question Which contact?

[RockBros]

Hello all,

Found potential end user website, which has President, as well as Chair of the Board of Directors listed but no direct contact info, for either. Site has street address, phone number & general inquiry email address.

Also, found company LinkedIn page, which leads to individual pages, for Chair of the Board of Directors, as well as both Executive Assistant & Special Assistant to President, but not to President. To message any of them, I’d need to signup for a one month free trial to “InMail”, a Premium LinkedIn feature that lets you contact anyone directly.

My initial thoughts were to try to contact President via regular mail, phone or by way of either Executive or Special Assistant, through LinkedIn.

Which contact would you outbound to and through which avenue?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think it depends on the size of the company. For a truly big company I would try to find a VP of Marketing or some similar title. For a small company I would try to contact the owner. For a medium company, I think that an executive assistant is the right person to contact. Just my (not very expert) opinion. Hopefully others who do more outbound to business users will chime in.

Bob

 

[RockBros]

I think it depends on the size of the company. For a truly big company I would try to find a VP of Marketing or some similar title. For a small company I would try to contact the owner. For a medium company, I think that an executive assistant is the right person to contact. Just my (not very expert) opinion. Hopefully others who do more outbound to business users will chime in.

Bob

Thanks Bob!

It’s a foundation, which Bloomberg states has $586 million worth of assets under management.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

In that case, I would go through the executive assistant route. But as I say inexperienced so just my top of head thought.

 

[RockBros]

In that case, I would go through the executive assistant route. But as I say inexperienced so just my top of head thought.

Thanks again!
Looks like great inexperienced minds think a like , as that was one of my original thoughts. But as you said, hopefully others, who do more outbound will chime in.

 

[RockBros]

If you go the executive assistant route, how would you address her, in initial contact...By first name, or is that too informal, in this situation?

 

[johnn]

Send email to the President's wife.

 

[RockBros]

If I could, I would.

 

[johnn]

Send to executive assistant would work to if she is blonde, young and single.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I would not use a first name. Sounds too informal to me.

In her presentation at NamesCon (in response to a question) Kate Buckley suggested that the first contact should be brief - she suggested just a few sentences, and should try to capture why the name would fit with a future vision for them. A tall order to accomplish in a few sentences, but advice that rang true with me. She said don't get into a lot of details or data in that first reaching out to them. There is time for that after they respond. Be polite, professional, positive and concise.

Bob

 

[RockBros]

I would not use a first name. Sounds too informal to me.

In her presentation at NamesCon (in response to a question) Kate Buckley suggested that the first contact should be brief - she suggested just a few sentences, and should try to capture why the name would fit with a future vision for them. A tall order to accomplish in a few sentences, but advice that rang true with me. She said don't get into a lot of details or data in that first reaching out to them. There is time for that after they respond. Be polite, professional, positive and concise.

Bob

Thanks, that's very helpful!

In this instance, I believe they will clearly see how the name(s) would fit with a future vision for them. That said, here's what I'm looking at:

"Hello Miss X,

I'm selling the following domain names:
XXXXXX.com
XXXXXX.com
XXXXXX.com

Please forward this to President's full name and/or whoever is decision maker, in this regard.

If interested, contact me for details.

Best,
My full name"

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I would not use Miss but Ms or other title
I would include her/his title above

I would try to include a sentence or so on how the domain name fits a value proposition for the company, without going into a lot of details. Such as it is shorter, easier to remember etc. Maybe this is too much information, but point out it could be used for redirection in short term if they did not want to consider a migration in a new branding.

Already I am getting too long, but your note sounds too bare bones to me.

Bob

 

[cabotower]

i'm preparing an outbound myself.how's this draft?
-
Person responsible for Marketing and acquisition

I wish to inform you that an Exact Name Match domain name for your company is available.XXXXXX.com is on auction at Godaddy.com Your website's domain name is the digital real estate your brand is built upon.With millions of registered domain names there is only one XXXXXX.com.Bids may be placed on this domain or it may be purchased at the Buy It Now price.You are strongly urged to consider the Buy It Now price as there are several others receiving the same notice that are also an Exact Name Match.

 

[RockBros]

I would not use Miss but Ms or other title
I would include her/his title above

I would try to include a sentence or so on how the domain name fits a value proposition for the company, without going into a lot of details. Such as it is shorter, easier to remember etc. Maybe this is too much information, but point out it could be used for redirection in short term if they did not want to consider a migration in a new branding.

Already I am getting too long, but your note sounds too bare bones to me.

Bob

Thanks!

"Ms." it is...Good call! As a quick online search tells me, apparently Ms. has now become a default for women in business circles and official contexts.

You would include title for Assistant or President?

