It’s obvious. So obvious. But are you doing it?

Is your Targeted (one-to-many) email different? 

Is it provocative?​ Does it spark curiosity?

Is your first touch email …

• four to six (max) sentences?
• focused only on customers? (not referencing yourself, customers or benefits)
• avoiding asking for a meeting?
• without links or PDF attachments?

Is your first message structured… copywritten… to earn permission for a discussion?  

Here’s what we’re learning from our students (collectively) lately.

Cold emails fail to earn replies because they:

1. Have subject lines that telegraph what’s inside.​ (never get opened)
2. Contain messages focused on the seller. (often pretending to be personalized to prospects)
3. Ask for a meeting + share a Web link or PDF. (distracting customers from replying)

In 95% of cases where Academy students report lack of replies we see this trend: 

Buyers aren’t responding because the goal is focused on earning a meeting. Everything (bad) flows from this flawed objective.

Instead, think in terms of provoking a short discussion … that MIGHT (if needed) lead to a meeting. 

Then, conduct the conversation (via email) in a way that creates an urge in good prospects … to ask you for the appointment. Poor prospects will fall away.

All because of how you structured words.

Focus your subject lines on creating a tension. Yes, tension.

Tension creates curiosity.

The job of your subject line is to create curiosity about what’s inside the message. Nothing more.

Don’t focus on pain points. If you do, you’ll blend in with the pack. EVERYONE is doing this. Trust me. Avoid it.​

Don’t be cute. This always causes trouble. 

Be careful about using first names in subject lines. This is often a signal of “fake personalization.” Some buyers are VERY savvy to mail merged spam!

Make your subject line:

• Familiar yet also vague (don’t be overtly specific)
• Provocative … a little bit weird … yet credible
• As short as possible (2-4 words is best)

Never, ever trick with your subject lines. Be wary of  “help please?” or “question about ___ [company name].” This risks irritating your prospect. A plea for help could be interpreted as a needy customer.  Be careful.

Also, never ever ask for what you want in the subject line. (e.g. can we talk?)​ NEVER ask a yes/no. 

This is often the most difficult part. For some of our students it feels natural, others it’s uncomfortable.

Here’s the skinny: Take your marketing hat off. Leave it somewhere… where you’ll never find it again! 

Abandon any old habits of leaning on marketing prose found on web sites, etc.  And beware of taking sales prospecting writing advice from marketing folks. 

Here is a quick example of a “before and after” from a student we helped recently.​ He struggled terribly. But when I asked him, “what are the blood-and-guts, ugly issues your customers are struggling with” everything changed. We finally had a few trigger words, strong issues to provoke with.

Pay attention to all the self-talk in the BEFORE below … and how desperate Homer sounds when he says, “I would love to give you a quick intro to the service” then asks for the call TOO SOON.

Do you know the market well?

Able to localize your offering and/or chasing after a specific market niche? (as seen in the example above)

Can you talk “blood-and-guts” about problems your customers struggle to solve … or may not realize they have? (yet)

Need to get conversations started at scale?

Targeted (one-to-many) Spark provocation may work for you.

There are dangers. Such as “pain points.” Be very careful about playing on them in messages. Doing so usually backfires. How you go about it is the key to success.

Every word counts. And with Spark less is more.

Meeting requests. Just stop! Get rid of this habit… especially if you’re selling a solution where the problem needs “time to brew.” (surface, get strong enough to consider looking outside for a solution)

When you begin an email sequence trying for an appointment you will be rejected by 90 – 97% of perfectly good prospects. Most buyers don’t know precisely what they need when you email them. Or—if they do have a need—they aren’t ready to buy yet. Example: If it’s a complex purchase, your target may not have assembled the decision-making team yet.

Setting an appointment with a seller will happen—but not with you.

Because you asked for it .(too early)

Instead, hold a little back. This creates curiosity. This helps attract the appointment to you.

The buyer will see the appointment as a way to short-circuit all the emailing. 

Less is more.

Want to apply this technique in your setting? Join us in an upcoming 4-week, intensive coaching workshop.  We only have a few seats left and are taking 10 students maximum… so we can spend time helping each of you develop provocations.