There’s really only one goal of cold email, and that’s to get sales calls booked with prospects so you can sign them on as clients.
Unfortunately, most replies you get from prospects won’t be as straightforward as “yes, let’s talk tomorrow at 2 PM EST, send your calendar link!”
We like to call those replies “lay ups” because of how easy they are…
But 90% of the calls we book at our agency are not the result of a prospect straight up telling us “yes”…
The majority of these calls required a bit of work on our end to get them on the phone.
When you’re handling replies, treat it like a game…
Try to get a call booked with prospects in as FEW email exchanges as possible.
Here are a few best practices to follow to make that happen and start filling your calendar with calls:
– Handling objections
Just like on sales calls, you’re going to get objections from prospects that reply back to your cold emails.
But unlike a sales call, don’t fully handle the objection with an email reply.
Instead, give an abbreviated answer and save the rest for a call.
Here’s an example for our lead gen offer:
“In short, yes, we’d build a list of prospects in your target market and reach out to them with personalized cold email and LinkedIn messages.
This process is easier to explain over a quick call, how would Thursday at 3 EST work?”
Notice how instead of spelling out our entire service, we instead give them a quick snippet of it and offer to explain the rest over a quick call.
This keeps the momentum moving towards a call, where our sales partner Dan will be able to actually engage with the prospect.
The same thing goes for pricing…
NEVER state your pricing in an email unless it’s a dealbreaker for the prospect to get on the phone with you.
Say something like,
“Happy to discuss pricing on a quick call. Our services are highly personalized so it would be best to discuss a custom pricing structure over the phone based on your offer.
This might not be a fit, and I know it’s not the answer you’re looking for, but let me know if this helps and you’re open to chatting.”
If a prospect is this concerned with pricing they’re likely not a fit anyway.
– Following up if you get ghosted
There is a BIG difference between follow-ups in your cold email sequence and follow-ups with a prospect that already expressed interest in your offer.
It’s obviously not a good idea to send cold emails until you get a reply…
Because that is incredibly spammy and unethical.
However, if a prospect replies to your cold email showing a level of interest then ghosts your reply, it is your job to follow up with them as many times as necessary to get them reengaged one way or another.
Of course, this doesn’t mean send emails every single day to get their attention.
Space your follow-ups 3-5 days apart, and be creative with your follow ups.
“Hope you had a good weekend, just following up” ❌
Sending a personalized Loom video explaining your offer✅
We’ve booked calls for us and our clients that took 10+ follow ups over the span of 1-2 months.
Take it from me and my agency when I say, the money is in the follow ups!
– Booking a time on calendar
So you’ve done a great job handling objections and following up and got the prospect to agree to a time… great!
But after sending them your Calendly link to book a call, they randomly ghost you out of nowhere.
This is frustrating, because just when you thought you did your job and got a call booked the prospect falls off the face of the Earth.
Why?
Because you’re showing bad etiquette.
By sending them your calendar, it seems to them like you’re only available at your convenience.
Instead of sending your Calendly link, ask the prospect what times work for them.
Example:
“Hey NAME, Sounds great! How does Friday at 2:30 PM or 3:30 PM EST sound?”
This way, you’re seeing which times work for them and you’ve given them a few options to choose from.
Once you get confirmation on a time, go into your calendar and book the call manually using their info.
If they counter with different times, cross-reference your availability with the times they’ve given you and book them in that way.
Simple enough!
Inbox management is a skill that I’ve seen very few people talk about.
Getting a reply to your cold emails is great, but it’s only half the battle!
Once you do get a prospect engaged, it’s your job to move the conversation towards a call in as few emails as possible.
