In the sales process, there are seldom “one call” sales. Most sales are made after a sales cycle of 90 days or longer. There are several factors that need to be addressed, especially when pursuing a new customer.
• First Contact:
You need a compelling opening headline in an email to get the prospect to open it. If the email is opened, you need a compelling opening and introduction to get the prospect to read the email. Ideally, you need the email to be short and brief. The prospect needs to digest your information to see if he/she wants to read further. Provide a giveaway or some useful information.
Do not ask for a sale or purchase of your product. Allow an opportunity to get off your email list.
Do not be surprised if you get no response.
Do not ask for a sale or purchase of your product. Allow an opportunity to get off your email list.
Do not be surprised if you get no response.
• Second contact:
You need a compelling opening headline in an email to get the prospect to open it. If the email is opened, you need a compelling opening and introduction to get the prospect to read the email. Ideally, you need the email to be short and brief. The prospect needs to digest your information to see if he/she wants to read further. Provide a give-a-way or some useful information.
Do not ask for a sale or purchase of your product. Allow an opportunity to get off your email list.
Do not be surprised if you get no response.
• Third contact:
Are you getting the picture now? You need to repeat the process again, and again. Always being careful to not sound salesy but provide bits of information about you, your company, and the problems you can solve. And always provide useful information that they can use or information they can request.
• 4th through 12th contact:
Do this for up to 12 contacts. Basically, do the same thing over and over. Try and write 12 compelling headlines and short information emails. Then sequence them out. Potential customers have contacted me after the 12th contact and tell me they just then saw my email contact.
The selling game and sales process has always been a game of numbers. Prospects today continually hide behind voice mail and most companies have given up on front door gatekeepers. How are you supposed to get to them?
Many salespeople give up after the first or second contact attempt. We used to rehearse our telemarketing skills for the phone. Now we need to be better at attention-grabbing through email and absolutely be ready for the eventual first live phone or face-to-face contact. We need to be ready to pack information into 10 minutes or less. then proceed to the next step.
This process of 12 or more contacts seems daunting. It works if you pick the correct prospect audience to buy your products. There is a lot of noise in the marketplace, especially salespeople trying to get the buyer’s attention.
Build your list and begin.
