Know Your Audience & Convey Value

Want a shot to get on a vendor list? Looking to recruit that excellent candidate for your client's new role? Want to sell your lead generation or RPO services? Want to sell that product that you really stand behind?

Well, if you want any shot at all,?KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE & CONVEY VALUE!

Your long-winded, poorly written emails or voice messages will not get it done. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that they will have a negative effect on you and your company and on the industry that you are representing!

Here are some tips to help you create better emails & voice messages.

1. Know your audience. Not all emails & vm's should be the same. Each one needs to be created to the person you are reaching out to. Different people within the same company have different concerns, needs & goals. The same product/service might be used differently by each individual. One size?DOES NOT?fit all! Know the person you are reaching out to.
2. It's all about value. State the value. What is the specific, tangible &?provable?value that your service/product can deliver? What examples & references can you provide as back-up? If you can't state the value(s) that your service/product brings,?DO NOT?make the call or send out the email! Those mass emails that are extremely general are a waste of time!
3. Smart attachments. For emails, you can certainly include marketing literature (ppt. , white paper or PDF) that details and communicates effectively your capabilities to support that client or help a recruit find the right project. However, see 1 & 2 above. They are useless if you send general marketing literature. Know your audience and create a PPT or PDF that speaks to their needs and the specific value of your service/product to them.
4. Differentiators.?If your company has legitimate differentiators, you should certainly include that. But again, it should be presented in the context of value and how it will directly help your audience. Quick Tip: 'Our unique?process?of truly understanding our clients allows us....blah..blah.' That is not a differentiator. That is BS!! Stop using it!
5. Email presentation (short & sweet).?First, your email to a target (client or candidate) should have a?meaningful subject line?that will get their attention. Next, the first line in the email is the most important;?state why you are reaching out to them. This is where you can also mention the value that your service/product can bring. Break up your email with some bullets (3-5) stating benefits of working with you, other clients within the same industry, etc. Make sure you have a strong closing line as well, suggesting next steps.

Now, you might read this and say,?"that's all well and good for sales, but what about recruiting?'?All 5 tips apply to recruiting and are just as important when recruiting a candidate as it is to making a sales call/email/vm!