Recruiting clients frequently ask us to find energetic salespeople willing to “jump on planes” to meet lots of new prospects.
This approach is problematic.
For starters, times have changed post-COVID. Prospects are as busy as they ever were, plus they’re increasingly working from home. They’ve gotten used to conducting business over Zoom. They’re not eager to disrupt their routines and dust off their nice business clothes to meet with a perfect stranger.
Additionally, even if a prospect agrees to this meeting, they are unlikely to reveal their most pressing concerns and confidential problems right off the bat (would you?).
Finally, and not incidentally, in-person travel is expensive. Given the problems I just mentioned, it’s generally not a wise use of resources early on in the sales process.
In the past, face-to-face meetings were often the only way to get your foot in the door—literally—and they’re still valuable when you’re close to a deal. But they’re not an ideal place to start.
Before they buy, prospects need to be led through a sales process that teaches them:
• Who you are
• What you do
• Why you do it
• Who you do it for
• How well you do it
• What it costs
• Why it’s worth it
If any piece of this puzzle is missing, they probably won’t buy—it’s as simple as that.
The best way to sell to tens or hundreds of prospects in geographically dispersed locations is not by jumping on a plane, but by sending a thoughtful email campaign designed to build awareness, credibility, and trust.
You need to demonstrate why (and how) you’re great at what you do, and that they can achieve better business results by using your products. Over the course of the campaign, you go from being a total stranger to being a trusted, knowledgeable resource who is clearly an expert in your field.
The entire process takes about 90 days, but at the end of it, your prospects will know much more about you and be much more receptive to an in-person meeting.
Best of all, you do the work of writing those emails once and reap the benefits for years to come, every time you send them out. And emails scale much better than salespeople on planes—save those for the close.
In future installments I’ll explain more about how this works and how to get started, so stay tuned.