Anna IZMAILOVA
Business coach, employee of the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia
Write a letter to a partner or immediately call him with a proposal, a new idea, criticism of the project? As a rule, we choose a more convenient option for us, without thinking that the person on the other end of the wire may have a different opinion. But not only the speed of the answer, but sometimes the result of the negotiations depends on what type of communication is convenient for the interlocutor.
How often have you heard: “I’m busy now, I’ll call you back,” and then the call didn’t follow? This behavior does not always mean a polite refusal. Some people prefer email over mobile phones. And sometimes they can be understood.
People like to plan their day themselves, and a call, as a rule, interferes with plans and ruins a slender schedule. Often businessmen do not belong to themselves, their working day is scheduled by the minute, so many of them will be grateful if you replace a call with a letter. However, there are those who unequivocally prefer telephone conversations to written communication.
Call me
In addition to the obviously higher speed of communication, the call has another important advantage - it can convey not only information, but also emotions. Sometimes it is important for a person to hear a voice in order to form an opinion about a potential partner and either close the door in front of you or open it wide to meet a commercial offer.
Often such people are extroverts - the innate sociability in them is stronger than the desire to act strictly according to the plan. “Why write when you can just call?” they think. And this is quite logical: indeed, why complicate everything if you can get answers to all questions in a matter of minutes?
The frantic pace of life does not prevent sociable people from finding time for a telephone conversation of any duration.
Besides, phone call allows you to better assimilate information using auditory memory, check the competence of the interlocutor and the speed of his reaction, get to know him as a person, quickly make a counter offer, and just enjoy communication.
The frantic pace of life does not prevent sociable people from finding time for a telephone conversation of any duration. As a last resort, you can always make a few calls in the car while stuck in traffic. Having received a call at an inconvenient moment, such people will definitely call back or will not mind a second call from you.
What should you pay attention to when talking on the phone?
Don't start a conversation without introducing himself. At the same time, it is desirable to avoid the hackneyed phrase "You are worried about ..." or "You are worried about ...". Telling a person that you are bothering him, you form a negative attitude towards yourself and your call.
Be sure to ask whether the person is busy, and whether it is convenient for him to talk.
Get to the point as soon as possible.
Adjust to speed interlocutor's speech. It usually corresponds to the speed of assimilation of information, so it is important not to let the interlocutor who speaks too quickly get bored, and the one who speaks too slowly loses his train of thought.
Use the hold function in your phone, if you need to leave the interlocutor on the line and at the same time protect him from unnecessary sounds around you. However, before pressing the Hold button, you need to ask the interlocutor if it would be convenient for him to wait for you on the line.
The main rule of telephone communication - listen to the person. Do not allow yourself to interrupt him and always give the opportunity to express your thoughts to the end.
Write letters
Despite the increasing proliferation of mobile technologies, modern research say that for most people email is the most convenient way obtaining information. For example, in a survey by Yahoo! found that 74% of office workers say email is their preferred method of communication, and Litmus' January 2014 Email Analytics study found that inbox electronic messages are less and less ignored. If at the beginning of 2013 only 21% of all letters were read, then in December 2013 their number increased to 51%.
Probably in the Yahoo! mostly introverts participated, but it is hard to believe that the ratio of psychological types was so unequal. Perhaps mail is really more convenient?
many people find it harder to get back to business after talking on the phone
People prefer to read emails rather than talk on the phone because they can do it when it's convenient for them, not when your cold calling plan goes awry. Nobody forces them to listen to an unnecessary sentence and say banal phrases in response. Refusing something, they do not need to come up with excuses, feel embarrassed. It is also not necessary to ask for the name, position and company name of the addressee. When you receive a letter from a stranger, you can google his name or go to the website of his company. In addition, many people find it more difficult to get back to business after talking on the phone.
What should not be forgotten in business correspondence?
Give titles to your letters , but avoid meaningless titles. Try to come up with capacious headlines that really correspond to the subject of the letter, so that your interlocutor can easily navigate his mail.
