The Email Blow-Off

This week's article is my response to a question by Lisa Boudreau of ePresence.

"I cold call into Fortune 1000 companies, often times the admin will tell me to send the CIO, or whoever I'm calling, an email about who we are and what we do. I tend to think of emails as a last ditch effort, but others think they are a good follow up to a live conversation. I'd be interested in what you think! - Lisa Boudreau, Sales Rep, ePresence Inc.

Thanks for writing in Lisa. The title I gave this article pretty much sums up what I think. When making cold calls, administrative assistants are instructed to get rid of salespeople as nicely as possible. One of the easiest ways to blow off a sales rep is to ask you to send some information, literature, or an email.

Many sales reps then think "I got one!" They believe that they have a prospect, and they put it onto their follow-up list, and they call and call again until they get through, give up, or are told to get lost. The reality is you were just told that your sales pitch didn't work. Your email, or brochure or whatever, goes into a huge pile of other solicitations, that may never get reviewed.

It's useful to think of cold-calling as advertising, only one at a time. In advertising, you are "interrupting" people with your message. By delivering it to hundreds, thousands, or millions at the same time, you can persuade a certain percentage of the people who view the ad. The people who are persuaded are those who fit the target profile that the advertiser is looking for.

Cold-calling is just like shoving a billboard in one person's face, or running a commercial for one prospect, and then asking them if they want the product. How well you do at this depends on two things. First the quality of the target list of prospects you are calling on is very important (this is akin to which freeway you post your billboard on, or which TV show you run your commercial on). When you have the right target list, the next element under your control is the effectiveness of your message at getting the prospect's attention.

The reason why I use the advertising analogy is that when cold-calling we are an interruption, until we have the prospect's attention and the permission to probe further and ask questions. When we fail at this, prospect's nicely ask us to "send info please".

To improve the effectiveness of your message, I advise you to focus on using prominent customer references with benefits centered around revenue increases, cost reductions, or efficiency gains in your cold-calling approach. Combine this with effective prospect targeting and some persuasive questioning techniques and you will get through to more decision-makers.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

---

Connecting with Customers

I just got off the phone with a friend of... Read More

Selling Services

Selling a service isn't the same as selling a product.... Read More

The Benefits of Display Mannequins

Mannequins are primarily used in stores to display clothing. A... Read More

How to Build A Steady Stream of Customers--Step One

The success of a small business depends upon a steady... Read More

The Biggest Mistake In Selling!

Some trainers and sales managers teach that there are prospects... Read More

How to Give Your Customers a Choice Between You and the Competition and Have Them Choose You

Instead of giving your customers or potential customers a choice... Read More

Never Stop Selling

The question: "When should a growing company slow down its... Read More

Successfully Selling Your Professional Services

As a professional service provider you face special challenges promoting... Read More

Finding a Used Mannequin

Many stores on a budget choose to buy a used... Read More

Tapping The Potential Of Your Customers

Business owners of long standing know the cardinal rule "take... Read More

Sex Sells!

An attractive woman has a decided advantage as sales representative... Read More

A Look at Mannequin Heads

A mannequin head is a life-size head that includes all... Read More

I Don?t Want To Be Sold; I Want To Buy

I went shopping for clothes today.My plan was to buy... Read More

Great Telephone Skills

Having good telephone skills is crucial as the call may... Read More

Top Seven Ways to Write An Order-Pulling Sales Letter

Ready to put your Web pages up? Ready to sell... Read More

Cold Calling Pressure Reduction

Who likes cold calling? Most salespeople don't like cold calling,... Read More

Selling - Trade Shows Vs. Regular Sales Calls

Remember those school exercises that started "Compare and contrast....yada yada... Read More

The Doors Of Opportunity

Alexander Graham Bell once said, "When one door closes another... Read More

Gatekeepers

When I ask salespeople to define what a gatekeeper is,... Read More

Ten Top Tips for Terminating Telephone Terror

1. Make telephone callsFew things are more terrifying than the... Read More

The Top 10 Myths About the Sales Profession

Myth 1: Sales People are all Shady!In the Broadway play... Read More

Lance Has What It Takes

Lance has what it takes and then some.Did you know... Read More

Dont Be Macho Selling Ice to Eskimos

This issue's topic was suggested by a sales rep for... Read More

Handling Objections

HANDLING OBJECTIONSSales presentation is not always going to be plain... Read More

6 Creative Questions To Move From HOW Are You To WHO Are You

Imagine you just met someone new. The formalities of names,... Read More

Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bonds Sales Letter

I'm not a baseball fan. Never have been. In fact,... Read More

How To Profit From Initial Consultations

"I'd love to work with you, but?"How many times have... Read More

Creating Intense Emotions That Motivate People

Ever wish that your presentations could be as much fun... Read More

Seminars for Prospecting

The purpose of a 1- or 2-hour seminar is to... Read More

Selling Against Goliath

Selling Against Goliath?How to Take on the Big Guys and... Read More

Doomed Before You Dial?

Several weeks ago, I conducted a "Mastering the Cold Call"... Read More

How to Really Benefit from Associations (Part 1 of 3-Part Series)

Looking for new leads, new contacts, new business opportunities? Do... Read More

Stuff We Make Up About Our Prospects

? Go through the "no's" to get to "yes." ?... Read More