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advice Daily Dose: Outbound techniques.

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This weekend I was able to sneak in some free time to wind down. During this wind down, I had an idea... the Daily Dose needs to be more than just domain names. It needs advice, tips, tricks, and tactics. I mean, I can show you domain names all day long, right? Well, what about when it comes time sell one of them? So from now on, I will switch it up. One day it might be domain names, others I will drop a dosage of advice that has helped me along the way! :)

Today, we talk about outbound techniques! Let's get right to it:

For starters... here are some of my ground rules:

1. Keep the message as simple as possible. I receive countless emails every day from people trying to sell me just about everything. A majority of them are more than 3 paragraphs long. First of all, how dare some salesman think I have time to sit and read their entire life story? That's the biggest mistake any sales person can make. You immediately show that you don't respect the prospect. Save the stories for your buddies. This is sales. Get to the point.

I generally keep it as short as I possibly can depending on which approach I am using. This comes down to understanding your prospect. Which leads to research. For starters, take a look at their LinkedIn profile. It will give you a lot of insight into their personality. Did they fill everything out? How thorough is their profile? For instance, take a look at mine... you notice how little I care about filling it out? That means I don't have time for little details and fluff, get to the point ASAP when you email me, otherwise... you can surely wait till I feel like reading your email or I may never even respond. That's not because I'm an asshole (well maybe a little) but it's because I'm constantly swamped and you didn't take the time to see if I was the type of person who likes all the details or just wants to hear what you are selling. See where this is going? For example, my latest outbound email, I noticed that my prospect filled out their job history very briefly, but they included the most important details from each position. That let me know that they like details, but don't like the fluff. So my email was drafted to meet their needs, not mine.

2. Keep the email very, very targeted. There is no point sending a sales pitch to a low level employee from the contact form of a website. You think they care? Nope. Find out who makes the decisions and make sure you send the email to them and them only. It is a lot easier with bigger companies as they usually have dedicated employees you can contact... but that means you have to know which dedicated employee to email! I use two tools called Data.com and ZoomInfo. Take a look at them! It's a very, very powerful tool to help you narrow down your search for not only the right company, but the decision maker within that company. I generally have the most luck with C level marketing executives. Chief Marketing Officers have a lot of say when it comes down to saving the company money with a creative approach to advertising. Buying an exact match domain name is one of those approaches. There are companies that spend millions of dollars advertising for the term "shoes"... type it into Google, what's the first domain name you see? Owning that domain name and investing their money into development and ranking allowed them to achieve the #1 spot for a term that gets 1,000,000 exact searches a month and certainly millions of dollars saved in advertising over the course of a few years. Now you see why it's oh so important to reach the right person in the company... you think telling the customer support agent how an exact match domain name will help their company will get you anywhere? Nope, but I bet the Chief Marketing Officer (so long as your domain name is of interest to them) will hear you out.

3. Keep the email personal. Everyone wants to believe that they are special. They want to know that you took the time to understand them, and it gives them a sense that you know them. That is why if you have a friend that sells cars, generally you go to him to buy one... not some random vulture... Right? So make sure that they understand that they are not just some number in your list of outbound. For example, last week I sent out an outbound email to the Chief Marketing Officer of a major company. I did a little research on her and found that she is a "Six Sigma Black Belt".

This is how I began the email: "As the Chief Marketing Officer at one of the biggest graduate schools (and an overall marketing black belt) I’m sure you deal with the CPC costs of Google Advertising frequently."

This showed her that I know who she is, what she does, what her job entails and a little compliment about her work history...and it set up my next line! Even though most people may roll their eyes, their subconscious loves the ego stroke. She's opened the email almost 30 times over the weekend. I can only imagine that my email has been making its rounds through the company. I'm certain to hear back from them this week.

