This Tactic Will Land You in the “Thanks, But No Thanks” File

My pal Harry forwarded to me a  how-not-to-do-it sales email he received the other day. 

He called it “fertile material” for the emails I send. 

He got that right. 

The email Harry forwarded was from a design firm in Arizona that was fishing for business. The email came from Dave, the firm’s principal. 

“Hi Harry,” Dave wrote. “I saw the products Foundry Software Devmnt Co has in the market and I wanted to introduce myself…in case you ever need assistance in building your brand’s sales with compelling package design or launching a new product.”

It goes on. But you’ve seen enough. 

Here’s the problem with this email:

Foundry Software doesn’t have products. Foundry Software is an application  development firm (a darn good one, by the way) that does custom project work. 

No products on the market. No product launches on the horizon. 

Dave would have known that if he visited Foundry’s website. 

So when Dave says, I saw the products Foundry…has in the market,” he’s either lying…

…or hallucinating…

…both of which I’d prefer vendors NOT do. 

My guess is that Dave bought a list, did ZERO research about the firms on the list, and sent a data-merged, unsolicited mass email to all on the list. 

I’m partial to building email lists organically — with opt-ins. But the point of this story is not to slam Dave for SPAM. 

The point of this story is to slam Dave for dishonest and clumsy execution…

…and to reveal a lesson in all of this. 

Cold-calling (by email, phone, snail mail, LinkedIn InMail, or other channels) is legal. And when executed well, it can help businesses fill the sales funnel. 

But if you’re going to cold-call, if you’re going to send me SPAM, don’t pretend you know me if you don’t. Don’t pretend you’ve visited my website if you haven’t. Don’t pretend you saw my products if you never looked. 

Your prospects aren’t stupid. Dave’s treating his as if they are.

Funny coincidence: Just hours before Harry forwarded the email, I heard an interview with a top email marketer who was asked, “What’s your least favorite trend in email marketing.” 

The top guy said, “Marketers who put ‘Sent from my iPhone’ in the footer of their mass emails,” as if it’s a personal, one-to-one message. 

Maybe Dave can add that one to his bag of tricks…

…or maybe Dave can do a better job next time of researching his prospects. 

Speaking of researching prospects (here’s the lesson):

That’s one of the keys to powering-up your business stories so you attact leads, keep them tuned-in, and inspire them to act. Research your prospects. Know everything you can about them. 

You see, your business story is not about YOU. It’s about your prospects and their journey from BEFORE to AFTER. You have to meet prospects where they are. You have to know their before, if you’re going to promise the  after.