Rick,

The success rate can vary depending on the company size, sometimes ok with smaller companies and very low with large ones. You have the right idea as far as specifically targeting a person with a customized message, though. I would write a well-thought out note and be careful to keep it as brief as possible. Calling works better. At least follow up with a call in a few days or a week after sending out your message if you got no response.

Hope this helps,

David

posted September 4, 2008

Hello Rick,

It does sound as if you already know what you are doing! Target is king and it is better to send a single email to a well researched and understood target than 1,000 who probably are not interested.

We have seen it work when it is part of a coherent campaign. For instance if you already know your target audience, how can you raise your profile with them indirectly before you send that email - and I presume the email is just another step along the path.

Imagine if your business is featured in the magazines or websites that these targeted business owners are likely to be reading? Apart from the very real possibility that this in itself will deliver leads, it means that when your cold email arrives there is a chance it is actually luke warm.

And remember, you should be aiming for permission marketing rather than interrupting them. (Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing is excellent). You want them to effectively put their hands up to say they are interested and start the dialogue that is focused on the relationship, not the transaction.

Analytics on the email you send will help and if you can get them to click through to a website, preferably with intrinsic value to them then you are well on the way to converting that prospect. If it is a regular email then over time you could establish who was looking at what and refine it still further to be talking to that reader specifically.

You can work this approach on larger numbers, but you still need to know your target effectively enough to get your name, service or product in front of them before that email arrives.

This does all depend on your price point or anticipated lifetime value. If it is something relatively inexpensive then this approach may be too intensive and the numbers game will be better - but do know that sophisticated email users are often more irritated by known companies who cold-email than nameless bot-driven spam - so as with direct mail, you could damage your brand through poor targeting.

Hope that is helpful?

Links:

• http://www.morganpr.co.uk
• http://www.morganprblog.co.uk
• http://twitter.com/nigel_morgan

posted September 4, 2008

Nothing can substitute a personalized email/ phone call or better a meeting. From my experience many managers mark “cold-call” emails as spam. I agree with David that this can depend in certain manner on the size of the company, SMEs tend to read more “cold-call” than big multinationals.

posted September 4, 2008

Hey Rick,

E-mail is Alive and Growing –

To understand why e-mail is such a powerful marketing tool, consider some recent research findings:
• A Pew Internet & American Life Project survey found 91% of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 64 send or read e-mail, and an even higher number of users age 65 and older do the same.
• Marketers responding to a July 2007 global survey by McKinsey & Company put e-mail second only to paid keyword search in terms of online marketing success.
• In the U.S., 88% of adult Internet users have personal e-mail accounts, and 46% have e-mail access at work. Taken together, eMarketer estimates that 147 million people use e-mail almost every day.
• E-mail volume in the U.S. nearly doubled from 1.5 trillion in 2003to 2.7 trillion in 2007, and the compound annual growth rate for e-mail is 14.6%, according to eMarketer.
• More and more business owners are jumping on board. Jupiter Research forecasts that spending on e-mail marketing will grow from $1.2billion in 2007 to $2.1billion in 2012.

Here is one more link - http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS105540+07-Jan-2008+BW20080107

Above was about email marketing - & for making a start up of any business communication this email is the best tool, so that you can read the mind of the prospect if he replies positively back to that mail & this will giva a good start up for cold call.

But, on other had I will also advise that, one should not spam, a proper data base management is must in email marketing, if the person is not answering on the 1st mail wait & after 1 mth send him a reply awaited reminder mail, so that you can take the maximum advantage of E-mail marketing.

Email Marketing is a best & cheap way of branding –
A proper Email Marketing helps in getting positive response from prospect which helps in starting up of 1st level of call –

This will not only help full in Obtaining New Clients but also getting a large number of client.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
Sandeep Srivastav
Team Leader - BD Europe Email Team | Global eProcure
Tel: - 732 382 6565 | Ext # 1139 |
Cell # 91 - 9870410048
sandeep.srivastav@globaleprocure.com | Sandeep_dnc@rediffmail.com
Web: www.globaleprocure.com | www.novaserra.com

posted September 4, 2008

I use it in my music business and it works!

Against all theories in the books about the subject, I get around 10% feedback which is a great number for me.

I send the promo emails as a first contact, to people that has needs in my area, so that may be the reason of the success rate. I think if the email is inside the interests of the target it works. A well qualified database and a customized email for that audience is the secret in my view!

posted September 4, 2008

I perceive "cold-calling" as an ineffective solution. One can work towards this by getting sales people directly go to client's office or atleast give a call. E-mail is still not personalized no matter what the body or subject of the email be. Also the "Human" element is missing over here. I have seen companies targeting through calls and getting better responses rather than email campaigns. emails can be followed after a call has been made.
Effective human capital will the key in "cold-calling" the clients

posted September 4, 2008

Cold calling i.e. sending email to non-profiled users base will give very little conversions. But if email can be sent to certain target segment it will improve the chances of conversion. Like if email is about a movie on a movie channel then it will be better idea to send it to users whose id is there in database of channel's user base and email ids of age group 16-29yrs.
Similarly if the email is about financial product it will be better to send it to database which is over 27yrs age group.

In addition to this if some thought is given to subject lines and communication in the email; conversion rates can be accelerated.
Hope this helps.

posted September 4, 2008

OK I'm coming into this a bit late! My business carries out opt-in email marketing for a range of different clients. This takes the form of e-newsletters.
I know some businesses which have tried non opt-in email broadcasts with some success but with a low ratio of sends vs responses vs actual business. I advise my clients not to do it, not only because it is illegal here in the UK, but also because their reputation may suffer, particularly if they operate in a niche market or in a small geographical area.

For opt-in email my headlines would be:

Better to have a small list of 200 engaged subscribers than a large list of 1000 which includes people you have not contacted for 5 years.

These are some typical outcomes that my clients have experienced with their e-newsletters:
1. The newsletter prompts lapsed customers to take action. Eg. "I've meaning to call you"
2. It prompts prospect customers to take action. "Your newsletter reminded me about our previous meeting. I'd like to now place an order".
3. Upselling or cross selling. Where a particular product or service is featured. Customers order because "I didn't realise Acme Widgets sold that".
4. A "slow burn" effect where the newsletter does not prompt immediate action but over time builds trust and credibility thus retaining a customer or attacting a new one.

Julian Wellings
www.expertiseontap.co.uk

posted September 4, 2008

Rick, hi.

I don’t know what the folks in transactional (one-time, then go-on-to-the-next-one) sales are doing, but in relationship sales, where you want to develop a few good, long-term business clients, as far as I’m concerned, as long as we’re not talking spam, I believe that business development is a contact sport. If you hesitate to reach out to a prospect, believe me, one or more of your competitors won’t – not for a second.
The idea is to make the “cold-call” seem as warm and personalized as possible, which, the more targeted your contact, the easier it is to accomplish. And as contact-manager programs become more and more sophisticated, that is likely to become even more the case.
The goal here, is not to “close” the deal on the initial contact, or even, necessarily to get a response, but to achieve a certain amount of name- or brand-recognition. And the key is not the “cold-call” but the follow-up. Whether it’s another email, a snail-mail, a phone call (even if you can only leave a message), or a knock on a prospect’s door and leaving your card, each contact you attempt will make the next one warmer.
Of course, once you do get to shake that prospect’s hand and ink the deal that converts his/her title to Client, don’t be lulled into thinking that constant contact is a substitute for performance. But that’s another issue.

posted September 4, 2008

Hi Rick,

The e-mail campaign gives you approximately 1% results i.e out of 100 planned & reseached mails 1 can convert into actual business. The numbers may increase or decrease depending on actual content, heading, subject and presentation. Mass mailing should be avoided since it also results in brand dilution. Ideally a well crafted e-mail campaign may yield reasonable results. In my opinion personal meeting scores highest in terms of conversion rate, followed by tele-marketing and then comes e-mail campaigns. But in terms of cost, e-mail campaigns score higher i.e the investment for such campaigns are quite low and few good success can yield very high ROI.

posted September 4, 2008

Hi Rick!

I agree with Julian on his answer. But I'd like to add that you should also stay away from list brokers that claim that their list is "opt-in". If you're buying it, it is no longer "opt-in" - it's an oxymoron - and it would be considered spam. They key is to start some sort of campaign on your own to create your own opt-in list (i.e.e-newsletter subscriptions, contests, white papers, networking, etc).

Besides all the issues that may arise with spam filters, people feel more at ease receiving emails from you when they know the From: email address, it is something they are expecting, and it comes in the format they were expecting.

You also mentioned the subject line - creative subjects are great. Just make sure that it is not deceptive in any way. If people feel deceived you're on your way to the junk folder or being reported as spam.

The first thing people look at is the From: field and the subject line so make sure those count.

As for effectiveness, it is going to be greater if you follow the steps above. Otherwise you're probably looking to get blacklisted and/or make people upset. Email marketing is highly effective - both in cost and ROI - but I would definitely include other means of marketing to the mix to get more out of it.

posted September 4, 2008

GREAT ANSWER RENNI !!!!!!!!! After being in sales and working to build the sales staff at YELLOWPAGES.COM, I have seen that using email as a form of cold calling is virtually ineffective. Renni hit the nail on the head, do some research and have some very targeted information ready for that business owner or DM and make sure that you are able to show ROI, which is something that is impossible in an email campaign. You have to talk with the prospect first and have information that is on point.

posted September 4, 2008

It depends on your target audience and product category, but I would always consider the benefits on building a dialog with your audience (blog, community of interest, sponsored content) over a unidirectional vehicle like email.

