All posts by Yishai

1. Start with a share. Be the giver.
2. Don’t ask for anything other than continuing to encourage the belief that they have granted you permission to share something of value with them.
3. Highlight your interest in helping people as part of your signature
4. Include some amount of contact details.
5. Rinse and repeat and each time bridge the gap between sharing and asking.
6. Continue the dialogue until the person feels there’s a semblance of a relationship at which point you can adjust the dialogue and move it commercial.

What should you do to avoid failure in the early stages of prospecting?

1. Don’t ask for an appointment.
2. Don’t appear too eager (even as a giver).
3. Don’t request the first degree connection so quickly if it is a high value target.

What are the overarching goals when prospecting?

1. Qualify who you are “talking” to. Is that person a viable customer or referral soruce?
2. Get a sense of the timing for the journey from viable prospect to likely customer (or referral)
3. Create curiousity to transfer the power from them to you so that “they” are asking for more details instead of waiting to be spoonfed.
4. Identify the cast of characters at the Company you are targeting and where this person fits into the totum pole.
5. Is this person part of the decision-making team?

What are the 3 levers that intrigue a prospect?

1. Solve a challenge/problem at work
2. Relieve a pain or burden
3. Speed up delivery (especially where there’s been stagnancy)

What do prospects think of when they hear from someone in their email?

• Who is contacting me?
• What does this person need?
• Do I have time to deal with this?

Here are some letters or messages you can send out as part of your prospecting strategies and efforts.

SUBJECT: Follow up on the magazines for your library.

Hi Jeff,
My name is Jason __________. We are members of the same _______________ group. I visited your profile and see that you are involved in ______________________ area of your business.

I believe my company can help you save time and money on your existing ________________ purchases!

My company, Library Subscription Services, specializes in (1) Magazine and Newspaper Subscriptions, (2) For Public and School libraries. I have been doing this for 29 years and our company has a proven track record of saving clients time and money on their existing subscriptions year after year!! I do this through existing contractual agreements with key publishers and clearning houses. This means you will get preferred pricing AND possibly a better solution!

However, if you are not the right person who is in charge of your company’s existing subscriptions, a warm referral would be very much appreciated. Do you know who I can contact that is in charge of making decisions regarding these purchases?

Would you be able to provide me with their name and a phone number so I could get in touch?

I really want to thank you in advance for your helping me out here.

I would love to offer a free analysis on your company’s current purchases and provide some details on how LSS can save the Company money.

I would really like to schedule a few minutes of time with the right person to speak about it.

Sincerely,
Jason Ciment
SUBJECT: Subscription help?

Hi Jeff,
Is magazine subscription purchases on the horizon for your business this year? If so, may I propose a short email exchange — to decide if a serious conversation is warranted? If not, thanks for your time in considering. Please let me know what you decide, Jason?

Sincerely,
Jason ___________

Which of these templates would you prefer to send? to receive?

Let’s start with a prospecting communication template for connecting via social media or even just via email.

Hello, [First name].

I am trying to determine if we should be connecting on LinkedIn (or other social profile).
In your capacity as VP at Company, would it helpful for you to find a more effective way to do “x”?
This is one of the areas in which I have a special focus.

From your LinkedIn profile, it appears we might have a synergy with exploring. And perhaps connecting might be a better idea now. Here’s a link to my LinkedIn profile if you want to consider connecting.
Thanks in advance for your consideration, [First name].
All the best,

Jason, CEO

Success in identifying and connecting with prospects and moving them into the lead sales funnel is often predicated on stimulating a compelling curiosity – like a mental itch.

Let’s dissect the template above.

1st sentence sets the tone that I need help to make a decision which may have mutual benefit.

Immediately, this is followed up with a reference to a success metric the prospect is targeting. (this means i did some research)

3rd sentence bolsters my credibility and relevancy and articulates that I’m somebody special with a unique talent. This gets me out of the “box”

4th sentence now personalizes things and gives the email personal context and also suggests I did my homework.

The message starts its downhill path to closing off the communication on an upbeat note – Let’s take it to the next level “for real”.

And the closing is personal with the prospect’s first name further laying the groundwork for convincing the prospect that this was all real.

Capturing Attention When Prospecting

This mini-post presumes you have already found a person to hunt. You may even have already connected with that person with formally or otherwise.

Question is how do you really reverse the engagement cycle and put the power back in your hands to command the prospect’s attention.

Is there a secret formula you can apply that motivates prospects to reach out to you?

Of course there is. It’s not like putting on skin creme where the wrinkles just disappear over time.

Here it’s a game of finesse where you have to nuance your words to stimulate a desire in the eyes, ears and nose of the prospect where all those senses work in concert on the mind and the heart to set the prospect up for the pursuit of a relationship.

Here’s how it works.

The beginning is simply knowing your goal. and that’s easy. You have to use some mystery to encourage desire.

If you just put all your cards on the table, it’s boring.

You have to dress sexy but not reveal too much.
Show the curves but not what’s underneath.

You get to be bold and daring and stir up the excitement but you don’t go too far.

It’s like opening up the door a little to show all the light shining in the other room.

And from marketing 101, you also try not to talk about yourself as much as what you can do for other people.

So short, sweet Twitterlike statements that tweak your prospects and get them to react in a way they had not been expecting is the starting point.

You have to rock their boat and disrupt their equalibrium because otherwise you won’t get any attention.

You can target the fear channel or love channel as long as you don’t appear mundane.

Say something that suggest you have something valuable they should be listening to.

Back it up with some panache so you appear to have that uber confidence thing going.

Remember that any real buyer (for you) wants what you are selling, otherwise they wouldn’t be buying.

So the last step in the tripod of “attention getting” is to be believable. Just because you appear to have the solution to their needs – it isn’t enough. Back up your claims with some form of legitimacy.

Like a good scuba dive, you plan the dive and dive the plan.

Here it’s just as simple.

You say what you are going to say.
then actually say it.
then back it up with any credibility that you aren’t giving away any secrets and you are practically forcing the listener to say “I want more”.

Remember, your goal is to pique their curiousity and push them off edge.

My friend Joe can reduce Workers Comp premiums by 30% a year and he doesn’t even selling Workers Comp insurance.
Can you imagine the kinds of one-liners he can open the door with?

If he simply proclaims “I have a proven solution to wipe out 30% of your Worker’s Compensation fees and it won’t cost you a penny” he will certainly arouse interest. But will he sustain their attention without some believability? Probably not. So he can just modify this and mention names like Hilton Hotels and instantly transform the conversation into an “I want more” situation.

Don’t leave it up to chance though.

Encourage the calls to action in your social media profiles. Don’t just wait for them to connect with you. Force the issue a bit.

Use the proven engagement phrases.

Call me (I suggest having a vanity line too)
Email me (and try to use a professional email)
Get more information here.
Check out my social media page
Sign up for a free newsletter …
Discover secrets I only share with my close friends.

Here’s where we will feature some really compelling articles on building your network inside LinkedIn so you can perpetuate leads, referrals and more deal flow.

• 1/16/14: 10 Ways to Generate More Leads and Referrals on LinkedIn, by Jeff Haden

Here’s an ongoing recap of the best articles and advice on social media strategies that can influence your lead generation and referral results. Please check in weekly as we continue to update this list.

• 1/16/14: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/four-steps-to-achieving-your-social-media-goals/, by Melissa Burkheimer