How many times have you dialed a new contact and made the connection, only to hear the complaint “You’re the 10th call like this I’ve had today”?
It’s not an uplifting experience. Yes, there is some exaggeration, but there is also considerably more than a grain of truth and you need to find a way to deal with it. That means accepting that until you have actually done something unique and memorable you’re just one more person in a nameless thundering herd of interruptions, pushing an undifferentiated and unasked for product or service. Let’s accept that once you have the opportunity to engage your new contact you will do your job and brilliantly differentiate yourself, your company and your offering.
But the real problem is what’s happening before that connection is made. Are your messages doing anything to genuinely further your efforts to have a real conversation? Or, far more likely – are your messages so brutally “me too” that you might be damaging your future with this prospect?
You might be thinking that this is the part of the post where I line up my blazingly brilliant answers to this dilemma. Sorry. I don’t think that going back to the tried and true practices of yesterday are going to cut it any more. Yes, you might get a lucky and hit the right pain point at the ideal time to create a Eureka moment, but you won’t be the only one using this tactic either.
It’s time for something new – Who has an idea?