81. The Magic Question
It opens doors.
Shout out to Jed Mahrle for this LinkedIn outreach tip.
I first came across Jed while listening to the Practical Prospecting podcast. Last year, I listened to this episode where he explained how one simple question landed him three demos in a day.
I didn’t think much of it then because I’m not in software sales.
Fast-forward to May, when I decided to compile all my sales notes into a searchable database (more on that later).
I found my notes from the podcast and decided to test the approach.
The results are crazy.
So far, it’s lead to:
Two phone calls with key decision makers at ISG, the UK’s largest fit-out contractor, led to a face-to-face meeting in August.
A phone call with a key decision maker at A2Dominion, one of the UK’s biggest social landlords managing over 38,000 homes.
One invitation to tender for a waste contract.
Multiple referrals to key decision makers.
A bunch of valuable insights into how ideal clients choose a waste supplier.
Not bad for a simple question.
In today’s email:
The Magic Question
The template
The results
👇🏾 Listen: Make your cold calls suck less.
THE BIG IDEA
The Magic Question
In her book “Influence is Your Super Power”, author Zoe Chance refers to the magic question; “what would it take?” to get what you want.
The idea is simple: instead of trying to change someone’s mind when they aren’t doing what you want, ask “what would it take?”.
More often than not, the answer is much more straightforward.
Jed figured out how to use this question in his prospecting copy.
I stole the approach.
The template
I spent the whole of June connecting with fit-out & refurbishment space and social housing KDMs.
Here are the exact message templates I used.
Fit-Out & Refurbishment
“Appreciate the connection [NAME].
I was hoping to get some feedback from you as a persona I would normally sell to (don't worry - not trying to sell or book a meeting!).
I'm building LITTA’s outbound strategy for construction/fit-out. We're a competitor of waste collection services like Lawmens, AWS and LLS - I'm sure your team uses one of those or similar.
[I’m genuinely curious what - other than being on the books - would it take to for you to consider using an alternative waste carrier to price your bids?] - Pre-Construction Teams (Commercial Managers, Estimators, Pre-Construction Managers)
or
[I’m genuinely curious what - other than being on the books - would it take to for you to consider using an alternative waste carrier on your projects?] - Delivery Teams (Project Managers & Construction Managers)
Any feedback would be massively appreciated.
Thanks”
Social Housing
“Appreciate the connection [NAME].
I was hoping to get some feedback from you as a persona I would normally sell to (don't worry - not trying to sell or book a meeting!).
I'm building LITTA’s outbound strategy for Housing Associations. You may have an internal team that handles your waste clearances or use a contractor for your void clearances.
I’m genuinely curious what would it take for you to consider using a separate clearance service for your voids and bulk waste collection?
Any feedback would be massively appreciated.
Thanks”
I sent these messages to 45 people after we connected on LinkedIn.
The results
Out of 45 people, 17 responded.
3 told me to email them.
2 told me to call.
2 others gave me a referral.
Only four people said they could not help because they didn’t deal with this.
I didn’t expect these results. The biggest win was snagging a meeting with ISG in August off the back of one person who asked me to call.
Because of the success, I’m continuing with this approach for the next couple of months.
I’ve tweaked the messaging and automated the outreach using Linked Helper.
Excited to see what other opportunities I come across.
In short, this exercise is worth it. Getting inside information about your ICP and how to position your services never hurts.
It doesn’t hurt to book a few calls & meetings while you’re doing it!
Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
Forwarded this email?
Subscribe here:
Thanks for subscribing to The Growth Lab.