Aaroe Writing 
2022 Wrap Up: B2B Cold Email Trends
Posted on December 3, 2022 Leave a Comment
Looking Into 2023: B2B Cold Email Trends To Keep… And What To Get Rid Of
Cold email is a super effective way for b2b companies to bring in new business. The problem is… every one of your competitors is also sending cold emails. Your prospects are not going to respond to your company’s outreach when it’s buried among the literally hundreds of emails they receive in a day. But there are ways to make your cold emailing campaigns more effective and it starts by understanding what your prospective customers want. Then you have to figure out how to connect your company’s main objective to what your prospects actually want, and do this in a way that gets their attention.
I’ve compiled a list of 8 types of cold emails that are trending in 2022. Any of these types of emails can work well to grow your outbound leads, however there are some things I’ve found out in the wilds of cold email country, that I advise you to avoid.
The Problem-Solution Cold Email
A large number of b2b cold emails begin by stating the problem they believe their prospects are facing. Starting off your cold emails with the prospect’s problems helps grab their attention and gets them into their negative feelings. This approach creates a perfect opportunity to present your company as the solution to your prospect’s needs.
These emails often present the problem in the form of a question, a before and after story, or a simple statement of the problem followed by the your company’s solution. Any of these approaches work as long as you’ve correctly identified the prospect’s pain points and you manage to capture their attention with your words.
One of the pitfalls of these types of emails is spending most of the email bragging about your company instead of dedicating the bulk of the email talking about your prospect. If you get the problem right, and get the prospect feeling their pain in the specific area where you can help them, they will want to learn more all on their own.
Example
The “Straight Talk” Cold Email
Lot’s of cold emailers try to get noticed by using a familiar tone, like you would use when writing to a friend. They may even make a joke about the nature of cold-emailing and try and “break the ice” with a laugh. These types of emails can work well for b2b companies who have a whimsical product or a highly personalized sales process.
The key to making the familiar, friend-to-friend, cold email work is that it has to feel genuine. Think of these types of cold emails like a pick-up line. Canned and cliched phrases are going to get your email deleted before your prospect even finishes the first sentence. However a person-to-person conversational style email that feels sincere can be a great way to bond with your prospects and increase conversion rates.
Example
The Customized Cold Email
Customizing your cold emails to each specific recipient takes time and attention… and it should. There is nothing worse as a cold email recipient than getting a personalized email that feels fake, in fact it’s most likely a cold email death sentence.
The key here is to choose personalized information that is relevant to the product or service that your company offers. Don’t settle for generic references such as “visited your website and…” or “searched for you on Google and found…” In order to make your personalization count, you need to go far enough into your prospect’s business to find something that only you would notice, and that your company has the perfect solution for.
Personalization can be incorporated into other types of cold emails included in this article. You can personalize a problem-solution cold email by calling out a problem you found in your prospects business that you can help them solve. Below I describe how “in the news” emails can be personalized to your prospect by searching for literal industry news references to your prospect’s company.
If you’re sending out hundreds of cold emails every day, personalization is not a good fit for your email marketing strategy. But I suggest reducing your volume and increasing the quality of your emails and you will probably see much higher quality results.
Example
The Story Based Cold Email
A story based lead can work for all different types of emails, problem-solution emails, customer centered emails, referral emails, in the news emails and more. But this approach to cold email is severely underused. The reason stories work so well for cold audiences is that they appeal to our basic human affinity for, and comfort with story telling. If an email begins with a compelling story the prospect can’t help themselves from wanting to know how the story ends, and thus continuing to read your email. The key here is to start the story at the height of the action, where their is a lot of emotion and then quickly direct the story back to something your prospect cares about.
When I talk about story-leads with email, I’m not suggesting simply a “once upon a time…” sort of story. Telling a story to a cold audience is as simple as setting your words in a specific time and place with a subject (usually the reader) and some sort of conflict. The example below is an example of a story-type lead that draws you in immediately with an emotionally driven first line. Try re-working your emails to include a story-type opening, and watch your open rates and conversion rates soar.
Example
The Reference Cold Email
This type of cold email works if your company has a pre-existing connection with the prospect, of any sort. In the example below, the email is reaching out to current users of one company and introducing a product offered by their parent company. But referral emails can work if you have something in common with the prospect, or if you learned about your prospect from a mutual connection. Using relationships or past experiences that you have in common with your prospects is an incredible opportunity to build momentum for your cold email.