4. How to address the prospect. More often than not I start the email with a "Hi" and their name. For instance "Hi John,"... I do this for many, many reasons. Every day they hear "Hi John" from their friends, family and peers. This approach puts me on the "same" level as those people. Not above and definitely not below. I've tried many other approaches, and this one - while the least professional, has yielded more responses.

5. Make 100% sure you have a professional email address and signature. How on earth do you plan on being taken seriously by an executive if you are emailing them from a Hotmail account? Also, make sure you have a thorough enough signature that makes you trustable. Name, email address, website, even a phone number if you are okay with speaking on the phone! Give them a LinkedIn, Twitter, so on. The more you show, the more trustable you seem.

6. Make sure you have the right tools. Sidekick is a great one because it'll show you when and if they opened the email and how many times/how often they did! The more often the better your chances. This gives your great insight to use on your follow up email!

7. Follow up as many times as you have to until you get an answer. I use FollowUp.cc. A very, very simple tool that reminds me to follow up! Generally, I follow up once a week till I get a response. More often than not it's a "no..." but at least then I know! I've made more sales because of following up than any other method I've used.

So here are some examples of emails that I have drafted that have received the most responses!

Example #1 - STRAIGHT to the point.

Hi Joe,

My client owns the domain name Cosmetics.com and is considering putting it on the market. Delta Makeup spends quite a bit advertising for that term, yes?

Would you like me to put you in contact with him? It could be a great acquisition for you.

Best,


Example #2 - Almost met you.


In this scenario, I did some research (by way of calling) to find out that the prospect was out of town at some marketing conference. So I set a reminder to email him when his assistant said he'd be back. (This is just a made up example)

Hi John,

I tried to make it out to the marketing conference last week, I was looking forward to speaking with you!

One of my clients approached me with an opportunity you may be interested in. He owns the domain name Cosmetics.com and is considering putting it on the market. Delta Makeup spends quite a bit advertising for that term, yes?

Would you like me to put you in contact with him? It could be a great acquisition for you.

Best,

Example #3 - Strokes & Facts, not Fluff.

Hi Jen,

As the Chief Marketing Officer at one of the biggest graduate schools (and an overall marketing black belt) I’m sure you deal with the CPC costs of Google Advertising frequently.

I see you are currently advertising your Graduate School on Google for the exact term. I’m not certain what your monthly click budget is for the term, but by owning an exact match domain name you could potentially save millions in advertising costs (27,100 searches a month x $10 CPC x 12 Months)

Have you ever considered acquiring an exact match domain name to cut the costs of advertising? It’s definitely something to think about.

My client owns the domain name Graduate.School and I believe your school would greatly benefit from it.

Let me know if you are interested or if you have any questions! Thank you for your time!

Best,

These are a great "template" but don't just take them word for word and start sending out emails. Make sure you study your prospect. The more you know, the better you can draft the email. Now, you notice that when I do outbound, I do it as a broker (at least a majority of the time) as this sets me up for the gem of all negotiation tactics... more on that in a future dose!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Fantastic post Ali. Some great tips and advice here
 
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Wonderful post. I really learnt so much from it. Great job buddy ! Thanks a lot
 
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Great insights - Thanks Ali !
 
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How do you write such great article!! I think your business name should be Perfection.com , considering the kind of information you share!

Already a fan!
 
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Ali, enjoyed the post. The shotgun approach almost never works. Too bad spammers think they do.
 
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Great insights - Thanks Ali !

Thanks!
great informative post

I'm glad you enjoyed!

How do you write such great article!! I think your business name should be Perfection.com , considering the kind of information you share!

Already a fan!
Wow, very kind of you! I appreciate it :)

Ali, enjoyed the post. The shotgun approach almost never works. Too bad spammers think they do.
Thanks! Shotgun approach only works for people who break in to your home! ;)
 
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Excellent post. Thanks for sharing.
 
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Ali:

Great article. As for the poll, we are greedy; we want everything.

I liked your pitch for graduate.school.

