Does Cold Email Work?

You might feel that cold email doesn’t work and goes straight into the spam inbox.

However, for every cold message campaign you bin, that business will be likely booking calls.

Or they wouldn’t be sending emails at all.

Statistics say that email outreach provides 40 times more customer acquisition than social channels, and it is still the most popular channel for cold outreach [https://salesblink.io/blog/cold-outreach].

Reaching key decision makers in their primary inbox with an appealing message that speaks to a tangible pain point is both an art and a science.

However, crafting a good email script for cold outreach is one of the things many consultants struggle to do.

So, what is the secret to getting high open rates and calls booked?

First I can tell you what NOT to do:

• Don’t sell in your outreach message. Nobody likes to receive a cold message with a direct pitch for services. This is a sure way to get reported as spam or just deleted.

• Don’t spray and pray. Do not message everyone and anyone with a generic message in the hope that it will get some replies.

• For deliverability do not use images, logos or links.

• Don’t use special fonts - keep the email clean with lots of white space. Bold words or phrases to draw attention but that’s it.

Next create a hyper-targeted list of leads with their validated email addresses.

There are several ways to do this:

• Buy lists online [my least favourite option].

• Create your own custom list from industry databases such as Crunchbase, D7 Lead Finder, Zoom Info, Apollo, and more

• Create your own lists by with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and then use various tools to extract email addresses [my preferred option].

The most important thing to keep in mind is that 40% of your email campaign success lies in your list.

This means that nearly half of your attention should go into making sure you have the right people to target before you even start writing an email.

Third, isolate the most pressing challenge or pain that this group of people are facing that you can with 100% confidence solve.

Another 40% of your email success rate is that you connect with your cold prospect on an issue that is affecting them.

We are now at 80% of your email success entirely relying on you messaging the right people about the right problem.

This is before even starting to compose a catchy message or headline.

By showing that you know their pressing challenge or need you show relevance to the prospect and at least win their time to read what you have to say.

If you start with information about what you do or your services you lose people’s attention immediately.

Fourth, offer value.

This point aligns with the point above which warns you not to sell in your cold email.

By offering value, often a short strategy call or free consultation is enough, you engage your cold lead into a conversation that opens the relationship up.

It is this warm relationship that is now the foundation for a sales conversation and not before.

Other forms of value can be free events, free or low-priced training, an eBook, or others.

The key is that this offer has to be VALUABLE to your target.

At this point, they are not yet trading their money for the value but they are trading their time, so it has to appeal to their desire to solve a very specific problem.

Fifth, give a clear call to action.

This means you close your email with very clear steps for them to take next if they are interested.

This can simply be instructions to reply for more information.

Do not leave the prospect confused about what to do next.

Step out very clearly what they can do if your email hits a nerve.

Sixth, be conversational and clear.

It’s easy to get carried away in an outreach message with exposition about why you are getting in touch or who you are.

Write your email like you’re having a simple conversation with someone, polite and clear.

Make sure you show relevance to them and their pain or challenge and offer your free value.

Be simple and to the point.

I like to add a ‘no worries’ clause which means I give them a clear “out” if they are not interested.

Seventh, follow GDPR guidelines.

Definitely research the data protection laws about cold emailing for business in your region.

A universal etiquette is to allow people to opt-out from hearing from you again, whether that is by reply email or an opt-out button in the footer of your email.

When you have a good list, a relevant and painful challenge to solve, a great offer of value, and a clear conversational outreach message with a call to action, you can enjoy higher than normal open rates, reply rates, and call booking rates.

If you would like help with your cold email campaigns then simply comment below and we can set up a short call.

Does Cold Email Work? | Jen Bishop Consulting best lead generation agency in London UK

The Three Desires Of Your Ideal Client

When outreaching to your #idealclient, it is of paramount importance to speak in terms of their #challenges and #desires.

Connecting with our ideal clients' current #pains makes them feel heard and understood.

Talking to them about their #dreams and #desires makes them feel inspired and encouraged.

The combination of these in our #sales and #outreachcopy, creates an emotional connection.

This holds their attention long enough for us to present a #solution [our product or service] as a means of bridging the gap between where they are now [pain] and where they wish to be [desire].

Done well, this process leads the right person [ideal client] to willingly and even enthusiastically, part with their money and #invest in our solution.

What is critical here though are the THREE desires of our clients and how we can speak to each of them effectively.

The best illustration I can give to this is the framework of a story.

In every story we essentially have three ingredients:

1. A character with a desire

2. An obstacle they face attaining that desire

3. Their struggle to overcome this obstacle and achieve the desire.

Every story teller from Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Tolkien and Disney uses these basic ingredients.

Some stories are much longer and more complex, with more characters and more twists and turns but the basics remain the same.

This is why storytelling, much more than charts, tables, numbers, dot points, is so powerful when selling, because we take our ideal client on their own journey of transformation.