The most important thing to avoid with these types of emails is being fake. If you don’t actually have a common reference point with the prospect, you should not go making one up. These emails can take time and research so they make the most sense if you already have a lead on a connection, or if you are going after a specific company and want to make a notable impression.
Example
The Bullet Points Cold Email
Sometimes all a company has to do to convert prospects is list a series of catchy bullet points about their product’s features and benefits. If you have a fairly simple to understand product and you can provide concise solutions to specific pain points, then a bullet point email is a great way to combine design, i.e. plenty of white space, with well crafted copy and win over your prospects.
Anyone can write bullet points, but it takes a skilled copywriter who understands the market to write a good bullet point. To craft a really great bullet points cold email you want to focus on the benefits of your product and how they are going to make life better for your prospect. The second thing you want to do with bullets is build curiosity, and hint at a result, prompting your prospects to click the call-to-action and find out more.
This email in my example hints at benefits for the prospect, “no subscriptions,” “no messaging limits” but they opted for short and direct bullets, instead of more emotional, sentence length bullets. I think these same bullets would be even more powerful if the copy was flipped to show the prospect exactly how they would benefit from this product. Instead of “no contracts, no subscriptions” they could have said, “Only pay for the service when you use it.” Instead of “same day activation!” I would turn this bullet into a call-to-action and say “Start messaging customers today!”
Example
The “In The News” Cold Email
A common approach I see in cold emails is to start off with a reference to something in the news. This works to grab attention and make the email personal right from the start. The “news” can be a specific article or, like in the example below, a mention of a trend. A great way to individually personalize the email is to reference an industry article where your prospect’s company is specifically mentioned.
The key to making this type of email work is to get as specific as possible with both the news item you are referencing, including a link if possible, and even more importantly referencing news that is specifically relevant to your prospect.
The example below works because it is an emotional appeal to a trend that is probably causing anxiety or even fear in the prospect, hence priming the reader for the sender’s call-to-action. I think they need a little work on their first sentence to make it easier to digest and even more emotionally driven. However the use of powerful words like “devastating” and “security breaches” are going to grab the attention of those readers for whom this fear is on the top of their minds. The follow up link to join their virtual training is well placed and is probably going to see some significant results.
Example
The Direct Offer Cold Email
Studies show 3% of your market will be ready to buy immediately, and this type of cold email is designed to grab those prospects and directly convert them into customers.
These types of emails should start with a question that will directly identify your ideal prospect who is ready to “buy today.” Then you give them your offer, which can include a brief explanation of your company, or you can skip the introduction and go straight to your offer. Then include benefit driven, curiosity inducing, bullets along with your direct offer and you’ve got a complete email package that your most anxious prospects will respond to right away.
Example
Useful Copywriting Tips To Use In Your Cold Emails
No matter what type of cold email you are sending, there are some copywriting techniques that you can use to strengthen your existing approach, or help you craft a winner from the start.
Start with a question
Questions can make great subject lines and great openings. You can turn any of the above email types into an attention grabbing email by starting off with a question that pulls in your ideal prospect and primes them for your message.
Turn your email into a story
A story email is going to make your email stand out from the competition because it offers a human element, which is appealing to almost everyone, and almost no-one uses them. To use a story in cold email you always want to begin the email at the climax of the story, when the emotions of the situation are the most intense. A story can be just a couple sentences or a few short paragraphs, it doesn’t really matter. As long as the story is compelling, it will draw in your audience and help deliver your core message with more impact.
Write compelling button copy
If you have a design heavy email that includes a colorful button, don’t settle for canned, boring copy on that button. CTAs like, “Sign Up,” “Schedule A Demo,” or “Find Out More” do little to move your prospect to take action. Similar to how the best bullet point copy is written, your button/CTA copy should focus on the benefits of your product and promise the result your prospect will receive if they follow your CTA. Some alternate button copy to the examples above are, “10X My Responses,” “See How x-product can solve x-problem,” and “Discover x-case study customer’s Secrets.”
Send your email from a real person
Be careful of getting too familiar with your prospect in your cold emails. Acting like you’re already their best friend in the first few outreach emails will reek of sleazy salesmanship. However, do be yourself in your cold emails and explain why you are excited to reach out and how you think you can help. The more genuine your email tone and copy, the more likely you are to get a real response.
Common Mistakes To Avoid In Your Cold Emails
Finally I’ll leave you with a list of what to avoid when crafting the copy for your cold email campaigns. Avoiding these common pitfalls will help your emails stand out from your competitors by generating more opens, reducing bounce-rates, and ultimately driving more conversion.
