Q: What do Jennifer Lopez and cold outreach have in common?
A: They haven’t aged in 20 years.
With the exception of LinkedIn, the fundamentals of cold outreach haven’t changed since J-Lo dropped “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” in the early 2000s.
So if you want a slew of people lining up to work with you, there’s no need to look further than:
Phone calls… Emails… Direct mail… And more recently, LinkedIn.
Now, your success (or lack thereof) on these platforms won’t be determined by WHAT method you use.
Your success will be measured by HOW you choose to use your preferred method. On that note, here’s how to leverage phone calls, emails, direct mail, and LinkedIn so you can see a MUCH higher return on your cold outreach efforts:
1: Phone Calls
Believe it or not, cold calling is still super effective.
Yet, there are a few things you need to consider before you pick up the phone.
If you’re a B2B business (or you mostly deal with C-suite type people) then chances are, your cold call will go straight to voicemail. Every. Single. Time.
Why?
Well, ‘back in the day’ people used to have a business landline in their office. And if the phone rang, they’d answer. Either that or their receptionist would pick up.
But these days?
Most people have a business cell and don’t want to be disturbed in the middle of their work day – especially if they don’t recognize the number.
A more effective (and less intrusive) approach would be to send the following text FIRST:
“Hey [prospects name], this is [your name] from [your business].
I’m just following up on the email I sent you on Tuesday.
I didn’t want to call and catch you off guard, so I’m reaching out to tell you more about [product/service] – you can check your inbox for more information.
If you have any questions, hit reply.
Thanks, [Your name]”
This template won’t guarantee they’ll get back to you, but your prospects will be more receptive to what you have to say if you text them before calling.
2: Emails
There’s nothing more annoying than sending out a bunch of cold emails only to receive the dreaded ‘Postmaster Delivery Failure' notification.
Keeping that in mind, the first you need is a list of verified email addresses.
Although this isn’t a perfect science, websites like rocketreach.com, hunter.io, and seamlessai.com will help you find verified contact information.
Once you’ve got your contacts in place, here’s a 4-step cold-email formula that I’ve found to be extremely effective:
Cold Email Step #1: Personalized First Line
People are smart. If you send a generic copy-and-paste first line – they won’t read the second line. Instead, make sure you reference something your prospect (or their company) has done recently.
Cold Email Step #2: Value Proposition
What makes your company unique? What problems do you solve? And how do you solve their problem quicker, faster, and better than anyone else?
If you don’t answer these questions in the first few lines of your cold email, don’t expect a reply.
Cold Email Step #3: Trust Statement
Show, don’t tell.
Build trust by briefly SHOWING your prospect how you helped a similar company increase revenue, get more leads, save a bunch of money… whatever you specialize in.
You can do this by including testimonials, or proof of results in your email.
Cold Email Step #4: Ask One Question
While super obvious, you’d be surprised how many business owners and salespeople screw this up.
Including a casual question that nudges your prospects to reply is the best approach.
Something like: “Would you consider hiring outside partners for a project like this?” “Are you the right person I should be reaching out to?” “Would you be open to chatting over Zoom next Wednesday?”
If you include the above four steps, you’ll have a solid cold email formula that you can personalize to each client.
And if you really want to perfect your cold email outreach, here’s a handful of things you should also consider: ✶ Send all your cold emails from an alias domain – helps with deliverability. ✶ Write at a 5th-grade level – trying to ‘sound smart’ makes people stop reading. ✶ Avoid using images, links, or attachments – they flag spam filters. ✶ Make sure your email is about your prospect – self-explanatory. ✶Your email shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to read – this person doesn’t care about you (yet) so be respectful of their time.
Okay, now you know how to leverage phone calls and emails, let’s talk about…
3: Direct Mail
Direct mail is one of the best (if not the best) ways to stand out from the crowd.
But thanks to COVID, a LOT of your prospects are still working from home, or they’re only in the office a couple of days a week…
So – unless you’re reaching out to an ex-client – I’d avoid sending anything to their home. Best to err on the side of caution and send your mailer to their business address.
With direct mail, personalization is key.
Which, of course, requires time and money. But don’t let that put you off, just make sure your gesture is well received by your prospect.
For example: Don’t send a “just for you” handwritten note and a jar of chocolate chip cookies to a gluten-free prospect. That would NOT go down well – no pun intended.
Your only limitation here is your imagination (and maybe your budget).
Even though direct mail seems like a LOT of effort…
If signing a client adds thousands of dollars to your bottom line every month, then spending a few hundred bucks on a direct mail campaign is a no-brainer.
And the best part? Most businesses are too lazy to run a direct mail campaign…
If you’re willing to go the extra mile then this strategy could be a game changer for you and your business.
4: LinkedIn
Over the last year or so, LinkedIn has become a spammer's heaven...
Meaning your prospects are sick and tired of the countless automated connection requests and direct messages they’re getting every day.
So if you’re using software that automates this process make sure you STOP the automation as soon as your prospect accepts your connection request.
Or in other words, prove that you’re not a robot.
Case in point… A couple of weeks back, I reached out to a prospect and congratulated her on working for the same company for 20 years (I also mentioned her labradoodle was adorable) – a computer can’t do that, yet.
Her response? “Thank you Chelsea, means a lot. We’ve had Saddie for about 8 years now. Anyway, tell me a little bit more about what you do?”
Building genuine connections on LinkedIn doesn’t cost anything – so make sure you do your research and spend a few minutes a day sending hyper-personalized messages to your prospects.
But there’s more to LinkedIn than sending direct messages…
To get responses and book discovery calls, I’d also recommend: ✶ Commenting on their posts. ✶ Endorsing them for certain skills. ✶ Writing meaningful recommendations for them. ✶ Posting original and thought-provoking content on your profile.
Basically, if you want to stand out from all the charlatans and spammers on LinkedIn, you have to use most (if not all) of the features on the platform.
And that’s a wrap. Four "not-so-secret" strategies to land clients in 2023.
Like anything in business, people tend to overthink the most basic advice and end up doing nothing. Don’t be that person.
Phone calls, emails, direct mail, and LinkedIn are all ‘touch points’ with your prospect.
So the most effective approach would be to pick 2 (or 3) of these methods and get in front of prospects on a regular basis.
As for frequency? Consistency is key. So ensure that you set an outreach strategy that you can easily maintain.
When I worked in real-estate the ‘industry standard’ for prospecting was at least 30 touch points a year.
Which loosely translates to 10 phone calls, 10 emails, and 10 direct mail campaigns, per prospect.
Now, I’m not saying you have to go to that extreme… But you should definitely stay in touch with your prospects multiple times a year so you’re the obvious choice when they’re ready to buy.
Thanks, Chelsea Olsen
PS: Struggling to bring new leads into your business every month? Drop me a message and I’ll show you how I can help you generate new business even if you HATE selling.
PPS: Ring my bell for more business (and sales) insights.