Mass email is a horrible way to prospect

There, I said it. In a world of LeadGen, prospecting is made easier with massive reach and minimal-targeting prospecting; I think we can do better. At RAB, we teach SMART prospecting. Strategic, Methodical, Adventurous, Rewarding and Targeted. Perhaps the most important part of that is the targeting. We are a people business, and people do business with people.

Consider the irony of an email we recently received from a LeadGen company, wanting to help us generate more leads... (I've redacted the names to protect the guilty)

Hey Jeff, I am loving the beautiful spring weather we are having. I hope you are too. A few months ago, I reached out to you about our new [blank] New Business Development program, but the timing was not right. As a persistent, "leave no stone unturned" business owner, I wanted to update you about our program and the enhancements we have made to increase the sales results for our clients. The enhancements we have made to this sales-boosting program has been a jump start for many businesses across the country since the COVID-19 challenges began. Using this proven marketing program, my team and I at [blank] Marketing have helped many businesses open up new doors and close more sales. Simply put, we want to grow your business through our proven process for developing new prospects. Would you be open to a brief phone chat to discuss this in more detail? Thanks, Dale.

At the risk of being obvious, let's unpack this message together. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it as well. Email me at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com.

The opener was about beautiful spring weather. It was pouring rain with tornado watches in Wisconsin that day.

"Reached out to me before" is an attempt to make us feel stupid or guilty. "I wanted to update you." We didn't respond the first time, why would you think we wanted an update?

The email is all about them and includes nothing about us. Nor does it demonstrate they have any idea why their services might be beneficial. The irony of this coming from a company that purportedly works to help their clients do a better job prospecting is not lost.

Thus, the problem with mass emailing: It's never personal. If you are using email to a prospect, it must have three critical components:

It must be personal. We don't just mean the name of the person but a relevant point indicating why you are contacting them.

It must be relevant to the potential client and provide something of value. Research, an article or something that indicates you put some effort into the communication.

It must be targeted. Your prospecting efforts should be directed at people most likely to benefit from your services.

We have plenty of prospecting tools to help you with those three critical components. You'll find them under the Sales Tools>Prospecting section of RAB.com.

Jeff Schmidt is SVP-Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can reach Jeff at jeff.Schmidt@Rab.com or follow him on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn.