An Open Letter to “That” Sales Guy — You Can Do Better

Hey there,

I’m writing with an important request. Really, it’s super important. And, it could be a game changer for you, so read closely.

Please. I beg of you on behalf of all businesses to please, don’t use our ‘Contact Us’ page to send horrible solicitations. It’ll never make us do business with you. And frankly, it’s insulting.

Seriously, a form letter? With today’s technology and vast amount of information and resources at your fingertips you thought the best way to make a sale is with a form letter?

It’s things like this that give sales and marketing a bad rap.

We get these emails almost everyday — it’s abso-frickin-lutely ridiculous:

This is a half-assed effort at best. And if half-assed is how you promote your own business then why should I, or anyone else, believe you’ll do any better for our business?

It’s wrong on so many levels. We just can’t take it any more.

Now, I don’t typically like to make an example of people, and I don’t mean to pick on you in particular. Listen, you’re not alone. There’s a whole army of salespeople, freelancer and newbies who think this is a perfectly acceptable method of reaching out.

Newsflash: it’s not.

But there’s good news! I can help you.

Believe it or not, I want you to succeed! This is a major teaching moment for you and I can show you how to build a sales strategy and improve your process.

I’ll start by dissecting your pitch. I’ll point out what’s wrong and what you can do to fix it. I hope you take this as constructive criticism and view it as the lesson it’s meant to be.

Issue 1 — You entered a Gmail address as your contact info.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Google. Who doesn’t love Google? But if you’re about to sell me a website then for pete’s sake man, have a business email address. It looks so much more professional. With a generic Gmail address you’ve already set yourself up as an amateur. I haven’t even read your pitch yet and I’m turned off. I’m sure that’s not the first impression you were going for.

Issue 2 — You said: “This is _________ and I am a very skilled web developer.”

What does this mean, exactly: “very skilled web developer”? By who’s standards? And regardless, this is not the right way to open up a pitch.

Let’s put it this way… If we were at an event and you were going to introduce yourself to me in person would you walk up, stick out your hand for a handshake and say “I’m a very skilled web developer.”? No, you would not.

Instead you would say something like, “Hey Stacey, I’m so-and-so from such-and-such and I’m a big fan of the work you’re doing at JasonSwenk.com…” Then we’d launch into some common or mutual interest and develop a natural conversation from there.

Use this formula for opening a pitch — even though it’s just an email. It encourages a back and forth exchange.

Issue 3 — You said: “I was just on your site and it’s a nice site, but there is definitely some room for improvement and I would really like to help you with it.”

Have you ever heard the saying, “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”? That’s precisely the case in sales. Your first statement talks about you. Your second statement is basically an insult.

Did you do your homework? Did you read our ‘About’ page to see that Jason used to be a web developer, he ran a digital agency for 12 years and he now advises other digital agency owners? I’ll bet you didn’t. Otherwise you’d know that we pretty much know what we’re doing in terms of site development.

You say there is room for improvement on our site but you don’t mention what or where. If you see something that could be done better, we’re totally up for it… Who wouldn’t want to improve? But get specific. Tell us what’s missing. Excite us with the thought that it could be better.

You also say “Are you interested in redesigning the site or adding some features?”. Well, maybe. It depends. What can we add that would convert better? Got something in mind? I’m all ears… again, be specific.

Honestly, a better way to grab attention is to explain exactly what you can do that’s better than what we’re already doing. Tell us about some really cool technology you specialize in. Tell us about some awesome strategy that we’re not doing but should be. Mention a specific, cutting edge tool that you think we ought to try out. Wow us with your insight, knowledge and expertise. Show that you are a “very skilled web developer” by walking the walk.

Issue 4: Your communication vehicle is limited and too easy to blow off.

Sure, you’re looking for an ‘in’ and you think that contacting us through the site is an easy way. You went to the site, found the Contact page, and took 2.7 seconds to paste a very generic form letter into the comments section of my contact page and clicked submit.

But that can’t be it. You must know deep down that we’re not actually going to hit you up just because you dropped a few lame lines in a haphazard manner.

After you reach out, find us on social and start sharing/ commenting posts. Search for an actual email address and hit us up that way. Make a phone call and leave me a couple messages about that cutting-edge technology you’re skilled in and the fantastic results your clients are seeing. Keep at it in new and innovative ways.

Bottom line here guy, is that you’ve got to tell and show what you can do for ME. That’s the only way you’ll get me to give a sh*t about who you are… I don’t mean to sound like a jerk but that’s how people are wired. They want to know what’s in it for them. You know?

Anyway, I hope you understand this was constructive criticism that was meant to help you. Please take these suggestions — your business will improve when you do.

Trust me, all future prospects of yours want this as much as you do! We want to hear about the latest and greatest technology, the skill sets we don’t have and the ways others you can help accelerate our business.

As soon as sales people like you fix these terrible solicitations, we’ll start getting something truly valuable. And you? Well, you’ll see some real results in the form of clients and profits.

Now your next step is to take action! Make a list of your top 10 ideal customers to go after. Then follow the advice above with a customized strategy for each of these top 10. Be persistent and patient. I promise you won’t regret it.

Go get ‘em!

Stacey