One of my mentoring clients asked me to review her sponsorship sales approach to see how she could improve. She told me she has a lot of experience in one industry but not much in others.
Industry experience is only one piece of the issue. And not a very big piece.
Turns out, my client had very high expectations for her approach. Our technology for contacting people is amazing. With the push of a button, we can send a personally written email message around the globe and get in front of a complete stranger. It's easy to assume that if we receive no word in return that we have failed with that one email and that the antidote is to send more and more emails to new strangers.
In fact, that's not the case.
Just like the prospects you're emailing, you receive lots of emails each day, right? At times, important emails drift below your immediate sight lines, right? And you forget to respond. Same thing happens for prospects. They also delete them.
Besides that, some people respond better by phone. Some people are better reached early or late in the day. Or on their cell phones. Or by text. The fact is, you really don't know the person's preferences yet. So don't give up after one email.
Plan a strategy that involves multiple calls and multiple emails. Make sure the content of these messages is all about the prospect, shows you've done your homework, and are relevant and strategically aligned with the company's goals. Call and email once every few days with new content, and guide the process.
Cold calling is not impossible, but not ideal and certainly not always comfortable. Do whatever you can to "warm up" these calls. Focus on building a relationship, not on closing the deal. Make sure your expectations are realistic and not driving you to unproductive behaviors.
