I recently received a long email pitch that included links to an online portfolio of work, website, blog and corresponding articles. Following his robust introduction, the seller explained that my review of his content “would provide a great opportunity to understand our solutions in a better way.”
He closed strong: “I am quite keen to speak to you, at the earliest, so how about sometime this week? When is a good time?”
Before I got this cold email, I had never heard of the company or had any previous interaction with the sales professional. This was clearly his one shot swing for the fence. He threw in the whole kitchen sink.
How much extra time in your day is reserved to review inbox sales correspondence and case studies from people and companies you don’t know?
If you’re like me, the answer: not much.
I suppose the same holds true for most prospective customers.
Typically, the fate of a poorly constructed cold pitch like this is that the email is deleted. The seller continues to spend his valuable time on low-yield activity. No corrective action is taken. Goals and numbers get missed.
However, in this particular instance I saw the opportunity. My response to the seller:
I don’t have interest in your history, location, services, suite, alliances, solutions and case studies. I don’t know you and I don’t have time to look at your online portfolio of work.
The one thing you said that did interest me was “enhancing my competitive edge”.
What 3 ways can you execute on that bold claim?
I will await your response and should it prove interesting enough, perhaps we can talk further.
The sales door just got opened…wide. I actually think it caught this seller off-guard. When you aren’t used to getting a response, a request for more specific information can come as a surprise. The fact, is most prospects don’t ask. They just hit delete.
So why make your prospects ask?
Instead, lead with exactly how you can “enhance the competitive edge.” Get to the point. Get specific. You will have a much higher probability of earning the attention you’ll need to get the whole kitchen sink on the table. A 500-word, cold email pitch is not the place for a deep dive into every detail about your company and solutions. Those emails rarely work.
Creating successful email pitches requires thought, preparation, customization and genuine care for the prospective customer.
Isn’t that the kind of sales professional everyone wants to do business with today?