I'm reaching out via a LinkedIn "Connect" invitation and adding a note, which doesn't require me to sign up for the InMail Premium service free trial but it limits my characters, so I'm not sure I can fit anymore. Perhaps, if I signup for the free trial of the InMail Premium service, it will allow me more characters. Anyone familiar, please chime in.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

If tight on characters can leave out title I think. I have not used LinkedIn much for years, but should they accept invitation to connect, perhaps unlikely, I think no limit without paying. Best of luck, and hope some outbound targetted pros will respond.

It is old fashioned but did you consider a mailed query that would allow a more full query?

Bob

 

[RockBros]

If tight on characters can leave out title I think. I have not used LinkedIn much for years, but should they accept invitation to connect, perhaps unlikely, I think no limit without paying. Best of luck, and hope some outbound targetted pros will respond.

It is old fashioned but did you consider a mailed query that would allow a more full query?

Bob

I believe you’re right on...IF they accept invitation to connect, no character limit.

It may be old fashioned but yes, my initial thoughts were to try to contact President via regular mail or phone, if not through LinkedIn.

Thanks, I appreciate the best of luck wishes! You know, how I feel about being lucky.

Agreed, it would be great, to hear from some outbound pros.

 

[Jay Ha]

Not an outbound pro but if you're willing to pay for inMail then I suggest you use that money to get yourself a snov.io monthly subscription to get you their emails once you open their website.. If you have the name of their president it will be easy to find their name through their fetched list of emails. You can also get top management info from their annual reports, if they post any. If you need more help please let me know. It has been a while since I last tested my skills.

 

[J Sokol]

"Ms." it is...Good call! As a quick online search tells me, apparently Ms. has now become a default for women in business circles and official contexts.

I agree with using Ms. if you're sure the assistant is a female. But this brings up the question of how to address someone who has a name that could be male/female/trans? Any ideas?

 

[RockBros]

Not an outbound pro but if you're willing to pay for inMail then I suggest you use that money to get yourself a snov.io monthly subscription to get you their emails once you open their website.. If you have the name of their president it will be easy to find their name through their fetched list of emails. You can also get top management info from their annual reports, if they post any. If you need more help please let me know. It has been a while since I last tested my skills.

Trying to avoid paying any subscriptions for this, but may use the inMail free trial. Wondering how snov gets the emails, once I open their website, unless they pull it from source code. Top management appears to be listed on this particular website but annual reports is great idea. Thanks, for the offer of help, I may reach out, if needed.

 

[Jay Ha]

Trying to avoid paying any subscriptions for this, but may use the inMail free trial. Wondering how snov gets the emails, once I open their website, unless they pull it from source code. Top management appears to be listed on this particular website but annual reports is great idea. Thanks, for the offer of help, I may reach out, if needed.

I'm happy to help!

 

[RockBros]

I agree with using Ms. if you're sure the assistant is a female. But this brings up the question of how to address someone who has a name that could be male/female/trans? Any ideas?

Good question!
Found a Business Insider article: “The perfect way to start an email — and 29 greetings you should usually avoid”, which may have answered some more of my questions, as well as yours:

“WINNER: 'Hi [name], ... '”

 

[J Sokol]

“WINNER: 'Hi [name], ... '”

That sounds like a good option. I didn't realize there were so many (bad) possibilities!

 

[Keith DeBoer]

A lot of spam on LinkedIn. I would not use that as a contact channel. Get the personal email and send a short 2-3 sentence inquiry. "Do you have any interest?" No BS, no sales pitch, no hype. The subject should just be the domain name. If it's really relevant to them it will spark interest.

Send it once a week for three weeks. Track it via an email tracking software. If it's not opened and forwarded try another executive. You want to be persistent without being pesky. Keep going till you get a clear no from a decision maker.

Like all of domaining, outbound is very speculative. Only a small % will respond or show any interest.

Good luck.

 

[NickB]

use lusha to scrape LinkedIn for their direct email address + contact numbers (you get some free credits) do not pitch the assistant

https://www.lusha.co

 

[RockBros]

A lot of spam on LinkedIn. I would not use that as a contact channel. Get the personal email and send a short 2-3 sentence inquiry. "Do you have any interest?" No BS, no sales pitch, no hype. The subject should just be the domain name. If it's really relevant to them it will spark interest.

Send it once a week for three weeks. Track it via an email tracking software. If it's not opened and forwarded try another executive. You want to be persistent without being pesky. Keep going till you get a clear no from a decision maker.

Like all of domaining, outbound is very speculative. Only a small % will respond or show any interest.

Good luck.

use lusha to scrape LinkedIn for their direct email address + contact numbers (you get some free credits) do not pitch the assistant

https://www.lusha.co

Thanks!

Unable to get the President's personal email, and for some reason lusha does nothing, when I enter my email and click "start for free".

I did locate a 2nd potential end-user, on LinkedIn so I would not have to go through his assistant.

Other options, for both, appear to be general inquiry email, regular mail, or phone.