Should sales people focus on email or phone calls?
The answer to this really depends on the nature of your business and what your customer preference is. I also get the impression your location or culture may be a key part of this. For me I seldom cold call, in my market and the B2B industry it would seem rude to call unannounced, unless you already have an established relationship. Even then unless it was urgent, or you had tried reaching via other channels first it would seem awkward making that contact by phone. More likely I would send an email first asking if it was ok to follow up with a call. I understand this may be different in other markets and industries but in B2B or enterprise selling in my experience this kind of initial contact is increasingly rare. Certainly I may send a number of emails and if I receive no response I may follow up with a call, which more often than not results in a voice mail message - so be prepared for that. However if its done in a professional manner following-up via a sales call can give your business more credibility - by providing a human or more personal touch, especially if you have done the homework on the company and have something specific of value to offer - that can help you make a good impression.
What are the challenges of email?
One of the major challenges is being seen and achieving relevance. There is just too much email out there, you may not get noticed. That is why to get attention you must aim for relevance - and achieve that quickly ideally using a name or a reference your prospect knows (A competitors name, or a topic area you know they are interested in).
Seen but not replied, how to respond? Well its better than not being seen at all. How you approach this should depend on the objective. If you were sending information and merely wanted acknowledgement I would leave it and wait for the next communication opportunity. If you are sending a proposal or information and need a reply I think a week is a reasonable time to repeat the request and another week (Depending on the urgency) to phrase the question or "ask" in a different way - each time adding some other kind of value if you can (An article link, an idea, tip, data)
Should sales people use email automation
Your company may do this but I think this is a useful tool for salespeople themselves too. If you are using content for outreach I would incorporate this into a simple email automation program. You can map out some content ahead of time and send short content pieces every month. I like to send an email newsletter or really a simple email every month.
However even if you are not generating content consistently there is still a role for email automation. Like most salespeople I never like to really let go of any prospects, and while I always try to keep a cold list and call at least a few each day at random - the most effective way to stay in touch with old prospects is via an automated email. There is not enough time to follow up with everyone that you have contact with, but we all know sometimes its just a matter of timing, if you get the right message at the right time you may get some interest again that leads to an opportunity that you would never have got if you had never stayed in touch.
Setting up email automation does not have to be too detailed or complicated, or too personalized or too clever - leave that to your marketing team. Keep it simple, simple personalization (Name), keep the content short, even bullet points but a couple of clear ideas, with possible links to more information if interested. Even if nobody replies, even if not many read or download, the worst case scenario nothing happens at all - that becomes a win because you did not waste any more time on prospects you might have spent time calling on. They are obviously a NO - for now! You also never know. I have had prospects come back to me years later, they never replied to emails, but they did notice them, read some, didn't read others - but appreciated the effort and the value I was offering.
Email Cadence
Most sales leaders have a view on cadence, sometimes in my view a non healthy pre occupation with it, but I do think it is something that varies according to the purpose or objectives. Is it a "hot" incoming lead? Is its a cold or warm outreach? Is it part of a defined process or just ad hoc? I am not the biggest fan of using a strict cadence and process. I tend to personalize all kinds of cadence. However I am trying now to have a stricter program in place, not because I think there is anything wrong with what I have been doing but I do think we should always be experimenting. I can always go back to what I was doing or vary it later if the results are not what I am expecting.
My normal approach to emails is to follow up within 2 days of initial contact, then perhaps another 2 days, and then weekly for a month or two before it drops to monthly/bimonthly. Buyers have busy lives, and 2 weeks can go by pretty quickly. Unless it is a hot or very well defined prospect (One that is not particularly hot but I have marked them as a prospect I want to spend time on) I do consider something like 7 touches (Emails/calls/LinkedIn messages) before the cadence turns to something like once a month or once a quarter. Once they become a once a quarter contact I tend to regard them as cold and they go to my cold email database - they then either receive my automated email for 12 months or simply receive the regular email newsletter which I try and send out once a month.
Common email problems for sales people
Your emails are to pushy? - I wince when I receive emails, with no previous contact, that suggest we schedule a call and I am offered two dates/times. It looks like the old school "alternative close" sales technique in action!. A lot of these type of emails assume the meeting - that's not the way. Alternatively, get attention, establish the value and then state clearly the benefits of the meeting and what you will cover.
Just send me an email . - Although many people do not like to send information first, as a buyer I do like to be in control and see some information first. As a seller sending information first enables you to qualify that person. If you send some interesting information first, that has been proven to be of interest to the kinds of customers you like to work with, and they do not respond that is a signal that maybe they are not right for you. A signal mind you not a definite sign, you may need to explore more. This information might include an indication of budgets (I don't always include this, but sometime do if in my judgement the prospect may not have budgets - I don't want to waste my time or theirs)
How to write emails to CXO's or senior executives.
There is lots of good advice out there on this topic. The key here is to understand how they are evaluated, (What's important to them) know or have an idea of what they biggest challenge is, and understand how you can help them emotionally. Its really the classic understanding "what's in it for them". Here are some other thoughts:
Use a quick, informative subject line.
Make a good first impression - a strong opening.
Keep it short but meaningful.
Offer real value or ideas.
Share examples, ideally of competitors.
Double-check grammar and spelling. (Sounds silly but execs do tend value professionalism in all aspects)
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