Differentiate Your Drip: The Secrets To Supercharging Prospect Engagement

“We were just talking about you.” My prospect laughed.

“Uh oh.”?I replied.

“Ha - no actually that article you sent yesterday was awesome. We discussed it at our finance meeting this morning. It made us reconsider our budget plan, as we realized we had some risk in the 12-24 month window.”

I was relieved. “I’m really glad I could help.”

“Me too. Your sense of our business and that kind of proactive stuff is exactly what we want in a supplier. Except you’re obviously more of a partner. Let’s get together this week to talk about your solution. It’s time we started acting on that.”

Interestingly, the article I sent actually had nothing to do with my solution. It was related to a different aspect of their business that I learned about during a site visit . But it proved that an engagement campaign doesn’t always have to centre on the product or service for sale.

In the months that followed, my prospect and I put together a plan to migrate their services. While the issue of price came up, it wasn’t a focal point. I had proven that a pro-active approach had value beyond the price sheet. We signed a deal shortly after, much to the shock and awe of my competitor, who was sure this iconic Canadian corporation would never leave.

In today’s Mentoring Moment, let’s uncover the secrets to optimizing an engagement (drip) campaign while avoiding sabotaging your initiative.

First, let’s discuss what a drip campaign is.

A drip campaign is defined as an ongoing effort - typically via email - to capture the mindshare of your prospect through providing information that moves them along to make a purchase. The term ‘drip’ comes from the regularity of the information that’s sent to your prospect. In theory drips are a highly effective tool for a salesperson, but in reality it’s frequently a risky proposition if done wrong. And a lot of salespeople get it wrong. Let’s come back to that in a moment.

One of my favourite applications of a drip campaign is simple transactional selling, for a product or service that you’re certain your prospect will use.

Let’s look at a couple of well done examples.

WestJet does their drip extremely well. I receive their emails probably once every 10 days or so, and it takes me under 30 seconds to understand and act on the value they are offering. Let’s look at the components of their well crafted drip:

1. Value: I’m immediately aware of the $ or % discount off the normal seat price on clearly outlined routes that are relevant to me.
2. Deadline to act by: the expiry date for the sale is clearly presented.
3. CTA (Call to Action): ‘Click here’ to book a flight.

In comparison, I receive drips from other airlines that show flashy pictures, people having fun in designations I’ll probably never visit because the airline couldn’t make the effort to look at my flight patterns. Several clicks later, I usually arrive at the routes page to find that the destination I’m actually interested in isn’t on sale. My response? Unsubscribe.

Let’s look at another well done campaign from Manmade. I love their campaign because it does all the same things as WestJet, but it simplifies things even further with pictures. You see exactly what you get with a clearly displayed CTA in a tastefully done “Order Yours Now” button that takes you right to the checkout screen, not through a dizzying detour of other products where consumers get lost and close the window.

But the unique part Manmade does so well is the human side.?

In every email, there’s a positive, personal story from the founders that adds a human touch to the transaction. It’s well positioned lower in the campaign message so as not to complicate the main point. In my years of selling experience I’ve always believed people want to know they are buying from real people who care. You might think that’s impossible to do in such a transactional style of selling, but Manmade does this well and it’s genuine, not window dressing.

When Things Go Wrong

Let’s transition to using drips in more complex selling where solutions are variable and less transactional.

This is where most salespeople and companies get it wrong, thinking that just because they are touching the prospect with material in an ongoing campaign, they’ll grow their mindshare. This is a critical error to make, and it’s avoidable.

What kills most complex sales drips is that they aren’t targeted enough and too little (if any) effort goes in to ensuring the drip addresses subjects or services of specific interest.?

A little research goes a long way.?

These campaigns experience messaging blur. The recipient has to take time to process the email and determine the campaign’s message and value. The recipient’s thought process is “what’s in this email for me/why should I care?”

