A sales person forwarded me an email she sent to a prospect. The prospect had responded to her email and put her off until August. The sales person wanted my thoughts on how she could get more of this prospects attention and avoid being put off until August.

I gave her a lot of things to think about, but there was one thing that stuck out.

Her email had no call to action. It did nothing to incite her prospect to connect. It did nothing to explain why the prospect should give a shit. It was a hollow email. I was surprised the prospect responded at all.

I pointed this out to the sales person and she openly agreed. Embarrassingly she recognized the mistake and was committed to doing better.  To coach her, I suggested she pick up SNAP Selling by Jill Konrath.  It’s a great book on getting in front of crazy-busy buyers.  I specifically suggested she check out the section on business drivers and value propositions.

“I’ve read the book.” she replied.

You wouldn’t  have known it by reading the email she sent.

Reading a book does little to help sales if we don’t apply what we learn. We can be a stubborn bunch if we’re not careful.

Don’t just read the book, learn from it. Don’t just take the training, use the ideas. Don’t just read blogs, execute the suggestions.

If your not going to use what you learn, stop learning.  Don’t be so stubborn.