Remember the old days of prospecting? Call, introduce yourself, get appointment.
The game has changed
Recently a salesperson said, “I just can’t call anymore. Buyers just don’t pick up their phones. True. Think of yourself. We don’t want to be interrupted. We don’t want to be sold. We are inundated by messages 24/7, not another cold call.
What if. . .
What if this salesperson took a totally different approach to that tough to reach, busy, annoyed with sales calls person?
The Approach
Follow along. So the salesperson, whom I will call Jim for this illustration has a prospect with a phone number. Original approach would be to call and hope the person picks up. Chances of success are nil. Remember we call have caller id and we use it.
Here’s the right approach . . .
- Jim (our salesperson) has a name that is candidate for what he has to offer.
- Jim uses LinkedIn to locate this person and finds out he is the right candidate.
- He now goes to Twitter, finds the candidate and FOLLOWS the person. Now the candidate has an opportunity to learn who Jim is. (Hoping he uses Twitter effectively and links back to his blog.)
- He now goes to Google+ and repeats the strategy. Socially surrounding the candidate.
- Using the social data to discover something the candidate/buyer cares about —such as history, biking, running, personal development, marketing, networking, branding, etc.
- Uses that the discovery of that social data to create an amazing email.
- Calls — gets the buyers voicemail and leaves this message: “Glenn, this is Jim XXXXX, I going to send you an email and I would be grateful if you would reply.” — No phone number, no call me back, just a short and sweet message.
- Sends the amazing email
- Gets the meeting
- Makes the sale
Here’s the content of the email. . .
To: Glenn XXXXXX
From: Jim XXXXXX
Date: XXXXXXX
Subject: Referral from XXXXXXXXXX
“Never, never, never give up.” — Winston Churchill
Glenn,
I thought Winston Churchill’s words of wisdom might open the door for me to introduce you to XXXXXX and demonstrate how we can help. I also thought this article would be of value to you, 5 Reasons Companies Leave A PEO.
Are you available Thursday, May 23rd at 10:30 AM for a 10 minute online meeting?
Jim XXXXX
jim@XXXXXX.com
(555) 555-1212
Blog: www.jimsblog.com
________________
Sent using iPad
Thoughts
- The email is very short and personal.
- The quote in the email is around the persons interests that you discovered via Social Media. It captures their attention and is enticing the recipient to read it.
- The content connects to the prospects interests
- Positions Jim (salesperson) as the expert — placing a strategic blog article written by Jim around an area of interest that helps Glenn (buyer) solve a problem.
- Simple call to action: Schedule a meeting.
- Adds “Sent using iPad” — This tells Glenn that you are thinking about him and not an automated robot message mass produced.