How to Personalize Your Prospecting
In today’s world, we’re always looking for the next easy way out. Shortcut culture has invaded, and not always for the better. Automation has become a great tool in many regards, and technology has definitely been a huge factor and great resource in the sales world, but it can’t compensate for the human to human connection, especially when it comes to prospecting.
What is personalized prospecting?
Personalized prospecting is using insight or relevant topic that the prospect can relate to in order to build a bridge and create a connection. For example, if someone is from Dublin, you could talk about your recent trip there or a great pub that you visited. If you know that they are a fan of a particular sports team, you could use that information to start a conversation. People might know what you’re up to, and know that you’re using this information to gain their favor, but it shows that you’ve put in the effort, and many people will give you credit for putting in that effort.
Personalization vs. Automation
We’ve seen more and more prospecting done by automated email. But writing a template, changing the person’s name and company, and then sending it off doesn’t really work these days, and it just creates lazy salespeople. Personalization does require effort, where automation is easy, but prospects are seeing that, and responding to that, and throwing the automated messages out the window. Automation is a great way to play the numbers game if you just want to get emails into inboxes, but we’re becoming so inundated by them that we’ve become immune. Personalized prospecting means taking the time to learn a little bit about the person that you’re prospecting to, and incorporating information about that person or company into your message.
Creative Ways to Personalize Your Outreach
There are a few dos and don’ts about how to personalize your research. One of the first dos is, do make an effort to personalize your message using information gathered from as many social sites as possible. A really creative person might even find their prospects profiles on SoundCloud, or Spotify, and use their top listened to bands and artists to build a connection. When learning about a prospect, music sites may not be considered good sources of information, or be acknowledged as social sites, but there is a lot that can be learned and a unique way to connect with your potential clients. The gray area though is how far you go with using information from social media. This is the first don’t. It might be quite offputting to your prospects if you start off with, “Hey, I saw you take your kids to the park in San Diego on Pacific Highway.” That might be a little creepy and send the wrong message. You have to decide for yourself what the limit is.
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