There, I said it. Your message stinks. Technology has made it cheaper and faster to get in front of prospects, but somebody forgot to make sure you understood that what you say and how you say it wins the e-ticket ride to the next step in the sales process – OR NOT.
Competition for your prospects attention is tougher than ever. You know that. Isn’t it time to find a way to break through the noise cloud? Stop being so lazy!
Your sales message should be targeted to the receiver and laser focused on what they care about. The power of the internet and social networks makes easy to find out what matters to the people you want to approach. Prospects are bombarded with phone calls, direct mail and emails in ever increasing rates with messages that stink as much as they always have. I challenge you to be different!
Where is the value? Show prospects that you know something about them. Stop assuming you know what they care about. Stop insulting people. If you want a sales meeting, up your odds of a yes when you tailor and target your message.
Just to illustrate my point, my point that most messaging sucks – automated ones to boot… here’s a little jewel that arrived in my inbox today. By the way, it came through my website and was copied exactly as written.
“Dear Manager,
How are you doing? Does 1000TVL camera gains a lot popularity in your market? Hereby recommend you 1000TVL camera for your reference.
CHYI Advantages:
Service:
1) Defective rate≤1‰.
2) Fast delivery time: 5-7 business days
3) Excellent quality with 2 years warranty, during this period, after the normal failure is confirmed, free components or even new products can be sent together with your next order.
4) Refund of the goods is available in 7 days after package received(not including shipping cost), just make sure the goods & inner packages are intact.
Products:
1).24 hours aging test.
2).strict dustproof,waterproof,high temperature test.
Would you like to order some for testing the market? Look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Let’s call this email it what it is… stupid. That’s actually being gracious.
Message matters my friends. You have one shot as a general rule. Sending random messages to lists and through websites is pointless.
A suggestion to the gal (or anyone reading this post) who sent this email through my website.
Read my website first to learn about me. A little detective work is always a good idea. A message that looked a little more like… “I see that you are big in leveraging social in your business and helping your clients do the same. High quality photos taken in the moment can help build strong powerful brand recognition. While phone cameras are great, here’s why our camera delivers something so much more powerful…”
Now that message would probably catch my attention.
Here’s what’s sad. I didn’t think that hard. I don’t know the camera business, but I can do better than the sales rep selling the products. With a little more thought, I could craft something way cooler. Why is it so tough for sellers (and marketers) to understand that boilerplate, one-size-fits messaging just doesn’t work?
Want to engage prospects more effectively to secure meetings?
Target the message to the right buyer and focus on what they care about, not what you want to sell.
Do your homework.
Check your facts.
Check the grammar and spelling. Don’t use jargon that only people in your company understand.
Get the person’s name right.
You have one shot to differentiate yourself. Don’t blow it.
Barb Giamanco heads up Social Centered Selling. She’s the co-author of The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media – the first book published on social selling. She is the author of the Harvard Business Review article Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy published in the July 2012. Barb has a proven, 30-year track record in generating sales and capped a corporate career at Microsoft, where she led sales teams. Throughout her sales career, Barb has sold $1B in products and services.
@BarbGiamanco @Linkedin @Twitter