Try to provide comprehensive information on the topic. Insert links, attach files - there is no need to force the interlocutor to write you a response letter asking you to clarify something, because it may take several more hours until you receive it and answer.
Include in your message excerpts from the letter you are replying to. It is possible that some time will pass from the moment of sending and the interlocutor will forget what was discussed.
Read letters carefully , you may miss something important and make unnecessary misunderstandings.
Use a short automatic signature, which must include alternative ways communication with you, in case your interlocutor hates e-mail.
What to choose
Perhaps not far off is the time when only one will be indicated on business cards. possible variant communications - mail or mobile phone. In the meantime, before you call or send another e-mail, you should think not only about what type of communication is convenient for you, but also what your partner, colleague or client prefers.
There are several ways to find out what type the intended interlocutor is.
Ask directly : “How will it be convenient for you to continue communication in the future?”
Note on markers in the speech of the interlocutor - “send me an e-mail, I’ll look”, “I won’t be able to speak”, “in our company everyone constantly reads mail”.
Analyze scope activities - how often a person is on business trips and at meetings.
Understand the psychological type - are there any obvious communication barriers, is the person restrained in communication or does he feel free.
By correctly identifying the type of interlocutor, you will increase the likelihood of successful communication. In combination with an individual approach to each interlocutor, a good attitude and the results of successful negotiations will not be long in coming.
But if you still consider only one type of communication acceptable, and would ban all the rest at the first opportunity - try to accustom the client or partner to your way of communication, but do it carefully, minimizing stress. And to gain confidence in order to recruit a person to your camp, the recommendations described above will help you.
Cover photo: Fotobank/GettyImages
1. To improve the behavioral characteristics of the site. The recipient receives a letter containing a link to your website. If the reader is interested in the offer, he goes to the thematic page, spends a certain amount of time on it (obviously, not 5-10 seconds). As a result, domain-wide behavioral characteristics are improved: the average time spent on the site increases, the bounce rate decreases.
2. Reminder about yourself. This recipient may be a client of your company (previously made one or more purchases). If you promptly remind him of your existence, of the proposals, there is a chance that another deal will take place.
3. Formation of the target audience. The client could visit the site, but at the same time not buy anything, only leave a request. Well, it did not work last time (the deal did not take place) - you can try in the future. Tomorrow, next week, next month. The main thing is to send really interesting (for them) offers to the recipients.
4. Authority, work on the image. Newsletter can not only sell directly - it can improve the image of your company (organization) if you share valuable information with customers. useful information. In the long run, this will play a positive role.
5. Implementation of sales / repeat sales. Exactly what you are wasting your time and energy for. Thanks to the mailing list, you increase the awareness of your brand - in the future, when the buyer enters the site, it becomes easier to make a decision about the deal, because you are not a black box for him, not a secret with seven seals. Relationships are formed - conversion increases.
11 ways to get customer addresses and phone numbers
1. Applications through Onikon. As we said earlier, the Onikon service is convenient because it works in two modes. If the manager is in touch, the service allows you to start an online chat and answer the questions of a potential buyer in real time. If there is no operator (let's say it's evening) - Onicon turns into . In this form, the client asks a question and, of course, leaves his e-mail (to receive an answer). Careful saving in the database of all mail addresses will eventually accumulate a very, very decent "army" of potential customers.
2. Order (purchase) of goods. When placing an order, the client must leave their contact details, otherwise the transaction will not be completed. Almost all selling sites require either e-mail, or a phone, or both, because the operator of the online store must contact the buyer and make sure that he is really waiting for the goods, ready to pay for it. Save information about the client to the database - in the future it will be useful for newsletters.
3. Registration on the site. This is a rather delicate way - it must be used very carefully so as not to frighten off the visitor even before the start of a strong relationship. You can not immediately close all content from access under the registration form - after seeing this, a Web user will definitely leave the site. Rather, leave registration so that thanks to it the client can receive some additional bonuses and benefits (write comments, see Special offers about discounts, promo programs, etc.).