Lastly, if it's the enterprise customer segment you are trying to reach, consider a well written, good old fashioned paper letter in a plain envelope and follow it up with a call.

posted September 4, 2008

Actually cold call emailing depends on who you are contacting. In a visual medium, like art (painting, etc) or a aural one like music, it is impossible to convey what you are talking about over the phone or by snail mail. Spoken language is inadequete to express what you are selling - images and/or the actual product need to be actually demonstrated. If you say you are the next Vivaldi of music or Jackson Pollock of painting, customers view of these performers can be radically different from yours.

In addition particularly in art, sending printed images or slides is an expense. Keeping them organized in cabinets always available, and also printing them out is expensive in actual dollars as well as time.

If you are selling a business service such as consulting, accounting, etc, then phone cold calling or snail mail is more comforting to the recipitant.

Carl
www.wsggallery.com

posted September 5, 2008

Rick,

Opt-in works, and we have used it extensively with great success. The caveat is that it takes time to make the right construct. List, offer, package, timing. All of same components required in a successful direct mail campaign are necessary for emm.

Building the list is where the magic lies. It takes a lot of experience and good vision to figure this out. A small, hand built, super clean list is more valuable than many, if not all of the junk available online. Never, and I repeat never buy the cheap opt-ins. They're made for lotto players, not marketers.

Jerry

Links:

• http://www.touchpointstrategies.net

posted September 5, 2008

The problem is that most e-mail campaigns simply aren't targeting the right people. In my case, I'm always willing to open useful e-mails from strangers who want to give me business, or tell me more about 'real' developments in IT or Telecom. But that's me. It won't appeal to most people. It's hard to predict from that I said what's useful to me.

A better strategy is to get people interested in things you want to come to you.

Links:

• http://www.emi-online-sales.com/index.php

posted September 5, 2008

Not a very effective usage of email as a tool for positive communication.

With filters in place, why would you simply "blast" to prospects who have no idea who you are or the services you can provide?

Cold calling is far more productive use of one's sales skills.

I would rather make 100 cold calls then to rely on an email blast.

For me to keep an email is based on three parameters:

* They have expressed interest in my product

* They are definitive lead that matches my product's solutions

* They are an existing customer or former customer

Emails are not a sales call. They're infromational and don't persuade.

posted September 5, 2008

Rick-

Email has serious limits; personal opinion. I don’t like complex conversations by email….too much room for misunderstanding and lack of sensory feedback.

There are three cold calling tools: Email, Phone and Personal Calls. (Yes, I’ve dropped in and put some nice deals together.) So to me, the real question is what kind of product are we talking about?

In this broader context of sales tools, it depends completely on the complexity of the product, the price, the buyer’s decision-making process and the length of the sales cycle.

For instance, there’s no face-to-face required for selling a $900 banner ad; email and phone obviously are enough. For a fairly complex product, with a price of perhaps $25,000, in-person relationships skills and trust comes into play. By the time the product gets into the $50,000 range and involves CRM or inventory/service management software, etc., understanding the customer’s processes is critical. I feel it will be rare for any of these to begin with email.

At a professional level, I use all three mediums, while minimizing email for sensitive issues.

My bias if you haven’t guessed, selling complex, high-end, high margin products. Once again, email doesn’t fit. For many simple inexpensive products, sure it does.

For the high margin/currency deals, it’s all about face-to-face and most of the time that starts with a phone call.

Steven

posted September 8, 2008

Rick,

I think it is a good way to start when you are initiating a new business or in a new market. But again it also depends on the service or product you are selling, how important that product / service is for the customers and obviously the markets also. What the "Cold Call" does is that it just gets you the visibility with the customers / prospects. But it will also depend on how you approach the market and how you send the email.

Personally, I have had a team of people who used to do this activity, to focused customers, after proper research and creating a value proposition document for the prospect. And before sending out the email, we used to ensure that we talk to the prospect and let him know that we are sending the email. This way our hit rate of getting business was more than 50%. Here I am not talking about a response but actual business.
I believe that if it is a mass email campaign you are running you are not going to get too many responses, which would again vary with the industry, geographic market, services / product etc. If it is a focused campaign with proper research, the hit rate can be good. At the same time you will need to consider the timelines to generate the business as the email message and the value proposition presentations will be customized.
Hope it helps.

posted September 8, 2008

SMS Broadcasting can help in better conversion to your marketing, as no one can ignore an incoming SMS. One will read it for sure. Psychologically when one see's an email with Marketing Subject they simply delete it or put it in SPAM

An SMS can never be ignored. So I think this is the best way to market your business.

posted September 10, 2008