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I got this email a few weeks ago from someone I did not know at the time.
I liked it and replied to the email. I think this email has several ingredients you could use in your email prospecting.
Nigel,
I’m a young entrepreneur looking for your input as you are a sales 2.0 leader.
I have 1 very, very quick question and if you could answer it, it would mean the world to my team and I. Thank you!!!
Imagine that you have 5 brilliant data-scientists that can build software to automatically research your prospects and their company before any sales meeting. What would you build and how valuable would that be for you?
Thank you again, you rock. People like you who respond to these emails are why entrepreneurs are able to build amazing products.
Aaron
Here’s what I like about this email and what you may be able to include in your emails when prospecting:
1. He flattered me right off and he knew who I was by calling me a “Sales 2.0 leader”. You’d think knowing who I am and buttering me up a little would be so obvious it’s not worth pointing out here but keep in mind that 90% of the prospecting calls and emails I get don’t recognize who I am.
2. He relieved some of the pressure by saying he only had one “very, very” quick question. Like most “SNAPpy” prospects I’m stretched like a rubber band for time. One of biggest fears when receiving a sales person’s call is giving up my time. Promising to be quick lowers the bar and increases the chances of getting that first vital conversation or email reply.
3. This seemed like fun when he said “imagine”. I actually felt this exercise would be interesting (but I also noted to self “I’m not going to spend more than a few minutes on this”, see #2 above.)
4. He flattered me again at the end, “Thank you again, you rock. People like you who respond to these emails are why entrepreneurs are able to build amazing products.” Since my mission is to make a difference to the sales profession helping entrepreneurs build great products for sales people is totally aligned with what I’m about. Hard to overlook this sentence for me.
One thing he could have done better:
As I’ve mentioned to Aaron, the one item I really would have liked to have seen at the very beginning of this email is a reference to someone we know in common. Something like “I’m a young entrepreneur looking for your input as you are a sales 2.0 leader. I just spoke to Anneke Seley and she said I should speak to you”.
That would have increased the chances of me responding a lot. I did respond to the email but that would have totally sealed the deal.
Epilogue: after I responded to this initial email. Aaron asked for clarification on some points I made. It was too hard for me to type that all out so I requested a call. We had a really enjoyable call and now of course I’m writing about him. I’m also planning to take a look at his sales tool, Charlie, and write about it here.
Nice outcome I’d say. Please consider (and let me know if you have any thoughts on making this email even better.)
PS in case you don’t know your Cockney rhyming slang, a “right Charlie” means someone not too smart