Email prospecting seems to be on the rise. The last post on The SalesProInsider started the discussion on whether it really works. I posed the question to sales expert colleagues and Kendra Lee of the KLA Group is PRO for the right type of email prospecting:
Nancy,
Yes, email prospecting does work. I write, speak, coach and train on how to do it all the time and get people who tell me what great success they’ve had. However, the approach this person used is inappropriate for a number of reasons. Here are just 3 strikes against her:
- She probably never sent the first email she referenced and the recipient will know that
- There’s nothing that would interest the recipient because it’s all about the seller – no value proposition, triggering event, ROI
- It’s all about clicking to go their site, nothing about talking and learning about the recipient’s needs which a good seller knows is key to selling anything
And then a very entertaining response from another colleague, Molly Cox:
As a buyer my first thoughts would be …why isn’t she calling me? Does she have a man voice? Does she talk though a voice box?
Okay, seriously tho’, if people can do this more power to them. There is an art to writing a compelling e-mail that would make someone want to go to the next level. I’ll be interested to know if soon we’ll be texting people for sales.
Guess I’m an old “build the relationship” kinda gal.
Molly Cox Strongcoffeeink (Molly has a special blend of coffee just for sales pros!)
Kendra (always the practical one) sent another note in response:
Great point, Molly!
I think a combination of email & phone are always best when you have a key prospect you want to reach. When you have a group of prospects who are similar (like a target market) and are trying to identify interested prospects, using email can be a great tool, but it MUST sound like the email was written just to you, not some generic thing like Nancy’s friend received.
Now what to do? Does email prospecting work? Kendra says Yes, if done with the right OTHER proactive activities. She has two articles on her site that give some good tips on how to use it effectively (and I understand her next book on prospecting will cover this thoroughly). You can access the articles:
Is Email Hiding Your Personality? Read
Email is the New Phone Read
Thanks for the advice Kendra – we all look forward to your next book on prospecting.
Stay tuned…the next post has a marketer’s opposing viewpoint on email prospecting.