My questions are:
1) Is your pitch limited to advertisers for related keywords? Do you consider similar domain name owners? Any other source? Do you have an order of preference? When you have a huge chunk of possible recipients, would you be selective and avoid others?

2) Do you have a limit of sending emails out? What is the max if you have one?

3) How do you assure your emails are not going to spam? Do you notice some of them goes to spam?

4) What subject line do you put for graduate.school? Do you have a strategy for putting subject lines?

5) How does your followup pitch look like for graduate.school and what would be the subject for that one?

Thank you :)
 
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Very nice post ! Thanks for that! I just started using sidekick last week and wow it's nice to see what happens when you shoot off your emails. I noticed one of my emails to a branding company was opened 4 times in 4 locations all within maybe 3 hours of sending. I might not ever hear back but to be forwarded so much so quickly it lets me know im on the track with my domains and email format.
 
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Ali:

Great article. As for the poll, we are greedy; we want everything.

I liked your pitch for graduate.school.

My questions are:
1) Is your pitch limited to advertisers for related keywords? Do you consider similar domain name owners? Any other source? Do you have an order of preference? When you have a huge chunk of possible recipients, would you be selective and avoid others?

2) Do you have a limit of sending emails out? What is the max if you have one?

3) How do you assure your emails are not going to spam? Do you notice some of them goes to spam?

4) What subject line do you put for graduate.school? Do you have a strategy for putting subject lines?

5) How does your followup pitch look like for graduate.school and what would be the subject for that one?

Thank you :)

Thanks!

To answer:

1) My pitches are never limited, they are targeted to the person I am sending them to. If you feel as though this person would understand facts and figures more so than touch & feel, then address them with facts and figures. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt... she understands facts and figures better than most people and knows that a small change can make or break a company. So I focused my pitch to her aptitudes. I have no order of preference, and I am VERY selective who I reach out to. Again, that comes with researching your prospect.

2) I don't have a limit. I generally don't send out too many emails. Maybe 3-5 per domain name. Then I wait, I analyze, then follow up. If they are not interested, I rethink and reassess. Find another round of prospects.

3) Generally speaking most people open an email within 60 minutes of getting it. If they haven't opened my email, it's more than likely in the spam box or deleted. I follow up regardless.

4) For the subject line I used: "Beneficial Domain Acquisition" This does NOT work for every domain name or every prospect... again, you have to play to the needs of the prospect.

5) I generally follow up with a couple simple lines, just to get a feel for where they are... and if I can, get a commitment of any sort. I also just use the reply function so that I don't change the subject line, just add a "RE:" to the front of it. My follow up would usually be something like:

Hi Jen,

I emailed you last week about a beneficial domain acquisition.

Are there any questions that require an answer before your company decides to move forward?

Best,
 
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Awesome writeup! I have definitely left too much money on the table in the past. Need to learn better negotiating tactics. Thanks!
 
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Awesome writeup! I have definitely left too much money on the table in the past. Need to learn better negotiating tactics. Thanks!
Thanks! We all leave money on the table ;) From the looks of the poll, negotiation tactics are next up on the daily dose!
 
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I'm trying to do the leg work and find the endusers myself instead of relying on using a service that puts your domain up then you wait for them to comb through all the availabe domains. It saves them time and maybe i get to have a future contatct i get to keep that 20% + fee in my pocket. B-)
 
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Thank you for detailing it out. It took me by surprise you send only very few emails per domain name but what I understand is that they are the most likely prospects. Another aspect to this is that you always have the best name to sell. And it looks like you mostly target advertisers. So, another question. Which tool/s do you use to find out advertisers for the keyword? Just Google or Estibot or which one?

Thanks!

To answer:

1) My pitches are never limited, they are targeted to the person I am sending them to. If you feel as though this person would understand facts and figures more so than touch & feel, then address them with facts and figures. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt... she understands facts and figures better than most people and knows that a small change can make or break a company. So I focused my pitch to her aptitudes. I have no order of preference, and I am VERY selective who I reach out to. Again, that comes with researching your prospect.

