Personalization + Relevance + Timing. #milliondollarsworthofgameforfree

We have all received a vague, very general, standard message or email that looks lik this....

"GOOD MORNING!, [INSERT NAME HERE]! Your company, [COMPANY NAME] is a great one, and we should do business!  

No wonder you're the [INSERT TITLE HERE] of (COMPANY NAME)...."

Sometimes, if the content is outstanding and meets our needs, we may respond. But most of the time, we will simply delete it Reason is because its not address us specifically, is vague, and that turns us off as businesspeople. 

How does one go about getting more responses?

Personalization + Relevance + Timing. 

Be sure to Personalize your emails, messages, text messages, or anything else when targeting prospecting.

#milliondollarworthofgameforfree

I used to simply copy and paste the same introductory email to everybody I wanted to work with. The email would be a general overview of the products and services my company sells, but it did not even contain the targeted person's name or company!It wasn't long before I noticed that when I did personalize my messages, I yielded better results. More responses. And the increase in responses lead to more orders being placed! 

First and foremost, the reason for this is that when a canned response is sent, it can exhibit a lack of care or connection to your next potential client. I believe that if anybody simply invests a few extra minutes to personalize, then the chance your message creates genuine connection is much higher. Being personal in ways creates far more customer intimacy. Otherwise, everyone is one of the same. Showing your own personal slant allows you to own the meeting and ultimately relationship.Little things are everything. Do just enough to spark curiosity and show credibility. Simply Stating obvious key points you’ve picked up from their previous emails or your conversations should lead into those valued highlights in your corresponding messages. 

The message needs to be authentic, and with all the automated messages out there you need to stand apart. Adding more personalization to an irrelevant message can make it worse, in my opinion.AI and Chat Bots are becoming more humanized and there will be a time sooner than later where you will not be able to tell the difference. If you are leading with value and insight, and have done the work so your message resonates with your target you will be golden. If you are sending messages that are not aligned with the buyerin their part of the buying process the message will fall on dead ears. It’s up to you to be able to know where the buyer is and what the buyer needs. Sales Professionals know the discipline, and what it takes to engage where others will struggle, its that simple! I believe in value alignment to help facilitate a conversation. 

I'd also like to add that the level of personalization and strategy (using video, direct mail, etc) should depend on the value of the account to your organization. Highly personalized and relevant for top target accounts and personalize at scale as you go down your priority list.

Another tip is to often use templates with a dose of personalization. Knowing which touches are most valuable (calls, emails, social media outreach, posts, video, direct mail, etc.) is crucial and essential. You can do an audit of all your previous posts and content, and see what gives you the most feedback. That way, your touches should weigh heavier in the areas that are historically more successful. For my team, phone calls are the #1 touch that lead to prospects booking meetings or purchasing leads/data.

Do Not Go Overboard!

From a prospecting perspective, personalization is nice but reps don't need to kill themselves over it.Time management and understanding the amount of touches it takes for prospects to respond is far more important than going overboard on personalization. Do not waste time being over personal. For example, when emailing, being over-personalized steals time from the next email prospect. Alluding to emails specifically, you have to think about being relevant (personalized) at scale. With that in mind, more is technically not better. This actually helps you avoid spray and pray, because you are better managing your time. Truth is, the statistics that research proved only 20% of prospects will respond to any prospecting your team does regardless of personalization. Also, You should only personalize the first 20% of your email. Having a targeted strategy is important too. u want to be reaching out to companies in your Ideal Customer Profile instead of trying to boil the ocean.

DO NOT CAUSE PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS

Too much of anything either fluffs, diverges from the point, or is simply too much for one to digest when powering through emails.No one likes the spray and play sales methodology.