If you run a service business and hope to rake in more profits, then cold pitching is a must-do.
Cold pitching is the act of writing to a business or individual, introducing your services, with the primary aim of getting hired. Cold pitching helps you trample restrictions. As a freelancer, for example, it draws benefits that usually won’t accrue from dilly-dallying around while awaiting new job listings.
This, however, doesn’t mean cold pitching is without some challenges. In fact, many people can only continue cold pitching for so long as they aren’t discouraged by the time involved in seeking clients, shooting emails, and the emotional trauma of dealing with bad response rates.
This piece aims to reveal some ways you turbocharge your cold pitching effectiveness, and to get desired results in no time.
#1. Learn The Anatomy of a Winning Email and Follow it to the T
Your prospects are busy people who receive tons of emails each day. So if your pitches aren’t throat-grabbing, making prospects finger-ready to respond, then you don’t stand a chance. Crafting compelling pitches requires you to:
Write Catchy Subject Lines
The subject line determines whether your email will be given a moment’s attention. According to a study, 35% email recipients report open emails based on subject line alone.
When writing your subject line, you want to avoid sounding promotional. Personalization makes your e-mail 22.2% more likely to be opened. And a great way to personalize is to include the name of the recipient in the subject line. This, according to Martin Sayers, is one thing that works in gaining attention.
You can then go further to mention your prospect’s organization by the name, so she is convinced from the outset that you are no spammer.
Craft A Compelling Body
Now you’ve grabbed your recipient’s attention, the next step is to up your game with a nice email body. The best email body begins with a simple “Hi [FirstName],” as it looks less formal and friendlier.
What are your intentions for writing? Are you reaching out to ask if the business needs content? Or a more creative website design? Or
The next paragraph, according to a super-freelance writer, Bamidele Onibalusi, should establish credibility. Here you should state your business’s name and what it does. If you’ve worked for some notable businesses, or you’ve written for some top-tier websites, or you’ve done some other remarkable things, it would be best if you briefed a prospect about it in this paragraph, so as to establish social proof.
The next paragraph should then give a full breakdown of your services. To pique their interest, make your prospects know why their organization are in need of your services.
Overall, you want to make the email’s body as brief, clear and concise as possible.
End With a Call To Action
Never leave clients wondering what exactly you require of them. You’ve got services to render? So what? For a great close, state your desires, then end with a warm salutation. For example:
Kindly reply this email. I’ll love to explain how exactly I aim to add value to your business”
Have a nice day,
Mr. XYZ
#2. Formulate a Template and Make Relevant Alterations
Chances are you’d like to pitch businesses in their thousands, so you need to cut down on the time needed to type a new email for each prospect. To achieve this you need an email template handy.
This template should include vital aspects of a great email, but will also need alterations to suit each prospect. Such alterations would involve writing the appropriate names and also stating the perceived needs of each business after a careful study.
For example, when pitching writing services to an high Alexa ranked website, you’d be downright unappealing to promise an increase in traffic. Think outside the box, instead; what other aims are quality content meant to achieve? Pinpoint a problem you find in the organization and hit your them in the face with it.
In other words, there shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all template. Each business has its needs, and pitching with the aid of templates greeted with no variations would come off as merely a fool’s errand.
#3. Don’t Let It Go: Follow Up
Some of the time, circumstances hinder clients from replying your emails. Therefore, it’s best you follow up those that are left unattended.
Again, the experienced freelancer, Bamidele Onibalusi, proposes a 3-7-7 formula which represents the number of days that should serve as intervals between the original email and subsequent follow ups.
Following up drastically improves response rates, as it helps remind prospects of an earlier message, prove your seriousness and make them re-consider your proposal.
#4. Wow Clients Using The Briefcase Technique
Having clients’ reply your email and request your rates is a green light, but trying to close a deal lets the yellow light creep in. Good thing is, Ramit Sethi provides a working technique which he claims has helped his students earn thousands of dollars. It’s called the briefcase technique.