4. Getting free information materials. We talked about a practical case describing this case in the issue of Two-Step Selling. Remember? If you forgot, be sure to look at an example on how to correctly set the direction of contact in relations with clients, how to increase the index of trust in yourself, how - by sending out information useful to the client -.
Articles, books, practical guides in exchange for an email address where you need to send information - this is an interesting move!
5. Feedback about your company on the site. The client wants to leave a review on the site? About your purchase? Ask him to provide minimal information about himself - just to make sure that he is not a robot, the review is not spam. Only two fields in the feedback form (name and email address) will not strain the commentator very much, will not cause him perplexed questions. And they will help you over time to collect a “warm” base for newsletters and repeat sales.
6. Calculator on the site. A calculator is connected to your selling site, which allows you to make an online calculation of the project (the cost of a kitchen, room decoration, window construction, interior door, chimney system)? Just add a small option to the calculator "Send calculation results to my address Email". And - if the potential customer left his e-mail - of course, use the address in the future.
7. Contests and prize draws(of course, with registration by e-mail). Two things are important here: a worthy prize for the victory and a large number of participants. Actually, the first is very closely related to the second. If the prize is not very significant, you will not be able to attract a wide range of interested users to participate. And if there are not enough participants who “surrender” their mail addresses to the database, the cost of the prize will not pay off. Here, in fact, there is an exchange: for the money that the prize costs, you buy out the base of “warm” users for your business. If you offer a worthy "carrot" and make the competition long in time, then you can gain a decent base.
8. Coupons and discounts(for those users who register on your site). A very promising option. The site visitor registers, and this automatically allows him to buy goods at a discount (3, 5, 10% - you know better how much you can "move" in price). In fact, here again the mechanism of two-step sales is turned on. The first transaction goes “to zero” or with a very small profit - in order to have a user contact, which means to sell goods (or services) to him in the future.
9. Webinars, educational trainings. This option is good in situations where your organization (firm) has something to tell (show) to potential customers of goods or services. In what areas of activity is this mechanism applicable? Legal services. Accounting services. Consulting. Distance learning working with equipment. Demonstration of new technologies. IT-sphere. By the way, very often a similar mechanism is used in the SEO industry, in Internet marketing. Of course, only those who register for this (and provide their email address) will be able to listen to the webinar.
10. Use of aggregators. There are sites that offer ready-made databases (your target audience), or for a certain amount they will collect such a database according to your criteria. Of course, this method must be used very, very carefully, pointwise. Otherwise, your mailing will end up in spam. However, you can try.
Where exactly can you find targeted recipients?
http://soksaitov.ru/ - here you can buy ready-made databases (obtained by the method of automatic site parsing), or order the collection of addresses according to the required criteria.
http://work-zilla.com/ - here you can try to set the task to manually collect the base. In this case, the accumulation of data will occur not in automatic mode, and due to the work of the performer (your remote assistant who is ready to complete the task for a certain payment - he will, as they say, “pick with his hands” sites and databases in search of information useful to you).
11. Finally, such a way as "Do not miss your chance!" You can simply invite interested visitors of your site to subscribe to the newsletter - so that they do not miss the moment when discounts are announced for a particular type of product, seasonal sales, etc. There are people who prefer to buy during sales - it is extremely important for them to be in right time in the right place. Help them with this, make an announcement (for which they need to subscribe to the mailing list), inform them in a timely manner about the start of the distribution of "gingerbread". Read more about how to implement it technically in the tip of the day.
Tip of the day. Use the Maliver service subscription form to collect addresses
We talked about several ways to get addresses and phone numbers of potential customers for your goods and services. Don't forget about the ability to collect addresses in "passive" mode. Place a subscription form to your newsletter on the site using the capabilities of the Maliver service.
With the help of this form, visitors interested in your goods and / or services will be able to see valuable information in time. You will get the chance to work effectively with target audience which will only increase over time!
To learn how to install the code on a subscription page (one), .
If you want the form to be transparent (visible on all pages of the site) - .