2) I don't have a limit. I generally don't send out too many emails. Maybe 3-5 per domain name. Then I wait, I analyze, then follow up. If they are not interested, I rethink and reassess. Find another round of prospects.

3) Generally speaking most people open an email within 60 minutes of getting it. If they haven't opened my email, it's more than likely in the spam box or deleted. I follow up regardless.

4) For the subject line I used: "Beneficial Domain Acquisition" This does NOT work for every domain name or every prospect... again, you have to play to the needs of the prospect.

5) I generally follow up with a couple simple lines, just to get a feel for where they are... and if I can, get a commitment of any sort. I also just use the reply function so that I don't change the subject line, just add a "RE:" to the front of it. My follow up would usually be something like:

Hi Jen,

I emailed you last week about a beneficial domain acquisition.

Are there any questions that require an answer before your company decides to move forward?

Best,
 
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Overall good post. That kind of information is desperately needed here as my sense is that many people can't sell their way out of a paper bag. I disagree with the LinkedIn assumptions regarding profile completeness, but if it works for you then that says it all. Also good point on Sidekick, I had forgotten about it for quite awhile, but i was reminded of how useful it can be. As a Six Sigma Black Belt, I did have to chuckle at the term "marketing black belt".:rolleyes:
 
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Thank you for detailing it out. It took me by surprise you send only very few emails per domain name but what I understand is that they are the most likely prospects. Another aspect to this is that you always have the best name to sell. And it looks like you mostly target advertisers. So, another question. Which tool/s do you use to find out advertisers for the keyword? Just Google or Estibot or which one?

Well, think of it this way. Would you try and sell horseshoes to a zebra? :) Probably not the easiest pitch.. but you'd likely make a sale pitching it to a horse. What i'm saying is, just because there are thousands of people out there who could benefit from the domain name doesn't make them all buyers. So the few emails I send out are highly researched prospects.

I actually don't always reach out to strictly advertisers on Google. I reach out to whom I believe would benefit the most from owning the domain name... and I always start at the top of that list.
 
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Overall good post. That kind of information is desperately needed here as my sense is that many people can't sell their way out of a paper bag. I disagree with the LinkedIn assumptions regarding profile completeness, but if it works for you then that says it all. Also good point on Sidekick, I had forgotten about it for quite awhile, but i was reminded of how useful it can be. As a Six Sigma Black Belt, I did have to chuckle at the term "marketing black belt".:rolleyes:

Fair point, basing your entire outbound methodology on a Linkedin profile would be outbound suicide :) But, from what I gathered about her from her Linkedin profile, I was able to assess her needs. The whole marketing black belt line wasn't directed at her just being a Six Sigma Black Belt, it was because of the blend of that and 10+ marketing positions she's held! She's a freaking ninja!

For instance, with other prospects i've looked through you tube to study their speech patterns. What kind of wrist watch they wear. Do they wear one? Is their shirt tucked in or not? Do they smile a lot? Laugh? How is their eye contact? I mean.. the list really goes on, but for this example - all I needed to see was her linkedin profile. ;)
 
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Now I remembered why I had stopped using Sidekick, no support for office 365 outlook :(
 
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Streak.com also provides a killer Gmail App for tracking emails.
 
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Well, think of it this way. Would you try and sell horseshoes to a zebra? :) Probably not the easiest pitch.. but you'd likely make a sale pitching it to a horse. What i'm saying is, just because there are thousands of people out there who could benefit from the domain name doesn't make them all buyers. So the few emails I send out are highly researched prospects.

I actually don't always reach out to strictly advertisers on Google. I reach out to whom I believe would benefit the most from owning the domain name... and I always start at the top of that list.

How do you determine which person at the various prospects are the ones with the authority to write a check?
 
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