Potential Business Contacts

Quick reference

• 00:05 The number one reason for cold contacting someone is to offer them a product or
• 00:09 service.
• 00:11 Cold contacting people by any channel is tough for a couple of reasons.
• 00:15 One, you're contacting someone who may have zero interest in your topic.
• 00:20 Two, your idea, product or service might interest them but
• 00:23 you've caught them at a bad time.
• 00:26 Or three, there might be a trust issue since they don't know who you are.
• 00:30 It's even harder using a written channel.
• 00:34 We've already learned that people get hundreds of emails,
• 00:37 most of which stay unopened or which end up in the trash.
• 00:40 We also learned that to get people's attention starts with
• 00:43 the subject line because if the subject line doesn't appeal to the prospect,
• 00:47 then even the best written email won't matter because they won't even open it.
• 00:53 When it comes to subject lines, we should follow these guidelines for
• 00:57 cold contacting.
• 00:59 Make the subject line as specific as possible.
• 01:02 If it makes sense, use the person's name in the subject line of your message.
• 01:07 The more unique your subject line is, the higher your open rate will be.
• 01:12 Of course, you want to avoid subject lines with all caps, with exclamation marks
• 01:16 with special characters and all the other features of clickbait.
• 01:21 This will get you labeled as spam.
• 01:24 Your salutation should be business casual.
• 01:28 Now that can vary depending on the type of business you're in, and
• 01:31 what your contacts expect.
• 01:34 Hi Matthew, as a cold contact salutation might be okay for some settings, but
• 01:39 to another type of customer Hello Matthew or dear Matthew might be more appropriate.
• 01:45 Think about the product you're selling the type of investment the prospect would
• 01:49 be making if this is a successful contact.
• 01:52 You also want to consider the position of the prospect.
• 01:55 The CEO of a Fortune 500 company would
• 01:58 probably expect an approach on the more formal side.
• 02:02 Think about what you'd expect to see in your inbox if they'd emailed you and
• 02:06 that's usually a pretty good guide.
• 02:09 The introduction of your cold contact email shouldn't be longer than two to
• 02:13 three sentences.
• 02:15 And this might come as a surprise, but the introduction isn't really supposed to
• 02:20 introduce you or your company to the prospect.
• 02:23 It's not about you, it's all about the customer.
• 02:27 So focus on their expertise, their achievements, their work and
• 02:31 their company.
• 02:33 That's how you'll get their attention.
• 02:36 For the body of the email, your aim is to get the conversation going so
• 02:40 that they'll open up to you with a response.
• 02:43 Once that relationship begins, then you can show them how their processes
• 02:48 can be improved or be done in a more efficient way.
• 02:53 Obviously, this means doing your homework to find out what challenges they're
• 02:56 facing, and making sure that your product or
• 02:58 service actually delivers to solve that problem.
• 03:02 The most effective salespeople are convinced that their product really is
• 03:05 right for the prospect.
• 03:08 So to structure that initial email,
• 03:10 let's look at two options that you might want to consider.
• 03:14 Option one is to ask for the right person if you're not sure,
• 03:18 suggest that it could be them and lead right into the call to action.
• 03:25 Option two is if you know they're the right person, then you can use your
• 03:29 industry knowledge or research knowledge to paint a picture of a solved problem.
• 03:34 Point to success stories of known companies that your solution has helped
• 03:40 if you have those examples, and then lead into the call to action.
• 03:45 Your call to action itself, should be short, and to the point.
• 03:49 One sentence is usually enough.
• 03:51 It might be to ask them to respond to your email, or click here for a demo.
• 03:57 Make it something easy, and something they can do now.
• 04:00 Scheduling a phone call,
• 04:02 might actually be too much at this stage when they don't even know who you are.
• 04:08 Everyone's time is valuable and most people are already too time constrained to
• 04:12 promise 15 minutes to a stranger.
• 04:15 So, if you ask them to respond to the email or to click a demo link,
• 04:18 that might be enough for your initial email.
• 04:23 In sales following up is part of the deal.
• 04:26 If you don't hear from them within a week,
• 04:28 reach out again with a personalized follow up.
• 04:31 The follow up shouldn't be another sales pitch.
• 04:33 You want to reach out with a short email letting them know that you realize they
• 04:37 might have missed your email or they were too busy to respond.
• 04:41 Give them the opportunity to opt out with a response.
• 04:46 If they say no, at least you know you can concentrate your efforts somewhere else.

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