Technological tools for monitoring conversion rates and analysing efficiency are one of the main areas of interest for salespeople today. Despite the obvious benefits for sales that arise from technological solutions, it is worth bearing in mind that the key to business development is still the ability to build relationships. The lack of a personalized approach in communication with a potential customer often ends up in an abrupt end of call or—in the case of email communication—in a spam.
Let’s focus on the latter case—what can you do to avoid your message going into spam?
1. Avoid purely sales-oriented content of little value to the recipient.
Sales-oriented messages are so common that you have to do more to attract the attention of the recipient. Above all, you need to know the needs of the industry in which the person you are addressing works, the working environment in which he or she operates, the problems he or she has to face every day. You need to know how the product you offer responds to these issues. What value does it have for the recipient, what benefit it can bring. This information should be a message, not a story about your company’s successes and the product’s advantages. The keywords in this context are personalisation and understanding of the recipients’ environment.
2. Avoid sending mass messages thinking that eventually, someone will answer.
Of course, not every message will be answered, but by sending more messages you increase your chances of reaching people interested in your product/service. The amount is important, that is right. However, it is worth paying just as much attention to the quality of your messages. What you send out to the world is your business card, the messages build the image of your company. All the more so in B2B sales, where you contact decision-makers, often in important positions. Decision-makers are constantly being asked for something or offered something, which takes up a lot of their time. A badly constructed or purely promotional email of no value for the recipient is simply annoying for a person who receives many “enquiries” of different content and quality. What do you think is your chance of striking a deal if you annoy a potential customer from the very start? Yes, that’s right, rather small. You will seem much more professional if you let the recipient know that you have knowledge of his or her business and want to fill a specific gap in the organisation of their company.
3. Cold Email—professional networking with potential clients
Cold Email is a good way to make an unobtrusive, personalized first contact that can be a good start of the sales process. The main advantages of cold mailing are:
- reaching only those people who meet the criteria of your ideal customer,
- better accuracy—your product is applicable in the working environment of the recipient of the message,
- direct contact with the decision-maker in a given area (IT, accounting, HR, marketing, etc.),
- personalisation of the message—you write about things that are actually relevant to that person,
- the possibility of an unobtrusive product presentation, advertising it as a solution to specific problems,
- the possibility of establishing a relationship—if you get a response to your message, nothing stands in the way to start the sales process.
4. What an effective cold emailing campaign should look like?
- Start your message with some reference to the recipient’s activities. An article written by this person, some kind of industry conference he or she has attended, information on the website, his or her position—these are some of the anchor points you can use.
- Write to the recipient, ask about the needs of the company in which he works, about the challenges, willingness, and interest in the solutions. Do so as often as possible.
- Write about yourself and your company as seldom as possible. Do it only when you want to talk about solving the recipient’s problem.
- Ask open questions, show your knowledge about the recipient, and interest in their needs.
- Clearly present the purpose of your message. No call to action means no possibility to establish a relationship.
- Write concisely and clearly.
- Remember to be polite.
- Keep the formal structure of the message. In addition to a proper body of the message, include greeting, introduction, and a farewell phrase.
- Ensure correct spelling and punctuation.
- Plan a follow-up message: another email or phone call.
Sample cold email content:
I think it is worth trying out the efficacy of cold emailing as a form of first contact. Following the above guidelines, you have a chance to gather a group of people initially interested in your product/service. Don’t worry, you can also call them later, you will also have new data to analyse. What can change is the quality of your work—it is probably more fun to talk to people who do not hang up when you call them?
As InStream Group we generate B2B leads by LinkedIn Automation and Cold Emailing campaigns. Are you curious about what we can do for you? Write at biuro@instreamgroup.com.