Edit your cold emails for these common mistakes:
- Wordy sentences
- Techno-babble – We’re not presenting a report for investors, we’re trying to get the attention of potential customers
- Stories without any conflict or emotion
- Burying your lead with too much branding and graphics
- Mass produced customization
- Including personalization details that are public information and have nothing to do with the rest of your email
- Sending your best performing emails only once
- Using personalization code in your cold emails… when it goes wrong, there will be no forgiveness.
- Inconsistent branding
- Misleading subject lines
Looking Forward To 2023
This is not a complete list of all the different cold emailing trends, but each of the examples I’ve included here are primed to work well for your b2b cold emailing campaigns in the coming year. No matter what industry you are in, but especially if you are a tech or SaaS company, the human touch and feel of your cold emails is going to be the thing that sets your emails apart in 2023.
Hi! I’m Annie Aaroe, a b2b marketing strategist. To find out more about story-driven, conversion copy and strategy that’s tailored for tech and SaaS brands, visit my website, aaroewriting.com, or shoot me an email at annie@aaroewriting.com.
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Black Friday SaaS Email Breakdown: Featuring Attentive
Posted on November 7, 2022 1 Comment
How to Sneak Up on Black Friday Customers and SELL HARD
Today I’m breaking down a Pre-Black Friday email from the tech company Attentive featuring one of their case studies. There is lots of great copy in the email, but they could have done so much more. The blandness of the email copy makes it blend in with the swell of other emails asking the same basic question this time of year, “Are you ready for Black Friday?”
As I break down the email I show how Attentive could punch up this type of email to make it stand out from their competitors and build curiosity, desire, and trust, in the minds and hearts of their potential clients.
If you are a tech company looking to draw in more clients during this crazy season, pay attention to the tips I share below, and see if you can’t use them to make your own emails better than ever.
About Attentive
Attentive is an SMS marketing app for e-commerce brands, and brick-and-mortar brands looking to expand their reach online. The app uses innovative approaches to gathering data, A/B testing, geo-targeting, segmentation and more, allowing their clients to create personalized, branded, two-way conversations with their customers.
Attentive’s Pre-Black Friday Case Study Email
This is a solid email from attentive. I love that they are leading their email marketing with case studies showcasing real results from real clients. This is one of the most effective uses of email marketing, especially for tech and SaaS companies. However, while this email starts out strong it quickly falls into the stale trappings common to so many vapid emails filling up your prospective client’s inbox. Read on and let me explain what Attentive does right with this email, where they are losing momentum, and how you can do better with your own emails like this.
You can view the entire email from Attentive here or just read along as I break the email down into its parts.
Pre-Email Funnel Explanation
The only way to get added to Attentive’s email marketing list, from their website at least, is to sign up for a demo. The Attentive homepage asks simply for my email address to request a demo. The simplicity of their sign up process is excellent. I think more tech and SaaS companies, especially those in the e-com space, should follow this simple model.
Soon after entering my email, I received a personalized, automated email from Katie, who welcomed me and asked three simple questions about my company. Katie followed up with five more of these personalized, automated emails, asking in various different ways if I was still interested in booking a demo. After six emails over ten days, “Katie” finally gave up on my demo booking probability, and shuffled my email into the general list of broadcast email recipients.
The broadcast email we are looking at today arrived in my inbox exactly 24 hours after the first demo outreach email.
Section 1: From and Subject Line
Almost all of Attentive’s email marketing content comes from a person. As mentioned in the section above, the demo outreach emails came from one person, Katie, and the more broadly circulated emails, like the one I am looking at today, are from Nicole. I highly recommend sending emails from a single person’s name, or several different people’s, as it builds in familiarity to your email right from the start.
I also think this is an excellent subject line. It’s concise, it holds a promise, and it’s specific using the client’s name and their exact growth numbers to deliver the message. This is a message an audience can dig their teeth into, and that means more opens. While I don’t have the data on this email’s open rates, I’m going to bet their open rates are fairly high on this email… much higher, I bet, than their click-through-rates or overall conversion and web-traffic rates, as I’ll explain below.
Section 2: Lead (and optional logo)
As good as the subject line is for this email, this headline totally misses the mark. They’ve basically restated the subject line, but a generic, un-tooth-sinkable, non-specific version of it. Why even bother? If they’d re-stated the exact subject line here, I would be fine with that. There’s no harm in using a proclamation subject line as a your email’s headline (if you must have one), but never water it down as they did here. Or they could leave the headline out all together.
