quick delete. A sales professional understands they are just a keystroke away from the trash bin and approaches the e-mail introduction with a well thought out value proposition, carefully worded, and commitment required to earn a response from the prospect
I receive a healthy amount of e-mail sales pitches and requests. I wanted to take the time to leverage a recent message that hit my inbox to illustrate how to make the most of the “soft” e-mail introduction.
Here is the gist of the email I received:
The Introduction
“Hopefully I’m not catching you too off guard with my email – I work closely with a few of our mutual connections and wanted to see if we could find a time to be introduced.
“I’m not at all assuming you’re in the market for the work I do but I’d like to meet you nonetheless. That being said I’d like to tell you a little about how I work, share some ideas with you, and what you do with it is up to you.”
I didn’t respond to the first e-mail during a busy week of travel. The following week I received this follow up.
The Follow Up
“I’m not sure if you received my last email or not, sometimes I can get spammed for some reason. I just wanted to touch base and see if we could find a time to be introduced. I work closely with and have met with quite a few our mutual connections.
“Though I’m not at all assuming you’re in the market for the work I do, I’d like to meet you nonetheless. If you have some availability in the next week or so I’d love to grab lunch or coffee.”
Would you take this meeting? This sales introduction had the potential to be so much better.
Here are four (4) keys for making more meaningful and memorable e-mail sales pitches.
1. Leverage Referrals. A satisfied client can help you strengthen the sales introduction. Assuming this seller actually does work with people I know, the introduction is strengthened by revealing that information. Even better, have the “happy” client and “mutual connection” lead in making the introduction. Don’t leave it to the prospect to assume anything.
2. Be Specific. If you are asking me to invest valuable time, make sure I understand why. Get to the point about what you’ve got that I need. I don’t have time for too many nonessential lunch or coffee meetings. Neither do your customers. In fairness, I did remove the category/industry for the example in this post, but even with that information it wasn’t specific enough.
3. Customize. This involves doing a little homework. The ability to demonstrate understanding related to the prospective buyer’s business and unique situation elevates credibility. When that understanding includes a particularly compelling insight, point of view or position of value the introduction improves.
4. Give Value First. Be helpful. Focus on the customer, not yourself. The customer will only be interested in your product or service because it could help them solve a problem or do something better and better yet, both. So, make the introduction all about them. The more you know the easier it is to lead with value. Give away your best ideas and examples of success, and make it easy for your best customers to share.
Following these four practices will help you make sales introductions that lead to increased opportunities and a full pipeline. When we shift our focus to thinking about sales meetings as an earned opportunity, our introductions typically improve as a result. In sales the law of incremental commitment applies —the first commitment you have to close is someone’s willingness to learn more and at the same time build a relationship and trust.
These four practices will also help you avoid what you had to know was coming next.
The Response
“Thanks for the note. I just don’t have the time and I’m not interested. Please stop e-mailing me…Sent from my iPhone.”
