No Thank You for Your Email

Here is an email I received from a company that would like to set appointments for one of my businesses.

A very poor attempt at prospecting

The sender begins by reminding me that she previously sent me an email about the same subject, even though I have no recollection of receiving that email; it’s likely I deleted it.

The writer suggests that she’s “checking back” to see if I might be interested in an “outbound calling campaign.” She wants to generate leads for my business.

She has “a team of appointment setters” who can arrange meetings for my sales reps with interested and qualified prospects.

There is so much wrong here it’s hard to describe. But I’ll try.

No Phone Chops

The writer of this email is in the business of setting appointments. In her words, her company uses a “calling campaign” to generate leads. For some reason, they believe that this is what their prospective clients want from them, and she suggests that they are professionals at calling. However, their choice of prospecting methodology betrays the fact that they don’t like the telephone.

If they were experts at calling campaigns, why wouldn’t they call?

Worse still, she suggests that they can arrange meetings with “qualified prospects” – her words. But she’s done no research to know who I am or what my company does. That makes this email spam. Their definition of “qualified” may not be the same definition you and I might use.

If they had the ability to find interested and qualified prospects, why would they choose to send me an email like this one?

Wasting Everyone’s Time

This email is a waste of my time. But that’s not the worst issue. What’s worse is that this salesperson and her company believe this is an effective strategy. They have automated an outbound email campaign in hopes that someone will respond.

The last time I received an email like this, I replied and recommended the writer purchase Jeb Blount’s Fanatical Prospecting book. Eventually, I got a note back telling me that there was no salesperson on the other end of the email it was merely automation. Not the best nurturing campaign I’ve ever seen.

The one finite, nonrenewable resource you have in your life is time. You are better off targeting your dream clients, nurturing those relationships over time, and developing a business case that compels them to meet with you and to consider using you in the future. You are better off with a calling campaign of your own design; one where you execute and make your calls yourself.