How to Connect with Hard to Reach Clients

There are reasons that your hard to connect with dream clients are hard to reach. They have too much work, too little help; they’re being asked to do more with fewer resources. They are time-starved. They don’t really buy what you sell. They don’t hear anything in your message that sounds like the kind of value creation that’s worth their time. Some just avoid all calls from salespeople. And sometimes you’re not even calling the right person.

Here are a few ideas to help you connect.

Leave a better message: Tell your dream client who you are, how you create value, and what you want from them. This sometimes helps with the value creation problem. If you promise to be respectful of their time and ask for a low level commitment of, say, 20 minutes, you can sometimes get a better result.

Email suggested appointment times: Tell your dream client that are you are going to email them an invite for an appointment for a short exploratory phone conversation, and that if none of the times work for them to reply with a better time. Your dream client wasn’t sitting by the phone hoping to receive a call from a salesperson that sells whatever it is you sell. They haven’t yet committed to give you time. But if you limit the appointment to a short phone call you can sometimes improve your results.

Ask for an alternative contact: Suggest that if they aren’t the person you should be calling isn’t the right person for you to speak with that they shoot you back the name of the right person (this let’s them off the hook). Sometimes you are just calling the wrong person.

Promise to call back: I don’t know why we expect a call back. It doesn’t happen. You don’t need it to happen. Since the client hasn’t agreed to any commitment, you can only commit yourself. End your message by saying that you are sorry you missed your dream client, and that you will try again next week. I once won a dream client after calling 76 uninterrupted straight weeks.

Persist without being a nuisance: Every time you reach out, share a new idea with your dream client. Share a story about what you’re doing to help another client. Send them a killer idea in the form of a white paper or a case study with a hand written note. Build a nurture tool kit of ideas you can use. Persist by continuing to prove you’re a value creator and not a time waster.

Stop trying and get some help: You may not be the right person to make the call in the first place. Have you checked LinkedIn to see if you have a connection that could make an introduction? Have you checked to see if you have a client that would make the call and vouch for you?