In a perfect world, sales would only be following up leads that marketing had generated. In an even more perfect world, it would only be Inside Sales, not Sales, making that first human approach. But if, in the real world you need to make cold sales emails, how do you do it?
The first thing we need to remember is that we’re interrupting them. That means that we have to be brief, we have to cut through, and we have to move them. But who’s them, and how and to where do we move them?
5 things to consider before writing a cold sales email:
- You built your strategy for a reason. A prospect with one problem might be gold for you. However, a prospect with another problem may be gold for your competitors. Knowing which is which is key, so look for evidence of your winning problem. You need to know which problem will create real bias for you, not just the one that you think will get a reaction.
- Don’t let your sales guys call just anyone. You want businesses most likely to have the problem. And, the target person most likely to have that problem. Not necessarily the one who’ll sign the check nor the one who is easiest to get hold of.
- The problem is going to play out differently for every business. And, won’t necessarily be believed until you point it out, so you have to do some homework.
- Time is of the essence. Today’s warm prospect is tomorrow’s cold call.
- Your prospects are overwhelmed. Consider a non-traditional medium. Emails, calls, and letters are traditional. Consider using video. I’ve blogged about the importance of VBR (Valid Business Reasons) in the past. Think about video and static images as a way to mix it up.
All up, you need your sales email to cut through and to cut deeply, but how?
8 tips for making a killer cold sales email
- Stay on strategy. You are not looking for any problem, but evidence of the problem you are best at solving.
- Target well. A company likely to have the problem and the person with the issue, not the person who has the budget nor the person that you can get easily.
- Do your homework. How does this issue likely affect the business that you’re calling on?
- Keep it brief. Remember you’re interrupting them. You can do your selling on another day.
- Speak to their pain. Explain what you learned about their business and how you think the problem will play out for them.
- Make it visual. VBR video or static images, make sure you show evidence visually of the homework you have done.
- Sell the next action, not your product.
- Follow up fast. Non-responders need a nudge, and responders become cold quickly.
Final Thoughts
Now it’s more than cold. You need your whole strategy spelt out clearly. And, you need an array of tactics, a playbook if you like. Cold outbound should only be one of the methods of reaching prospects, and reaching is not enough. You need tactics to get all the way to a close. The strategy and forming those tactics is the job of your funnel plan. If you don’t have a funnel plan, get a free one. Go to funnelplan.com. Do it now, get yourself a free version. The paid for version has lots more value, but the free one is loaded chock-full of tactics and is a great start.
I’ve got lots more lined up for next week. Until then, may your funnel be full and always flowing.
Our thanks to:
- You for watching this week’s show all the way to the end
- Source articles:
- Life Long Learner for One Way to Write A Powerful Cold Email http://life-longlearner.com/most-powerful-cold-email/
- Aaron Ross for Predictable Revenue http://predictablerevenue.com/
- Tiffany Hallam for What are the best practices for sending “cold” sales emails? http://www.quora.com/What-are-best-practices-for-sending-cold-sales-emails
- Hugh Macfarlane for Personalised Video for Sales with a Valid Business Reason to Meet https://align.me/b2b-marketing-blog/personalised-video-sales-valid-business-reason-meet/
- John Ang for video production
- Lisbeth Peña for blog production
- Hugh Macfarlane for scripting and presenting this week’s show
