- The opening line is classic “product peddling” as it’s all about them. “Our company…”. At this moment, I could care less.
- Then it gives me a bunch of random links and in today’s hyper-sensitive world of cyber-security, rule number one is never click on a link from someone you don’t know.
- His closing paragraph is equally non-compelling. “I am here to help…”. Help with what?
At the RAB we teach that all prospect engagement should begin with a Valid Business Reason (VBR). That reason has NOTHING to do with your company, products, or services. It’s usually a piece of research you’ve found in your pre-call planning that relates directly to their business or a problem their category of business is facing.
For example, if you were calling on a restaurant you might say, “According to the National Restaurant Association restaurants today are still facing a shortage of up to 1 million employees from pre-pandemic levels. What challenges are you having recruiting for your restaurant?” Note, that’s an open-ended question rather than, are you having trouble? They can simply say “No” and hang up. The point of a prospect call, email, or face-to-face is always to engage the prospect. Get them talking about themselves, then ask for a meeting to explore further.
Other than saving this email from Eric to my “Bad Prospecting Examples” folder, I will take no action and simply would have deleted it.
I also received a follow-up email to another solicitation where they asked me: “Are you the person who handles HR decisions at RAB?” I simply replied, “Not even close.” They then replied, “Great, would you mind telling me who is the appropriate person?” To which I responded: “Yes, I mind. I don’t reward lazy prospecting.”
I’m really a nice and for the most part helpful person, except when it comes to horrible prospecting approaches. I don’t think I’m alone – which is why email and other forms of lazy prospecting simply don’t work. We can and we should do better.
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