Is it worth calling a cold client right away, or is it better to send an offer by e-mail first? Are cold calls effective, or is it just a myth? This question worries everyone who is engaged in the field of sales. However, successful salespeople always know exactly how to make the first contact, and in this they are helped not only by experience, but also by a competent assessment of the situation.
In fact, it is impossible to unambiguously say which is better: both are good. But when it comes to first interaction, it is important to right choice. In this post, we will talk about 3 criteria that will help you decide and choose the right approach to lead processing.
What time is it now?
The first thing to consider is the time and day. Open your calendar and look at your watch: according to statistics, the effectiveness of cold calls is maximum in the afternoon and at the end of the week. Obviously, with the approach of the evening and the weekend, people feel joy and satisfaction, which means that your proposal may be perceived more favorably. Thus, if you are faced with the task of getting in touch with potential buyer(leads) or even make a series of cold calls, and outside the window is Monday morning, put it off “for later”: call in a couple of days, or at least after lunch.
But you call on time, but they don't pick up the phone on the other end? Leave a voice message. People love to look at their missed calls before they go home, so your evening voicemail will come in handy.
On the other hand, while waiting for the right moment to call, don't just sit back and start writing proposals. But take your time with mailing: email marketing also requires some regulation. Emails sent at the beginning and end of each hour - 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after - are less likely to go unnoticed, since this is usually the time when people take a break (between meetings, meetings, etc.), reading news and browsing mail on their smartphones.
By sending a message at this moment, you will increase the effectiveness of the mailing list, and letters are unlikely to be lost among others.
primary goal
When establishing the first contact with the buyer, ask yourself: what is the purpose of your appeal? Do you want to nominate business meeting, to know Additional information or just get feedback or a recommendation - depending on the importance of the issue, you will understand which strategy to choose.
Serious goals such as a meeting, conference call, or testing a product trial require the customer to take some action, in which case a phone call would be more appropriate. At the same time, if you just need to clarify information or get feedback You may well submit your request in writing.
Interestingly, sales agents often do the opposite: they try to solve complex issues by email, while taking up the time of customers and disturbing them with trifle calls. in this case tends to zero, as well as the return on a telephone conversation. It's likely that salespeople do this out of fear of rejection, but the fact is that convincing a person to say yes over the phone is much easier, as well as handling their possible objections.
Don't let emotions take over: choose the appropriate way of communication for the situation, and you will not have time to look back, how your sales will increase.
Client Status
If you work in sales, then you certainly know: the higher the status of a potential client, the more likely you will have to communicate with his secretary.
However, in most situations, this plays into the hands - regardless of whether you managed to talk to the right person or only with his representative, followed by an email with a proposal gives the right to move on and seek favor at the level of management and top officials of the company. Direct interaction with decision makers is the secret to the success of talented managers, moreover, the higher the status of the client, the more calmly he perceives a call with a commercial offer.
Things are completely different with ordinary employees: if your call was missed and the number is unknown, then most likely they will not call you back. Moreover, ordinary employees, as a rule, do not hear the phone during the day - they can be in a meeting, on the road or work in a group, so if you can't manage to “catch” your client in any way, the only way to inform about yourself is to send him an email .
Instead of a conclusion
These are the 3 criteria by which you can determine which option - email or phone call - is preferable for the first contact with potential client. But now the connection has been established, contacts have been received, what should be done next?
Writing a letter is easy, but how do you get a response from a busy person who doesn't know you?
Mattan Griffel, leader of the One Month Rails learning project and partner in the Growhack project, receives about a hundred emails a day, and every one of them should not go unanswered. To do this, Mattan allocates about an hour of time in his schedule each day, determining which of them require an urgent response and which do not. After all, sometimes there is simply no time to read through the huge canvases of text or try to answer a non-specific question, thinking out for the author what he wanted to say or ask.
Over time, Mattan identified a few key factors that should help you write an e-mail that you always get a response to, even from a busy person.