If there’s nothing in the email message of value, the likelihood of the next email being read decreases. If the campaign continues, the probability of the recipient unsubscribing or blocking the sender increases massively and quickly. Instead of the campaign keeping the door open (ideally opening the door further), the campaign has causes the prospect to slam the door shut, maybe even locking it!

This is a similar experience to salespeople who call prospects to “check in”. They have no specific value to add, so eventually the prospect won’t even take their calls.

The Secret to a Great Drip

With a subtitle like that, I feel like I should be talking about coffee. I’m not, but the effect is similar. A great campaign contains interesting information that the prospect enjoys receiving - they savour it!

Great drips target what the prospect is interested in most and they get to the point quickly. They ensure the message is clear: What problem are they trying to solve? What value are they looking to create? What solution or knowledge does the drip email deliver?

More importantly, great campaigns contain information that is new to the buyer’s journey or even better, contain information that makes the buyer realize a bigger picture. The big picture could be a solution the buyer didn't know they needed, or it might be creating awareness or cause the buyer to change course on their buyer’s journey.

The Take-Away & Final Secret

Great campaigns need to be highly targeted, quick to understand and present value, and potentially offer insights that can change the buyer’s journey. Traditionally campaigns are email based, but they don’t have to be confined to that - they could also be Linked In posts.

But here’s the secret to an exceptional campaign: it can contain information that is interesting to the prospect, but indirectly related to the product or service for sale. In other words, the campaign may not talk at all about the solution or product for sale. This isn’t to say the campaign shifts focus to this - it just means that you augment or supplement your campaign.

Sounds contrary to everything I’ve just recommended, doesn’t it?

Yes, but let’s return to the opening story to explain why this technique works.

When I began pursuing my prospect’s business, I took time to deeply understand my prospect’s overall business - not just the part related to my solution. I made extensive notes and spent time weekly - sometimes daily - combing through relevant information that demonstrated I saw a larger picture beyond what related to my solution.

As a result, the email l sent to my prospect actually had nothing at all to do with my proposed solution or service. It was an email on pending trade tariffs on aluminum and steel. Its relevance was helping my prospect’s team with cost avoidance planning.

I sent it to demonstrate I was in tune with his team’s ‘big picture’ and that I wasn’t just a salesperson - I was a caring business strategist. I knew I was competing against some talented salespeople for his business, but I suspected they’d limit themselves to just pushing their service or product, albeit in a sophisticated way.

By sending an article that was unrelated to my solution, I differentiated myself from my competitors. I transitioned from a salesperson to a big picture thinker who understood their business.

So how can you apply this technique to accelerate and differentiate your own drip campaigns?

Think about this:

Take time to really understand your prospect. What’s important to their overall interests or emotionally engaging to them? What general information is useful? Can you integrate a brand-related story with an emotional or human side that would interest them?

What if:

• An airline sent an occasional email that didn’t focus on sale prices, but contained actionable information on avoiding long travel lines? What if they integrated a human story about the people who founded the airline and their values?
• What if a menswear company told a story about all the crazy fun they have running their startup business? What if they sent preventative research findings on men’s health that changed the way you cared for yourself?
• What if an energy drink company told a deeply personal story of their founding? What if they combined it with a message of positivity, environmental responsibility and health that motivated their consumers?

(Brilliant message & packaging)

How you choose to differentiate yourself to engage your audience is up to you, but remember that you don’t have to pitch your solution in every email. Every salesperson does that!

Let’s conclude with the coffee analogy because I love coffee.

The point of coffee is not finishing your cup. The point is enjoying the taste and aroma - the ritual of coffee. If the coffee is exceptional, you’ll order another cup.

The same applies to a drip campaign. The point isn’t closing business; it’s creating engagement and recipient enjoyment from your campaign. Get that right, and closing will follow.

Thanks for reading.

For the record - I receive no compensation or recognition from any of the corporations mentioned in this article. I’d also like to extend my sincere thanks to Mitch Jacobsen from Rviita Energy Tea for his insights on a great drip campaign!

For more insightful sales advice, please consider subscribing to Mentoring Moment or consider having me speak at your next sales meeting.

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