How to Get a Meeting With Anyone (and Email Scripts You Can Use Right Away)
You fail to get busy people to answer your emails and set up meetings. What’s going on?
What you need to do is capture their attention. And with the right email formula, your emails never go unnoticed.
The result?
You significantly increase your chances of getting a foot in the door.
Read on to learn exactly how to get a meeting with anyone — and the exact email scripts to use.
Do your research
First things first:
You must know the person you’re reaching out to.
Meaning:
Do your research.
If you’re reaching out to a “cold” contact who’s never heard of you, you need to establish trust right away.
How?
If you share contacts, use them. Say: “NAME mentioned you might be the right person for this.”
The same goes for anything else you have in common. For example, did you go to the same school? Do you have hobbies in common? Like the same movies?
Those are all things you can use to a) establish a relationship and b) show you did your research.
But also research things they’ve published online (such as blog posts and LinkedIn articles). Check their social media accounts and google them.
For example, say you reach out to a small business owner and ask him to meet with you to discuss a business partnership. Make sure you know what this person has written about your topic.
If you find a blog post titled: “This is why we don’t do business partnerships”, you know that your suggestion is not what they’re looking for. Alternatively, you know you need to change your pitch so it addresses their objections.
And that leads us to the next point…
Personalize your email
If you want to learn how to get a meeting with anyone, there’s one cardinal rule you need to keep in mind.
People will notice if you send the same, generic email to everyone on your list.
So:
Personalize your email. 10 personalized emails are much more impactful than 100 generic emails.
How do you personalize your emails, though?
Simple:
Use the previous step and mention people you both know. Or hobbies. Or something else you have in common.
Check their blogs and comment on insights in those posts. Say: “I loved your leadership tips in your last blog post. Especially #5 resonated with me, because I feel more managers should adopt that approach.”
See how this immediately establishes a connection between you and your prospect?
Keep your emails short
Here’s the thing:
Everyone is extremely busy.
Their email inboxes are filled with emails. Emailing takes a lot of time. And they have their priorities. You’re probably not one of them if you’re just reaching out.
So instead of filling your emails with “fluff”, get to the point immediately after a short introduction.
Your structure might look something like this:
[Greeting] Hi NAME,
[Introduction] Our mutual friend Jane Doe recommended me to message you.
[Your ask] I know your company [Company name] is a major player in the video production industry. As the Marketing Director of [your company], I have a few partnership ideas that could drive a lot of traffic to your site and benefit both companies.
Would you be interested in setting up a short call? I suggest one of the following times:
Monday, October 9th at 3 PM.
Wednesday, October 11th at 11 AM.
Thanks,
Your name
See how clear it is? That’s exactly what you want for your emails. The point is that the person you email can decide on the spot — am I interested in this?
Plus, they don’t have to answer to several different questions. Instead, they can write a quick email and either accept (“Yes, let’s set up a meeting on Wednesday at 11 AM”) or decline (“No thanks, I have too many other projects on my plate right now. But let’s keep in touch”).
Think: “How can I add value?”
What types of emails do you like, welcome, and reply to?
Probably emails from people you know and emails that help you in some way.
With this in mind, wouldn’t it be fantastic if someone emailed you and offered to help, no strings attached?
I bet that would be an email you would read and reply to.
The same goes for the person you’re emailing.
Instead of thinking: “What can I gain from this?”, think: “How can I add value?”
For example, in the example above, the email said:
I know your company [Company name] is a major player in the video production industry. As the Marketing Director of [your company], I have a few partnership ideas that could drive a lot of traffic to your site and benefit us both.
Notice how this email doesn’t say: “Get on a call with me to help me achieve my goals”. Instead, it shows how a deal could benefit the receiver.
That’s how you add value.
The result?
People will love your emails.
How many times should you follow up?
There’s a lot of advice out there saying you should follow up as many times as it takes to get a reply.
Hmmm… Think about it for a second. Would you like your inbox to be peppered with emails from the same person?
