The Other Side: Email is easy when you put no effort into it.

Should I email/mail them first then follow up with a phone call so that it's more like warm calling than cold calling?

What should I do to avoid sounding too salesy when I first contact them? I know I should look professional and provide value to them but I'm not sure how to do it.

wb,

First if you plan to use email to warm people up do the following.
1. Make it personalized.
2. make it stand out (it should be more then just text)
3. Make it professional. I don't care if you are working out of your mom's basement you can make it seem like you are a big firm. Use "we" vs "I". Give yourself a mid level or below title. (unless you want to aim as a fellow local business owner, in which case aim the email that way).

So for example (using me as the prospect)

Title: Aaron I hope you are sitting down.

Subject:
Aaron I hope you are sitting down and have a few minutes to read this. If not please close this email and open it back up when you have time later.

First let me introduce myself. I know your name and your company so I figure that is only fair that you know mine, correct? My name is wb and I am a Senior Marketing Consultant for WB Web Solutions. What we do is help companies maximize the opportunities that internet marketing can bring.

I know what you are thinking. You're thinking you are already doing internet marketing, right? You have a great website that is bringing you business, correct? You are posting to eBay and craigslist and they are bringing you sales, right? So what can WB Web Solutions do for me? That's what you're thinking isn't it?

We love working with companies that get it. And you guys get it. We can tell. Here's the thing. Now lean in, I don't wanna share this with everyone.

[pic of guy motioning with his finger to come closer]
[pic of a guy whispering]

Here's the secret I know 99% of your competition don't know. And when I tell you you will be kicking yourself for not knowing it. It's so simple a 5 year old can get it but so many of us over look it. Do you want to know what it is?

"Experts do what they are good at and hire other experts to do what they are good at."

And here's the key. We here at WB Web Solutions couldn't sell a camper. Tim over in the office across the hall has a Fifth Wheel but he doesn't even winterize his own camper. Why? Because he goes to a professional. He finds and hires and expert to take care of his baby.

I bet you and the other managers, owners, and employees feel like ______ is your baby, don't you? Well let us help take care of your baby.

We are experts at this. You sell campers, you fix camper, that is what you do. Well Aaron this is what we do. We help businesses use the internet to levelerage more customers all while giving a better Return on Investment (ROI) then they were doing it themselves.

For us to be successful we need to work with winners who "get it". We need to work with the best to be the best. And clearly you are one of the best. That is why I took the time to email you today.

Aaron I hope you don't mind but in my appointment book I penciled in a call tomorrow at 2pm with you. If you can give me 30 mins of your time I can show you how bringing in experts like us will help take your business to the next level.

I want to thank you again for reading this. I look forward to talking to you tomorrow(Friday Aug 24th) at 2pm Central Time. If that time doesn't work for you please call my office and speak to my assistant Laura. She will reschedule a time that works for you based on my schedule.

[your signature with contact info]

You know what that letter I just wrote off the fly has that 100% of the letters and calls I get don't? Heart.

Now this kind of email is not a numbers game it is not sending a thousand emails to get maybe 2 replies. It is not calling 100 businesses to get one sale.

But something like this will make you different because we don't get that. You could be making your first sale with me but I will assume you have hundreds of clients at your firm.

And when you make that call I am going to listen if I have any interest at all. And when you make that call you are going to talk to me about my needs. How you can make my life easier. How you can make my business better.

This is building real relationships. It is being a consultant and not just an seo guy or a web master/designer. And it means targeting companies that can afford your services and pricing yourself as an expert.

But it will allow you to warm me up for what is in reality still a cold call. But now I will be luke warm.

I think the reason people use email is because it allows them to hide and avoid having to meet face to face with someone or talk to them on the phone and have to possibly encounter that darn awful thing called Rejection!

Sending out hundreds of emails and getting no reply doesn't hurt. They feel safe and comfortable.

Not only that but most of them have the "it's a numbers game, so let's blast out as much as we can and see what sticks" sort of mentality.

Finally, it's sad to see this example because if you look at it, they are immediately offering up a 50% discount before the business owner has even replied to them. That just smells of desperation.

Great post, and a good message. Put more effort into what you are doing people. and you will get better results.

Yeah that 50% off was funny. I don't even know his prices yet but I already have in my head they are only worth 50% of what he quotes.

As for the fear it is so true. Sales people are often afraid. Hell I know at times I would be frozen over the thought of picking up a phone. So we do these easier methods. They are not "rejecting" me, they are not telling me "no", they are just ignoring me. And somehow in their subconscious that makes it better.

The great thing for those willing to put in the effort is how little true competition you have. This is pretty much the standard email we get. A form letter that took 30 seconds to write. And the cold calls we normallly get are not much better. There is so much opportunity out there to be better and really shine compared to the rest.

Funny thing is, I bet he will post in some forum how offline marketing is so hard and why no businesses out there are willing to spend money.

email marketing is one of the effective media for business purposes.email in particular provides your customers with a unique opportunity to give honest feedback. unlike face-to-face interaction where people can be shy about voicing their true feelings, email allows them to get right to the point.