The rest of this lead is ok. While I don’t think brands need design to craft effective emails, this one has minimal design, and uses it to organize their message. I love the inset photo of an actual text Dolce Vita used to grow their revenue.
The CTA here is weak, and nothing in the copy is going to propel folks to want to download the case study, especially with the fluffy, meaningless headline preceding it.
I suggest they use the headline to link the promise, 39% revenue growth, with the image of the text message.
My rewrite:
“See how Dolce Vita used SMS messages like this one to grow their holiday revenue by almost 40%”
Even if they didn’t have space for that long of a headline, and used something like “See how Dolce Vita used SMS messages to Drive Holiday Revenue” at least there would be a purpose to the headline, the image, and the button copy, compelling the reader to download the case study to find out how they did it!
Button copy rewrite: Read About Dolce Vita’s Success
Section 3: Key Argument: Case Study Summary
This portion of the email is almost there, but is not compelling enough to drive action from the reader. They are retelling the story of the subject line and the headline with a bit more detail, but they should do so much more. This section should show how Dolce Vita grew their revenue with SMS. Start with the emotion of the two incredible sales days, how astounded the marketing team was at the numbers, and then end with a description of how they got there, using Attentive.
Here’s my (un-researched) re-write:
Kayla from marketing was in disbelief looking at the numbers on her computer screen. Sales had blown past Dolce Vita’s projected goals in just two days! The decision to focus on targeted SMS messages with a holiday twist… had clearly excited their customer base, and it showed.
Kayla downloaded the report and sent it off to the team with the subject line, “SMS works!”
Section 4: CTA
This section only works if the section before it is strong, otherwise, the reader is gone before they ever get to this CTA.
On its own merit, this section is fine, although it does nothing to build momentum for the reader, arguably the only reason email copy exists! The other serious problem I see with this section is the button copy… it’s literally the exact same thing as the link in the beginning of the body copy. Links embedded in the body of an email can be “boring” But I like it best when they fall on a slightly unexpected word… Personally, I would link the word “overview” instead of “Download the case study,” but either one is going to grab folks up front who missed the link the first time.
However… button copy can NOT be boring. The reader already knows they are going to leap out of the email and land further along your brand’s agenda if they click that button. Wasting time on anyone’s agenda but their own, is of ZERO interest to most people. That’s why you’ve got to make button copy irresistible.
Here’s my re-write:
Read about the tips and tricks(link << there) Dolce Vita used to build excitement during the cacophony of the holiday season through their SMS campaign,
BUTTON: See how Dolce Vita grew their revenue by 39%
Section 5: The Close w/ Bullets
I’d like to think my re-write suggestions would mean most readers don’t even get this far… they’ve already clicked away to the company website, where they will be served similar suggestions for more reading and convincing that Attentive is the solution to their holiday marketing needs… However, for those readers who like to read the entire email before clicking away, this section is an excellent opportunity to give the reader a bulleted list of why Attentive is a good choice for their specific needs.
… But that’s not at all what happens here. These bullets, in my opinion, are wasted. If the reader is not already convinced to read the featured case study, and click away long ago, why are they going to be interested in a bulleted list of more content on the same kinds of topics? To me, this is a lost opportunity to feature Attentive and grab those readers who are ready to buy. I would suggest using this bulleted section to feature Attentive, instead of simply listing more “resources.”
Here’s my (minimally researched) re-write:
With Attentive’s innovative approach to SMS marketing you can:
- Segment your messages to meet customer’s specific needs
- Test multiple approaches and choose what works best, in real time
- Target customers on their terms using, “ethical data points”
- Gain access to thousands of innovative ideas our brands have used to generate ROI
BUTTON COPY: Start growing my revenue with Attentive
Section 6: The P.S.
I LOVE a good P.S. and by a “good” P.S. I basically mean, any P.S. I love how attentive uses the post script to grow their audience for an upcoming event. It’s a perfect opportunity to add something to an email that has NOTHING to do with the content of the rest of the email, and still get a huge response!
I have no re-write for this, it’s clear, it’s specific, it’s fresh and it’s targeted. IMO (thought I’d throw some text-ese into this article on a SMS messaging app)… Great job with the P.S. Attentive!
Section 7: Footer/CTA
To me, this is almost like a second P.S. This graphically enhanced footer offer is where they’ve decided to throw in their main offer to the folks in the audience who are ready to buy, or who will be incentivized to buy with a free trial.
I see two problems with putting the offer here, instead of in the bullets section as I’ve suggested in my re-write.
