Every day, 122.3 billion spam emails are sent. Can you even imagine that? No wonder everyone keeps asking how to cut through the clutter and get the attention of your prospects.

Have you ever received those emails where they ask if you’re interested in their product? We’ve all been victims of this plague of a problem.

Here’s a Linkedin message I got just today:

Hello Amanda,

We are seeing tremendous success through the digital solutions we offer working with our amazing clients. I would like to share with you the below in an effort to be a pure resource for you. Let’s schedule time and exchange how we could help one another. Please let me know what works, and of course, feel free to call me anytime.

My inbox is filled with these messages. Every time I read them I wonder, is this even working? This tactic must be pulling in at least a little action for them to keep being sent. Well, statistically based on my father’s famous buyer’s pyramid. When sending out an email so tactical, you have a 3% chance the recipient will be in the “buying now” category. 

(Thank you to Dan Pfister for creating this beautiful graphic!)

Would you like to gain 9x more response from your cold prospecting? Then find a topic that will interest a prospect whether they’re not interested in you, think they’re not interested in you, or even definitely not interested in you.

Here’s an example of a cold prospecting email I sent for a client. They had just hired six new sales people to start selling directly to their clientele instead of using their historical model of selling to distributors. Because it was a new division, they had little knowledge on how to grab the attention of their end buyer. So we did some research and found out what their prospects were interested in. 

The sales team was responsible for generating two new clients a month, that was the goal. None of them generated more than 7 the entire year. It was quite a difficult start to the division. Once I interviewed the sales team and heard them say it was nearly impossible to get a builder on the phone, I had to test it myself.

I had an associate who knew a big multi family builder. He’s constantly buying buildings, renovating them, and selling them. This was a perfect prospect for my client. I’d also heard through our mutual friend, David, that he liked to read and study market data, which was PERFECT. So this is how the email turned out: 

Subject line: Market Data on Home Improvement

Hey Jack,

I hear through David that you do a lot of research.

My research company just spent $100k to get data on the 3 Biggest Trends Driving Growth in Housing and Home Improvement and how to capitalize on them for years to come. In 20 minutes, I can show you statistical evidence of:

• The current state of housing in the US
• The biggest influence on our housing market today and for the next several decades
• The rise of technology and the smart home
• The biggest concerns of current home owners and the potential for home buyers
• Solving the biggest home issue instead of applying band-aids

This will be the best 20 minutes you’ve spent in a while. What’s your availability like this next week? I have time in the morning on Friday, and afternoon on Tuesday.

Do either of those work for you to give you this education?

All my best,

Amanda Holmes

How is that for a cold prospecting email? If you were a builder, would you want to take that meeting? Do I have a better chance of winning that appointment with a message like this? Notice how it has NOTHING to do with my product. It says NOTHING about the company I work at. But it gives HEAPS of value. Value after value after value. High powered 20 minutes.

This approach reaches the full buyer’s pyramid, people who aren’t thinking about it, aren’t interested, and let me tell you, Jack was NOT interested. At first. He actually told our mutual friend Jack that he didn’t want to be rude but if I didn’t give him value in the first few minutes, he would leave the call abruptly. 

I will tell you because I had a Core Story packed with great market data, I didn’t just win his attention for the 20 minutes, we were on for 90 minutes.

Within the first five minutes, he started asking me questions like I was the industry expert. Even though he’d been in the industry for over forty years. He went from definitely not interested, to 90 minutes later asking to meet with my client’s sales team about their product.

That is the power of strategic education-based marketing.

So let’s look at the template you can use for this cold prospecting email:

Hey name,

We’ve commissioned a study about [Insert your stadium pitch title here].

In a short [pick a time 22 minutes or less] you will learn:

• Benefit to client about something they care about that potentially has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with what’s top of mind for them right now.
• Benefit to client about a hot button topic that’s keeping them up at night
• Benefit that will likely save them time, money, or energy.
• Possibly a benefit that talks about another Case Study and how you saved other clients time or money.

Would [this time specifically] work for you?

Or you can find a time that works for you by clicking this link that has my availability. [There’s many tools out there that can automatically show your calendar availability, I recommend Calendly].

Sincerely,

Your name.

P.S. [Something clever or interesting considering majority of people read the P.S. and the first sentence more than anything else]

Now it takes time to make that presentation. But once you do, the amount of response, the quality of every interaction will be nine times stronger. 

If you’d like a process like this implemented into your business, you can always apply for a Core Story consultation. We are here to help you succeed!