How-to: Cold emailing and prospecting with a CRM

You. Me. Your friend. Your friend’s mother. Everybody is prospecting, one way or another. We are trying to find that needle in a haystack of options, products and contacts we encounter each day. Finding THAT one right answer, product or person does not always come easy.

Finding out which people are the right ones for your business can be made simple with email prospecting. Now, you and me both know that you are not a spammer. You simply want to generate leads and get the sale done. Given how easy it has become to simply press the send button on a mass-mailing tool, one would almost forget to prepare it properly. Would you? And, honestly now, how many of those automated emails you receive daily have you replied to?

When you prospect with cold emailing, you need to have one goal in mind above all others (okay, except for the final sale) – you want to get an answer from the person you’re emailing. It may sound confusing, but it’s rather simple. If you can send out an email on your own, you can do prospecting. And prospecting and following-up on your emails is straightforward with Platformax.

But let’s break that whole process down into a few simple steps:

1. You want to initiate a conversation based on what the person or their company recently did. Simply take a minute, look them up online and find something relevant to them, and include it in your prospecting email.

Include that info right in the subject line, so they can’t miss it. You’re mentioning something important to them and you don’t want them to miss it.

2. Timing, timing, timing. When do you check your emails? When do you reply to them? This also depends on the type of person you are emailing, so do your research here. A good prospecting email should get you an answer within the hour, or no later than the end of the same day. Everything beyond 5 days means that it’s unlikely they’ll ever get back to you. Luckily, there’s a cure for this in the next point.
3. Follow-up. Maybe you don’t see it like this just yet, but following up is the most important thing you can (and should) do. You can find a ton of research and posts done on follow-up emails, but here’s the summary: be short, be polite, and always stick to the point.

I set up at least 9 follow-ups to my email campaigns when prospecting with Platformax. Just don’t forget – timing is still key.

4. Make sure to give them value. Your prospect opened the email, which is excellent. But what’s waiting for them in the email itself? The same old sales-pitch he/she gets in the inbox 200-times per day won’t cut it. Find and give them something that can genuinely help them be more successful. Once the conversation is flowing, you can start talking about the sale and about yourself.
5. Get the prospect into a conversation, by asking them a question. You gave them something of value, now you have the chance to start a conversation, so a question is a great way to do just that. And don’t beat around the bush and bullshit your prospects, as people see through it. Be direct, polite and make it easy for them to reply.

Ideally, the reply you get will be in regards to the value you provided, but don’t be too obvious about it, the last thing you want to do is push your product/service in your prospect’s face.

Finally, sit back, track your emails, see when people open them and watch your inbox fill with potential new customers! Using email-tracking, Platformax makes sure that replies and communications all together never get lost. You always know when your email was opened and by whom.

So, to sum everything up:

1. Keep your emails short. 15-20 seconds worth of reading time, 3-4 sentences maximum.
2. Make them personal. Name, company, job title, maybe they have a pet? Whatever you can find.
3. One question, one call to action. Always stick to that. One.
4. Make it easy for them to reply. Imagine yourself replying to a question on your mobile, while driving or being on the train.
5. Stick to the point, be specific. Make sure the prospect knows what you want and what you are looking for.
6. Plain text is king. Fancy HTML tells everybody that your email was fully automated, and honestly, who ever replies to that?
7. Do. Your. Research. Check out your prospect or the industry/list you are going to email and then use that knowledge in your email.
8. When in doubt (or you just want to save time), ask for the right person. Maybe there is somebody in the company who would be a better person for you to talk to.

Be confident, be kind, be focused. Show that you want to talk to them and they will reply back.

This has worked for me so far, but if you think I’ve missed something, do let me know in the comments below!