“Want to be my friend? My business partner? Better yet, how about being my new client? No? I can’t imagine why not!” Yet those requests are what many approaches to us by email and on LinkedIn boil down to: boring, self-serving outreaches for new business. Senders of messages like those may get an “A” for being gung-ho, but an “F” for effectiveness. Here are four better ways to arouse curiosity and entice prospects you don’t know to take your call, reply to your email, or connect with you online.
Use a Referral
We are more likely to respond positively to a stranger when he/she can reference someone we both know. We are even more likely to respond to a stranger when the person we know in common takes the time to introduce us with a call or email. Given social media, it is often fairly easy to find someone who knows the person you want to reach. Sometimes, someone in your own company may know a referral source for you. In all cases, using a referral gives you way more credibility than someone coldly reaching out as a stranger and you multiply your chances of connecting a thousand times over.
Tip: For more on how you find and work with referrals, check out Joanne Black, the queen of referral selling, at www.nomorecoldcalling.com
Personalize Your Request
If you are like me, you delete vanilla, boilerplate messages like, “I see we are in the same industry and would love to connect.” Or, “I visited your website and see opportunities for you to improve your SEO.” Or, “I share your interest in helping…. achieve… and have some ideas to help you do more of that.”
Take the time to really review your prospect’s website or read their LinkedIn profile and be as specific as possible with the reason for your request to connect. For example, “I read in your article on…. that you are doing…. We have helped companies like XYZ and ABC do exactly that by… Would love to share ideas on how we did that and see how we might work together.“
Give to Get
Send a link to a post, article, or white paper that could genuinely help them and then request a call or a connection. For example, “I saw that you deal in the… industry and thought you would be interested in our recent white paper on…. If you find this useful, can we schedule a call/connect?
Intrigue: Get Creative
Send a cartoon, picture, quotation, video, or startling fact that is relevant to their world and link it to why they should want to take your call or connect on LinkedIn. If it is funny, all the better, as everyone can use a laugh these days. Originality, creativity, and humor never fail to get a reaction.
Piquing a prospect’s interest by being provocative in a positive, personalized way gives recipients a “why” to respond to you. These approaches take more time, but have a high pay-off.
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!
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