advice How to Perform Outbound Sales with Mike Robertson - Part 3: Contacting Prospective Buyers

When contacting a prospective buyer via an outbound email, what exactly do you say? That is one of the many questions we're going to attempt to answer in the third installment of our outbound sales series. This series is being compiled with the generous help of @Mike Robertson, the Director of Business Development at Fabulous.com. Mike has a long history of closing domain sales including the $1 million BTC.com sale.

Our series is designed to help educate you on the best practices for outbound sales emails so that you can produce sales from your portfolio that may not have been possible before. If you are finding this series helpful, please let us know.

Previously, we've looked at details such as email set up, CRM's and finding buyers. In this installment, we carry on with the next logical step, which is to send your initial sales emails.


What Do You Say?

One of the most frequently asked questions about outbound domain sales is regarding the contents of your initial email to your targeted potential buyer. What should you say in that email, and how much information should you include? Is it best to put as much information in as possible, or should you keep it short and sweet? Mike's advice is:

When composing the initial email to send to prospective buyers, I like to keep it short, direct, informative and have an action point.

I start with an opening paragraph, where I introduce myself and the domain I am representing. The second paragraph I use to briefly detail how I identified them as a buyer and why I have reached out to them. I believe this is important to show the prospect that you have qualified them as a buyer and that you understand their business. The final paragraph is designed to prompt some kind of action from the buyer. For example, “Can we schedule a time to discuss further?” “Can I send you more information regarding the sale?” “Would you like to make an offer?”

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Mike makes a very good point regarding a prompt or a call to action for your potential buyer. Ending with a direct question can promote conversation, which could lead to an initial offer and eventually a sale.


Personalizing Your Emails

After using the methods outlined in part two of our series, you will have assembled a targeted list of companies that may benefit from owning your domain name. Would you stand a greater chance of a sale by personalizing your emails? According to Mike:

I always personalize outbound emails I send. As detailed in Part 2 of the series, I try to identify key personnel at the companies I market domains to. As such, I always address the buyer by name and make mention of their company. In today’s age of email, you want to craft your email so it doesn’t look/read as spam. By customizing the email, it demonstrates that you have taken the time to personally reach out to them.

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Adding an Asking Price

The obvious question from an interested party is "how much?", so should your outbound emails just cut to the chase and include an asking price? Mike Robertson says otherwise:

In an effort to maximize the highest sale price, I avoid including an asking price in the initial email. The leading email is designed to pique interest from the prospect, have them engage, create a dialogue and begin the negotiation process.

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What Other Information Should You Include In an Initial Email?

We have established that the initial email should contain some personalized information to the buyer about the domain name and why you're contacting them, as well as a call to action, but is there any other information that is vital to include?

As discussed in Part 1 of the series, it’s important to include the various ways a prospect can contact you. I like to include my LinkedIn profile, as this shows prospects that I have been working in the Domain Name industry for over 15 years and that I have built a strong and trusted name for myself as highlighted by the many Recommendations/Testimonials I’ve received.

I also include some key domain transactions I have completed for clients, both selling and acquiring. You want to reassure prospects that they are dealing with a reputable domainer. By including a link to your LinkedIn profile, you can also gauge who might have read your email and have some kind of interest.

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Following Up

After sending out your initial emails, you may get some feedback from potential buyers, perhaps asking for the price of the domain name. However, you may have zero responses, or you may have some potential buyers who haven't replied.

This brings about the possibly contentious subject of following up with your prospects. Should following up be something to consider? According to Mike, a couple of follow-ups may be effective:

I always send a follow-up email to those who have been unresponsive, typically 5-6 business days after the initial email. Again, I like to keep the email very brief and most importantly, you want to try and elicit some kind of response from the prospect. If after 2 weeks from the initial email a prospect has not engaged, I will send a third and final email. In this email, I make it clear that it’s courtesy follow up and that it’s the final email.

Depending on how strongly I feel about a prospect, if I don’t receive a response to the emails I will look at other ways to engage with them. This could be via LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever platform the prospect seems active on. I rarely use the phone to follow up a prospect, only because it’s often difficult to get their direct line and also, phone calls seem to be more intrusive in this day and age (in my opinion).

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Thanks to @Mike Robertson for helping us so far in our series. In our final installment, part 4, we look at how you can react to an initial offer, and some negotiating tactics.

Previous:

1. Part 1: The Basics
2. Part 2: Finding Your Buyer