I get a lot of emails from people trying to sell me something.  Heck, I send a lot of those same kind of emails as well.  But what really makes me want to delete the incoming ones is when they are so blatant in their desire to sell me on buying what it is that they are selling that they tell me all about who they are and how great they are and what their customers are saying, and not giving any inkling at all that they even know who we are and what we need.

You’ve probably received those same kind of “Hope and Prayer” emails and deleted or sentenced them to your junk file.

If you send out emails to prospect for business, there is something you must do before you hit “send”: you must first of all, research the person and the business you are sending your email to, and secondly, instead of asking “what can I sell you?”, you should be asking “what does a company like yours need, that I may be able to help you with?” and design your connection around that. The email should be mostly about just getting the appointment, not about selling something. Then they will know that you really care about them instead of just yourself.

Coming at it from that direction puts you squarely in the prospects shoes, and shows them that you have an understanding of what it is that they want and an idea of how you can specifically help them.

When you come at sales through fixing and asking better questions and putting your customers before yourself, that’s when you’ll get the respect and trust that will lead to better sales success.

Make an impact.

~ Paul Kearley
Managing Partner, Dale Carnegie Business Group – Maritimes Division
(506) 432-6500 / pkearley@dalecarnegie.ca