We can create a picture of them overcoming their own challenge or pain to achieve the desire.

And in doing so, we position ourselves as the guide to help them navigate that journey.

The reality is that characters in stories are never driven by one simple desire. We humans always have complex layers of desire that motivate us.

The more we can resonate with the multiple layers of desire that our ideal client experiences, the more powerful our sales messaging will be.

Think of any character in any story you love:

• Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice

• Luke Skywalker in Star Wars

• Harry Potter in well, the Harry Potter books

• …insert your favorite character here

They always have three desires: an external desire, an internal desire and a philosophical desire.

Let’s take the story of Star Wars as an example.

The story follows the basic external desire or goal of Luke Skywalker to find the princess and bring the secret plans of the Death Star to her, thus saving the galaxy.

However, Luke is also driven by the internal desire to impress the beautiful princess and to build friendships and alliances along the way to help him become the hero.

Moreover, Luke is also deeply driven by a philosophical desire to find out more about the origins of his birth, and to understand his calling as someone greater than merely a farm boy.

The three desires, external, internal and philosophical, not only make Luke an interesting and relatable character but also, they raise the tension he faces with each obstacle that thwarts his desires.

Finally, the joy he experiences when he achieves these three desires, make the victory all the more sweeter.

Multiple desires, multiple obstacles and a journey that holds them all together is what makes this story truly great.

This is also what makes good sales messaging truly great.

Nike doesn’t only appeal to your desire to get fit and play sport [external desire] but also your desire to be admired and attractive to romantic partners [internal desire] and most significantly your desire to find deep courage to overcome any odds and become the true warrior and hero you know yourself to be [philosophical desire].

Apple doesn’t only appeal to your desire to get work done and communicate [external desire] but also your desire to create truly beautiful things that transcend mere functional use and create delight [internal desire] and more importantly your desire to tap into your true genius despite being a misfit, to think differently and to truly shape the world by your creativity [philosophical desire].

If you can effectively map not only the external desires of your ideal client, but also their internal and philosophical desires, and if you can show how your solution helps them to overcome the obstacles and challenges that thwart these desires....

...then you have awesome sales messaging.

Jen Bishop Consulting best lead generation agency in London UK

Why You Don’t Need To Fear Competition

I used to be soooooo afraid that someone else would have a consulting offer just like mine, which would make me redundant.

Fear of competition made me nervous, jealous, and territorial.

Like I was creating some rare IP or patent that someone could steal or claim in my place.

Now I see the total ridiculousness of these ideas for so many reasons.

Someone once pointed out that McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Subway often group to form an eat-street of options.

Rather than fear each other and stake out different corners of town, they form a hub that draws more people out to eat.

Their competition is healthy, both for them and their customers, who have more choices, more competitive prices, better services, etc.

A new burger bar on the street would hardly dent their market share because the more burger joints there are, the more people eat burgers.

It dawned on me then that competition in my niche was a good thing - and that, in fact, I should be more afraid of NO competition because this would probably mean nobody wanted what I was selling.

If you bring a genuinely new offer to the market, you then have the challenge of educating the market that they need it, what it is, and why it's useful.

Many failed innovations have come to market too early - only to be replaced several years later by a similar product launched at the right time that people were ready for it.

If you're entering a so-called 'crowded niche', no education is necessary - your clients know how it works. You have to stand out as different, better value, more professional or personable, more agile or bespoke, or better at creating results.

For most businesses that are solving everyday life problems - there is such a blue ocean of need that it's almost bottomless. (I mean, will there ever be a world where all the problems are solved and we live in a perfect paradise?)

And even if you offer something similar to other people ( I refer to the swathes of coaches who coach coaches to coach coaches or the many who will help you to reach $10k months), you will always add your own experience, personality, and perspective such that you'll present classic and timeless truths and frameworks with your unique voice and presence.

Just think - there are 7BN + people today, and perhaps 30% will speak English as a first or second language.

Of these 2BN +, most will never be able to nor ever want to run a business but will have heaps of challenges that need solving.

Even if we are now down to millions of potential businesses competing in your market and niche, you ONLY need 200 clients to pay you $5000 to make $1m a year in your business.

Probably 200 people or businesses need your help in your town, province, state, county, nation, or even the world.

I get other B2B marketers sussing me out constantly, checking my prices, peeking at my free offers to see if theirs are better.

I don't mind now. There will never be a shortage of people who need my help - we will not be scrapping for clients in a zero-sum game.

My job is to be better at what I do every day and to create happy customers whose problems have been solved.

Even if we divided the ocean into sections - you take this bit, I will take that bit - there are still miles of ocean left.

We can only grow to be worth the opportunity to solve people's problems.

I hope you see the blue ocean of opportunity for your business.

Let's get to work !!

Jen Bishop Consulting best lead generation agency in London UK