Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of Actus Sales Intelligence, a Fort Worth, Texas, business and sales consulting agency, and Actus-360, a technology services providor. He can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actussales.com.

I’m often asked how to develop cold – or even lukewarm – leads. When there’s no relationship and you’re attempting to prospect, how do you get traction? The answer is really not that complicated but it can seem daunting, as it does require some extra effort.

So, what is the key to creating a connection where there is none?

Four elements

Outside of product knowledge or sales acumen, there are four elements that pertain to any sales efforts if your goal is to become a trusted resource. This applies to existing relationships and cold prospecting. How much energy you put into each will determine your likelihood of success.

  1. Time. You must invest time in building relationships and engage your prospects.
  2. Patience. So many salespeople miss out on low-hanging fruit because they move on too quickly. If you think you’re going to convert every interested prospect in three or four calls, you’re likely stopping far too short. When our lead-generation team is calling to secure appointments, they often only find success after eight or nine call attempts. Stop burning through a list and focus more on staying top-of-mind with your contacts.
  3. Persistence. Directly related to patience, this concept means that you never give up. If you truly believe what you’re selling is going to benefit your clients, persistence isn’t about trying to push them to buy without alienating them. Instead, it’s about winning them over. Yes, you’ll benefit from the sale but hopefully you’ll give them a better experience or possibly even better quality of life. Before you question this, remember that your clients are looking for services that will save them time, make them shine with their clients and reduce the stress that a great buying experience can provide. Persistence isn’t negative if what you’re selling is in their best interest.
  4. Empathy. Maybe the most arguable element on this list, but if you can’t put yourself in the shoes of your buyers, you’ll always be seen as salesy or selfish. This doesn’t mean you have to have empathy to get business but to build trusting relationships where clients come to you with their needs, it is critical. Empathy will help you focus more on their need(s), which means you ask better questions and help solve their business challenges instead of simply selling your products and services.

Providing the most value

To earn a buyer’s trust and build loyalty, you must do all the above and still provide value. Wait – let me modify that: You must provide the most value you can. The research industry has its fair share of me-too marketers. If you’re selling the same services as a competitor and you’ve ever uttered the words, “We can do that too” (referring to a competitor's offering), then you just might fall into that bucket.

I’m not condemning anyone here but if you sell the same services and can’t differentiate your offering, you have to differentiate the buyer’s experience. It starts with the salespeople and spreads from there. Are you consultative? Are you creative in your approach? Are you responsive and thoughtful? And most importantly, are you serving the client or serving yourself? Is your approach selfless or selfish?

Standing out

Even the best value-driven message and application of the aforementioned steps does not guarantee that you’ll connect with a cold lead or even a warm prospect. The reality is that you must have rapport for them to be open to learning more about you and your firm. Persistence, patience, time invested and empathy will eventually help you achieve success but I’m a big believer in stacking the odds in your favor from the beginning. You can accelerate the relationship-building process with a preemptive strike strategy.

A preemptive strike means making an effort to warm your prospect before the first sales call. My favorite method is a handwritten card or letter. Most sales professionals shy away from this because of the time commitment but it pays off in spades when utilized. Below is an example of the message that I’ve had success with:

Dear ____,

We recently connected through LinkedIn and I wanted to let you know that I’m interested in speaking with you further about our sales support services. I’ll be calling you in a few days and would appreciate your sparing 10 minutes for a brief conversation to explore. In the meantime, visit http://actussales.com to learn more.

Sincerely,

Paul Kirch
214-295-6111

I have tested both handwritten and typed messages and find that the latter is less effective because it can appear to be unsolicited marketing. The handwritten messages are viewed and remembered by most, if not all, recipients. Quite frequently, this is seen as a courteous and creative means of reaching out.

This same approach can work through e-mail or other electronic communication methods, though it is not nearly as powerful. First off, many e-mails from unknown sources are deleted without consideration. Also, spam filtering and other issues might prevent the message from ever being received. If you are opposed to making the time investment to reach out through a personalized note or card, I’d suggest use some of the following subject lines:

  • “We connected on LinkedIn [or other such social networking sites]”
  • “A scheduled call” – Though it may be a little misleading, this can help get the message read, which is the biggest challenge.
  • “A mutual connection” – If this is a referral or you have some connection in common, this can be effective.
  • “Please help me” – People want to help. It’s human nature. From here, the message must talk about how they can help you.

For e-mail, you should test and measure everything. What’s working? What’s not working? Subject-lines and the actual messages should be continually reviewed for effectiveness.

Dominate the competition

Engaging prospects and clients takes effort. If you invest time and energy in doing it right, you can truly dominate the competition. We’ve all heard the statement “Customers buy from people they like,” but this is only true if you can provide value. Also, they can’t like you if they don’t know you, so stop taking shortcuts and focus on becoming a known resource. If you want traction, you must start somewhere to begin lighting a fire under those cold leads.