I recently had a colleague ask me if he could send an email to me prior to sending off to a prospect. The prospect had recently stood him up for a meeting. He was frustrated and suggested to me that he wanted the prospect to “get the point” while still being polite. I told him to send it over. Upon receipt I noticed that the message was a long paragraph. I didn’t read it. And his prospect wasn’t going to read it either. Instead I suggested that he write this:

“What happened to our call yesterday?
My manager and I were left hanging.
Do you have time Friday to get this rescheduled?”

In the world of b2b correspondence – less will always be more. I told him to talk to that person as if he was talking to me. Just because someone is a prospect does NOT mean that they should be put on a pedestal.

My point: Perceive yourself as an equal of your prospect. We’re all professionals in our fields. Talk to them how you talk to your colleagues. At the end of the day you’ll gain their respect. And people buy from people they respect.

SF

T: @scflaherty
L: www.linkedin.com/in/shaunflaherty
E: shaun.flaherty@gmail.com