During an interview, the briefcase technique would involve pulling out a proposal (from your briefcase) and pointing out your objectives for the business and the strategies to achieve them. In the pitching context, it involves given a detailed analysis of how you intend to solve some perceived challenges.
For example, when a client requests your rates, you could choose to reply with something like this:
“Before talking about rates, let me quickly state my plans for your business. My research shows that no fewer than 100, 000 people search for the keywords ‘real estate agencies in California,’ monthly. But unfortunately, your real estate site doesn’t pop-up in the first two pages of search results – meaning you’re getting little or no share of your deserved traffic.
Here’s what I’ll do to upturn the situation. First, I intend giving each content I write such a significant touch as will boost your page rank and also capture organic clicks. Then, I’ll target my guest posts at highly relevant blogs to draw you inbound links and 5X your traffic.
Also, if you wish, I can set up a Google AdWords Campaign making use of the Search Network, in order to place you high up in sponsored ad listings and take your business right to the audience’s face whenever it searches for the necessary keywords.
Just think of the opportunities that abound …”
At this stage, your prospect might be taken aback by such level of preparedness. You’d have given enough reasons for him or her to hire you; you’d have come off as needing no hand-holding.
Ramit Sethi clams this action would have, “separated yourself from 99% of other applicants… and you can charge multiple times what other people do because almost nobody does this”.
#5. Ease the Search Process Using Startup Maps and Small Business Directories
Truth is, you stand a greater chance of being hired by startups and small businesses because, unlike large businesses, they require more manpower.
Here on the web, there exist digital maps which pinpoint the location of startups and other kinds of businesses, and which lets you navigate seamlessly. Using these, you get to see startups within your niche and explore their respective websites.
Manta is a great place to search for small businesses. A simple google search looking like this: “small businesses [location] Manta.” will unearth Manta’s results of small businesses within your desired location.
The great thing about Manta is that it indexes businesses according to their respective industries. Hence, you can easily find those within your areas of interest. This helps in fastening the process of finding potential clients.
#6. Find Out Who’s Opened Your Emails Through Email Tracking Plugins
You’d be better for being in the know of whether or not your e-mails were opened. This helps you plan out a more effective follow-up strategy.
There are many plugins to use in tracking e-mails. Some, such as RocketBolt, reveal specific actions taken by a recipient besides opening the email – such as clicking a link.
#7. Go With The Combo: Find Business – Search LinkedIn – Hunt Email Address
Using this technique raises your cold-pitching effectiveness a notch higher. When you’re interested in a business without finding relevant information about its staff on its website, the next reasonable step should be to search LinkedIn.
You can find the perfect staff to pitch by refining your search based on services you offer.
For example, when all you’ve got to offer is content, search for the content manager or the marketing manager, or the recruiter, or someone else who, you believe, fits the bill.
After getting the perfect target’s name, use an email finding tool, such as Email Hunter. Here, all you’ve go to do is to type the business’s domain name and you’ll be provided a list of e-mail addresses.
And when the desired email addresses is nowhere to be found, just take a look at the email pattern and structure your recipient’s email, accordingly.
For instance, for the email pattern: {firstname}.{lastname}@{domainname}, the email address of a staff named John Doe would be: john.doe@domain.com.
Hubspot provides advanced methods for finding email addresses.
#8. Can’t Find the Right Target? Request Referral
In some rare occasions, you’d have a hard luck finding a right staff to pitch. In such situations, here’s what I do:
First, in the email, I’d disclose how I couldn’t find details of the right employee, and how my interest in the business urged me on to message someone, hoping I’d be referred to the right person.
I’d normally follow the pattern of a winning email as seen above, then my call to action would reiterate my wish to be referred to the appropriate quarters, if I had landed in the wrong zone.
This works well, as you’d most likely receive emails from recipients saying how your message has been forwarded to the right person.
Over to You …
Cold pitching doesn’t necessarily have to be a difficult undertaking. With simple, actionable tips, some of which are presented in this piece, you can make it an ace up your sleeve. So get to work, right away!
Image: PITCH hand writing chalk text on black chalkboard
