Two Sales Emails that WARM-Up COLD-Calling

Thanks to Kevin Baumgart for guest-blogging this week! 

Decision makers are busy. They don’t typically answer their phones or return their calls. So, how do you get in touch with them? They receive hundreds of calls and emails every day. They have all received emails from salespeople reviewing how great their product or services are and they have gotten really good at deleting them as fast as possible.

Here are two email templates that are helping organizations get responses and land meetings. 

1.  Bryan Kreuzberger, creator of Breakthrough Email built the below template that has helped him land meetings with decision makers at a number of Fortune 500 companies:

The below is a sample template that helped him land a deal with McDonalds.  This was sent to four people in separate emails.

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Subject: Appropriate person

I am writing in hopes of finding the appropriate person who handles multicultural media? I also wrote to Person x, Person Y and Person Z in that pursuit. If it makes sense to talk, let me know how your calendar looks.

VoodooVox helps increase the revenues of Fortune 500 companies by marketing to Hispanics. Each month we reach 25 million Spanish speakers with an audio message they must hear. We insert 30 second audio and SMS advertisements into phone calls made on calling cards. The benefit to users is they make their call free. The benefit for our clients is they can increase store revenue by providing text message coupons. Typical redemption is 3%. You can measure results online and with store sales. Advertisements can target specific ethnic groups and geographies. Some clients include Burger King, P&G and Chili’s.

If you are the appropriate person to speak with, what does your calendar look like? If not whom do you recommend I talk to?

Thanks,

Signature

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The key of this approach is to send the exact same email to four people in the organization (only the names will change in the first paragraph.)  For example, if I were selling to the Director of Media,
I would write the VP of Media (boss), the Chief Marketing Officer (boss’s boss) and the VP of Marketing (lateral role to the boss).

What Bryan has found is that he doesn't get a response from the person he is trying to meet, however that persons boss does often responds.

2. Aaron Ross, Author of Predictable Revenue has created a very simple email process he calls CC2.0.

This process revolves around sending a targeted email to the decision maker for your product or service, asking them who is in charge of that function (even though you probably already know the answer to it.)  Here is an example of a CC2.0 email:

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Subject: Aaron, Quick Question

Hello Aaron,

Sorry to trouble you, but can you please let me know who handles (something that is relevant to your product or service) at ABC Company?

Thank you,

Kevin

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What we have found is that if you ask someone about a responsibility that falls within his or her job description they usually want to take credit for it and will reply.  Here are some typical responses:

• “That’s my responsibility, why do you ask”
• “I do”
• “X person does”

Aaron’s research shows that open rates are much higher than typical sales focused emails.

The real benefit of this approach is the cold call now turns into a warmer call.  The phone call is now, “Hi Aaron, I just got your email, sorry I should have put more context into my original email.  We are helping…..”

Also, Hubspot published a slideshare presentation that has some great takeaways on best practice email templates; worth the three minutes to review:

http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/how-towriteemailspeoplewanttorespondto

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Kevin Baumgart is VP of Sales at Hireology.  Check out his excellent blog too, Sales for Start-Ups.  

Please Stop Acting Like You Care About Their Day

If you make sales (phone) calls as part of you job, we need to talk about an annoying phone habit you've probably developed.  It's this...

"How are you doing today?"

Seriously.  Stop asking this question.  I'll tell you how their day is - BUSY. I assure you as soon as you say it, the person on the other end of the line is already thinking about how they're going to get off the phone.   It's what every other average, pesky sales person says after their name and company.

I know, I know...it's an instinctual, knee-jerk question we ask.  And it will feel weird not to say it.  You're right - the first few times will be rough.  But break the habit.  Don't sound like EVERYONE else.  Stop it.  Now.

Ok?  Ok...so let's talk alternatives:                                                                                                              

1. Make them laugh - if you can elicit a laugh in the first 20 seconds of a phone call, you buy yourself at least a minute to get your message across.  My go to - "Happy ____day!"  Whatever - Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs.  If it's any day but Friday, nine out of ten times I get a chuckle or can feel a smile on the other end of the line.  That laugh alleviates the awkwardness of the cold call, puts a smile on their face, and allows you to take a quick temperature of the type of person you're dealing with (If you don't feel an air of levity on the other end of the line, you better talk fast)
2. Good morning/afternoon! - this salutation is a much more logical thing to say when calling a stranger. 
3. Acknowledge you'll be quick - you're calling to open the door to a conversation.  Say to them, "Hey, I'm sure I'm catching you in the middle of something; do you have a quick moment?"  If they say YES, begin your next statement with, "Excellent - I'll be brief."  Say your benefit statement and engage.  
4. LinkedIn Precall plan - find something of interest or a common thread on their profile - hobbies, college, associations, charities, whatever.  Say, "Hey before I get to the main reason for my call, I saw on LinkedIn that ________.  How involved are you? (or I support that cause too.)"  

Got something that has worked for you?  Would love to hear the idea - drop me a note and happy selling!