As you’re reading this, there’s an FNG on a sales floor somewhere asking their sales manager which works 100% of the time? Sending a cold-email first then cold-calling or the other way around?
After many trials and tribulations, I’ve found a balance between alternating outreach sequences because they’ve both proven to be highly successful.
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Cold-email isn’t a replacement for cold-calling but a compliment.
When you send a cold-email, don’t swing for the fences. Here, you want to ask for something small like who the point of contact is and when they’re available to talk.
You want to lead with a punchy elevator pitch and display your value-add while being brief.
50% of my Fortune 500 closed and won business this year originated from a cold-email.
A cold-email is a fantastic method for introducing your product to high-level executives.
Sure, execs get a ton of them everyday but that’s true about cold-calls too.
As a salesperson, you have multiple tools at your disposal and it’s important to diversify your approach by using them all: Cold-calling, social networking/ selling, referrals and cold-email.
When you do get a receptive party, often, they’ll refer you to the point of contact and sometimes go as far as replying to you while copying that main point of contact.
Once you’ve isolated the target, verify their position through some quick research and decide how you want to jump-start the conversation.
Identifying points of contact in Fortune 500 companies can take a while.
When it’s made easy for you, always thank the party who referred you and then thank them again when you close the deal.
Cold-Email on a Hot Lead
When I get a new batch of leads, I start my triage:
- Some leads get a call first followed by an email.
- Others are emailed first, followed by a call.
- After a few attempts, I use a combination of both to different execs across multiple departments
Choose which works best for you. And although, this should go without saying, don’t email every person in every department.
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The advantage of cold-emailing into the Enterprise with a sophisticated solution is that it’s tough for them to ignore. If you’re selling a solution with the power to have significant impact on that organization’s revenue or operations, you won’t get denied without them doing their due-diligence. After all, if your goods are that good, it’s irresponsible for them not to carefully consider your proposition.
Naturally, this type of approach requires a captivating headline along with messaging that’s informative with just enough room to pique the prospect’s curiosity.
It’s a fact though, cold-email open rates, regardless of subject line and industry, are low.
But, you’ve heard this before – it’s a numbers game and like the lottery, you’ve gotta play to win.
Is This Thing On?
And of course there’s the sound every salesperson loathes – crickets.
You send out 60 emails and get zero response.
Well, maybe your subject line’s weak, your copy’s no good or all your communication’s ended up in Spam City.
Regardless, set a follow task to call them and when leaving voicemail (assuming you don’t get them live), refer to the sent email by date, email address it came from and what you wrote in the subject line.
This way, if they missed the email, they know exactly how to find you in their inbox.
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If you don’t already know, corporate execs are a busy bunch. I’ve followed up on cold-emails that reaped no response only to find out the organization had already begun internal reviews, all without ever mentioning it to me.
Point being, just because you haven’t heard back, doesn’t mean you’re not in play.
It’s understandable, there are a lot of us calling these execs and sometimes they don’t have the bandwidth to reply, or:
- They don’t want to get our hopes up for fear that we’ll never leave them alone.
- The decision maker(s) have other priorities but our proposal’s on deck
- They prefer to do their own research and forego any input from the salesperson until they’re ready to buy
Either way, these are all reasons why you shouldn’t mistake silence for no.
In the event you’re denied access, by all means, do not fold. Instead, make it a personal challenge to find another way in.
Stand by Your Send
I’ve been denied entry into companies more times than I could ever count. When this happens, the first item on my checklist is getting a better understanding of who denied me and where they stand on the decision ladder.
- Did I log the contact with their correct role? If you use multiple databases (Linkedin, Zoominfo, Google), sometimes a management-level title may differ slightly between databases.
- Does that person have any or absolute power with respect to making a decision of this caliber?
Seriously. If your solution can save an Enterprise six or seven figures, make them six or seven figures, tighten up their Strategic Sourcing initiatives or help them consolidate hundreds of vendors, does the person telling you No actually have the juice to make a unilateral decision of that magnitude without checking with anyone else?
In my mind, the answer is always – no. Big decisions in corporations are made on consensus.
Corporate departments are co-dependent but most of the time, one hand doesn’t know what the other’s doing.
Have you ever had a scenario where you signed a client only to find out that someone in another department far far away already signed a contract for a similar solution with a competitor?
Happens all the time.
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I’m highly suspicious when I get an immediate No.
Employees who say no that quickly are usually NOPO’s (No Power Prospects). They can’t make decisions, but they want you to think otherwise. They don’t carry weight so they over-compensate.
In that moment, saying no to your cold-email beats having to listen to another sales pitch that diverts their attention from current projects.
That’s why you shouldn’t take denials personally. You haven’t got a clue about what that person’s dealing with at any given time.
Be polite, say thank you and find another way in.
Stay on Track
One way to mitigate open rates and increase your chances of getting through is by using an email tracker. YesWare, Adobe Send and Track or Clearslide can all do this for you at different price points while CRM’s like SalesForce and HubSpot already have this feature built-in.
But, while you’re conducting outreach through cold-email, remember that your initial goal isn’t to sell the prospect or close the deal.
Here, you’re passively qualifying the account, finding out who’s purview your solution falls under, how to get a hold of them or set up a meeting.
Some old-school tacticians profess that an email first gives the recipient an easy out. They can reply with no or not interested.
Newsflash – It’s sales. Prospects can say no at any time whether you’ve cold-emailed, cold-brewed, cold-called or cold-cocked.
Your responsibility is to craft a message that gets their attention long enough to secure the opportunity to present.
So, go on. Shock em out of corporate coma, find a pulse and let her rip.
From Cold-Email to Close
There’s a ton of online material devoted to getting cold-email opened but choose your sources carefully.
A lot of templates that guarantee ‘opens’ suggest you blow smoke up the target’s tuchus, name drop some random 3rd Degree Linkedin connection or break the ice with a corny joke in your cold-email.
Would you reply to any of those?
These cutesy approaches may work for B2C Sales but don’t stand a chance in B2B.
Establishing honest rapport is legit – manufacturing it is a waste of everybody’s time.
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Most complex and enterprise-level sales require multiple strategies over the course of the Sale cos there ain’t no magic bullet.
Mash up your outreach through cold-calling, social selling and networking to grow your book of business.
And most definitely include cold-email as part of your selling strategy.