Probably not.
And remember, the people you email probably get tons of emails every day.
So here’s a good rule of thumb:
If you haven’t received an answer after you’ve followed up once, your best bet is probably to move on.
But can you follow up more than once?
Sure. Just keep in mind to respect the other person’s time.
Speaking of which…
Should you really ask for a meeting?
A meeting is a big ask. Meetings take up a lot of time.
You need to set up, hold, and follow up on the meeting.
So there are a few things to consider.
First, is this really something you should ask the first time you email someone? Chances are you’d be better off establishing a relationship and then asking for a meeting.
In other words, you get on this person’s radar and provide lots of value. Share their articles and LinkedIn posts, introduce valuable contacts, and so forth.
When you have a solid relationship, ask them to meet with you.
Now, you might need to set up a meeting within the next week. The point is that you need to think about what makes sense for them. Ask yourself: “Is a phone call better and more effective for this person?”
Second, when you do ask for a meeting, make sure it serves a purpose.
Don’t ask them to meet with you so you can “pick their brain”. It’s very unspecific and doesn’t give anything to them.
Instead, consider how your meeting can benefit them.
What if they don’t respond?
A lot of people who try to get busy people to meet with them make this same mistake:
They expect a response.
But it doesn’t matter how great your email is.
The fact is that people are busy — and chances are that the people you try to get to meet with you are busier than most.
There are several reasons why they don’t answer. Your email gets lost in their inbox, your request isn’t what they want right now…
Want to boost your odds of getting a reply?
Make it easy for them to reply. For example, ask a yes/no question where they just have to answer with one word.
But even then, you might not get a reply. That’s completely normal — just try again whenever you know you have something to offer that your prospect finds interesting.
Use these email scripts to write better emails
If you know/have met the person you’re emailing:
“Hi NAME,
It was great seeing you [where did you meet?]. I enjoyed [specific takeaway].
I know your company [company name] is looking for someone to [what are they looking for?].
I have a few ideas that might help you. I’ve used them to [include specific result].
Would you like to set up a quick 15-minute call to discuss it?
Best,
Your name”
Here’s what it might look like:
“Hi Elise,
It was great seeing you at the Leadership conference last Friday. How is that management analysis report shaping up?
You mentioned that your company is looking to improve your internal communication. I have a few ideas that I think could help you in a big way. Our organization has tried them on several clients and all of them reported that their managers have been able to shave off at least 5 hours of ineffective emailing.
Would you like to set up a quick 15-minute call to discuss it?
Thanks,
James”
If you don’t know the person you’re emailing:
“Hi NAME,
I’m a big fan of your work. I liked [takeaway] in your article [title].
I wanted to reach out and see [your request]. I know this could benefit you because [how does it benefit them?].
Would you be interested in setting up a quick 15-minute call to discuss it? I suggest the following times [suggestions].
Best,
Name”
Here’s what it might look like:
“Hi Nicolas,
I’m a big fan of your work. Your LinkedIn article “Why board meetings are boring” really resonated with me. I loved your idea of creative board meetings.
As the Communication Director of Company X, I wanted to reach out and see if you’d be interested in working together on a marketing webinar to drive new leads. You mentioned in an article that you’d like to work with marketing agencies — that happens to be our customer base.
Would you be interested in setting up a short meeting to discuss it? I work just down the block from you, happy to meet in person or set up a quick call.
Best,
Sophie”
Conclusion: Use these email tips today!
There you have it:
That’s how to get a meeting with anyone just by sending an email.
Use these tips and you’ll see a visible uptick in the responses you get to your emails. After all, getting those meetings could just make or break your career and business.
The next step
Now that you know how to set up meetings, the next step is to keep your meetings organized and productive.
Need a tool?
We at Minute might be able to help. Our tool helps you plan, hold, and follow up on effective meetings. And if you click here, you get a FREE month of our Minute Premium plan.
Originally published at www.getminute.com on November 28, 2017.
