You send a cold email.
Your prospect responds by saying, “I’m all set.”
What do you type back?
When prospects say, “I’m all set,” what they’re really saying is, “I’m able to make progress without you.”
To open up the conversation, you need to shine a light on a problem your prospect doesn’t know they had that can hurt them.
In other words, you have to poke the bear.
Here’s a real email exchange that demonstrates how to poke bears over cold email. This isn’t hypothetic.
Names and confidential information have been redacted.
You’ll probably have no idea what the specific issue is in this email exchange. That’s okay. It’s the psychology behind the exchange that will allow you to apply it to your prospects.
See if you can dissect the underlying psychology behind the words. Notice how the salesperson masterfully shines a light on a problem the prospect didn’t know they had.
Notice the Chris Voss techniques as well (labeling and accusation audits).
Here’s the email exchange.
Prospect: “We currently do not have any issues within our health system related to inappropriate WAC spend.”
Salesperson: “I’m sorry, for sending such a confusing email. It seems I inferred that you have WAC spend issues. You’re probably going to think I’m overstepping my bounds. Would you be opposed to seeing if there are opportunities beyond what you have now to see if any Sub WAC purchases are being missed? Either way, I noticed you’re a member of Golf Women Mean Business. Played Sugarloaf? I love that course.”
Prospect: “We currently have single-digit WAC spend across our system, so I don’t think I miss much since I check it monthly. I’m a new golfer and love the game. I just need to keep practicing to get my game up to par (pun intended.)”
Salesperson: “Typically, when people review WAC spending monthly, they’re overpaying 8-12% MoM because they don’t have visibility into daily price fluctuations. I have no idea if that’s the case for you, but would this be worth another email exchange?”
Prospect: “I have some time Friday afternoon.”
What did you notice about what the salesperson did to open the conversation?
To be a better closer, learn how to be a better opener.