Write short letters
If your e-mail is 2-3 sentences long, it is much easier to read it right now, and not put it on the back burner. If you are writing a letter in several paragraphs, be prepared for the fact that you will have to wait a long time for an answer.
Make text readable
It is much easier for a person to perceive information broken down into short paragraphs of several sentences, with clear lists and separate blocks, than a solid canvas of text. Mattan gives several examples of letters he receives.
Bad example:
"Hi Mattan!
I signed up for your April training and I want to say that this is a very good introductory course. Now, following your advice, I'm using the Hartl Tutorial. And I want to ask you for advice. Are there any equivalents to Hartl's Rails Tutorial for iPhone app development? I want to create a Rails website for my wife's business, along with an iPhone app. I would be very grateful for your help."
And you could write like this:
"Hi Mattan!
I want to thank you for the One Month Rails course. On your advice, I'm currently doing Michael Hartl Ruby using the Rails tutorial.
I have a short question: do you know any courses like HartTutorial, but for iPhoneapplications?»
The second version of the letter is much easier to read, and it immediately becomes clear what they want from you. To achieve the same effect, break paragraphs into short sentences, emphasize calls to action, and use bold or italic text to draw the reader's attention to important parts of the text.
Explain clearly what you want me to do
There is probably nothing worse than when they send you a letter with a lot of information, but they don’t say what exactly they want. Personally, I often respond to such emails with one sentence: “What do you want me to do?”.
Do you want me to introduce you to someone? Or to read your blog post and give feedback? Or do you want me to answer if I can attend your event? Be specific and tell me about it right away.
Bad example:
I just watched your course on computer programming. I am 14 and this is what I would like to do in life. Could you help me with this? I really want to get your answer.
This email has a call to action to "help me" but I don't know what that means or what answer I should give. More specific option:
Hello Mattan!
I am 14 and I want to learn programming. What resource would you recommend to me first of all for this?
If you need to send a long email with a lot of information, write a call to action at the very beginning. For example: “I am writing this letter to you to see if you can attend our event described below. Just answer yes or no.
This technique also helps the recipient determine whether they need to forward this e-mail to their colleague, to whom they often delegate such tasks.
Be smart with your request
Today it is very easy to send an email in 30 seconds, which will force the recipient to devote an hour of their time to answering, or even more.
You don't need to ask me in your email to go to your startup website and give you feedback. This request includes a thorough review and analysis of the product, which takes a lot of time. If I get an email that I can answer in 2 minutes, I will do it right away. What do you want an answer about? What about your business model? Or the colors of the button on the site? Perhaps text? Be specific and justified in your requests.
Do not expect the respondent to do your job for you and determine what you really want from him. Do not ask a question like “What do you think we need to do to get more users?”. And do not ask for something that requires a lot of effort and resources of the person you are addressing. For example:
Would you like to have lunch with me and another co-founder? We would like to tell you what we do and get your opinion about our project.
Such requests often mean that the person who wrote the letter does not really know what he wants from the respondent. No wonder such emails get rejected.
Depending on the amount of work and priority, Mattan agrees to do the following:
- Give a short answer - "Thank you" or "It means a lot to me."
- Answer a specific question - if possible in less than 2 minutes.
- Conduct a quick skype-call or telephone conversation - about 15 minutes.
- Meet for coffee - about 45 minutes.
Of course, if he sees that a personal meeting can be replaced telephone conversation, he will insist on the latter to save his time.
Prove why I should take the time to help you
A person who receives hundreds of requests and requests every day cannot physically respond to all of them. Therefore, one has to choose based on the information he receives. Therefore, when introducing yourself in a letter, you should indicate your past successful work experience, about projects that the respondent knows. If you don't have much experience yet, provide a link to your site to prove that you are doing something really meaningful. Your task is to interest a person and motivate him to spend his time on you.
These tips are nothing new, but they can help you write a concise, readable, and specific email and increase your chances of getting a response.
What would you add to this list? personal experience? What tricks do you use to get responses to your emails (especially if you are writing to a person for the first time)? Share your experience in the comments.