The first problem is that it’s impersonal. Brands use graphics to make their message stand out, and it does that, but the graphics also remove the reader from the personal vibe that is so unique to email. Since this is a mostly text based email, this graphic at the end is tossing away the chance to make an intimate connection with the reader, and build from there.
The second problem is again… the button copy. What is their commitment to re-using link copy for button copy… do they think we didn’t read it the first time? Earlier I explained how buttons can create a barrier, because the reader knows they are “opting in” to something when they press that button. But also… folks love to press a button. Rather than throw away this love of pressing buttons with bland, boring, re-used copy, this is a chance to impress on the readers how much they have to gain!
I would suggest sticking this button up with the bulleted list above, and lose this footer section completely. My button copy would state the offer, and let that sell on it’s own.
Button Copy re-write:
Start your 30-Day Trial with Attentive Today!
Conclusion
This email starts out strong, and loses me completely by the end. Unfortunately, that’s the trend with most SaaS and tech email marketing. Tech companies who embrace storytelling, bold selling, and proven direct response copy-writing techniques like I’ve described in the different sections above, are going to stand out from their competition. This Black Friday and Holiday season, try punching up your stale emails with some of the tactics I’ve pointed out here, and watch your open rates, click-through-rates, conversion rates, traffic rates and ROI skyrocket!
Hi! I’m Annie Aaroe, a b2b marketing strategist. To find out more about story-driven, conversion copy and strategy that’s tailored for tech and SaaS brands, visit my website, aaroewriting.com, or shoot me an email at annie@aaroewriting.com.
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Sell like ‘Slippin Jimmy’ (of “Better Call Saul”)
Posted on October 23, 2022 Leave a Comment
What The Kennedy Half Dollar Con Teaches Can Teach Us About Selling
The other night my son and I were sitting on the couch snuggled together watching the hit TV show Better Call Saul. We blew through Breaking Bad in about 2 months this summer (it was my second time through, so I skipped a lot of the re-watch) and now we’re on to the prequel, season 1.
In Season 1, Episode 10, “Marco,” Jimmy (Saul) heads back to Chicago, the city of his younger years and hooks up with his buddy Marco. In an effort to relive their glory days the two of them effortlessly dupe a businessman sitting alone at the bar into buying their Kennedy half dollar at 21900% above it’s value (If you haven’t seen the show, here’s a clip of the scene). The scam is done effortlessly, and I couldn’t help but notice what a perfect lesson in selling the fictional story provides for us marketers.
“Slippin Jimmy,” as he’s referred to on the show, and his friend Marco are “selling” a complete knock-off scam. But substitute a genuine product with proof from past customers and a rock solid guarantee… and Slippin’ Jimmy’s style becomes a superior lesson for how to capture your market and make the sales roll (or should I say ‘slip’) in.
Here’s how the scene unfolds… and relates to our lesson in selling.
Step 1: The Research
Jimmy and Marco are catching up after years apart at the local bar. Jimmy looks sideways as a middle aged man in a business suit walks past him engrossed in a phone conversation. The business man appears pompous and self-absorbed. Jimmy gets an idea, but first he asks Marco one key question as he gestures towards his next victim, “Is he a regular?”
They knew basic information about him, like that he was alone at the bar, and had some financial means. They also deduced certain things about his psychological and emotional state, specifically that he would be interested in a lucrative investment opportunity. And finally they made some assumptions about this background, that he would have an interest, but not an in-depth knowledge about coin collecting. All of these pieces of information about the “prospect” were key to the success of the scam. I can only imagine that if the loner at the bar were a woman, or tough guy wearing a motorcycle jacket, or a preppy looking college kid, the two would have chosen a different scam to run that night.
As marketers we can be much more thorough and methodical in our research than a con artist, we don’t need natural talent, we simply need an inquisitive mind. We can spend days or even weeks learning intimate details about our prospects, understanding not only their basic demographics, but also their daily struggles, fears and desires. Since we aren’t in the business of swindling, we don’t have to ask “is he a regular here?” But we do need to ask other, similarly poignant questions about our prospect in order to understand their relationship to our product and solutions it provides for them.
Like Jimmy and Marco, you need to know both the surface demographic details, like gender or income bracket, as well as their inner desires, their pressing needs and what will peak their interest. For both Slippin’ Jimmy and us, understanding our customer avatar intimately is the key to making the rest of the sales process work effectively.
Step 2: The Hook
The two friends first get the attention of their prospect by manufacturing some light tension between them. Jimmy implores Marco to “have a look” and Marco tells him he’s not interested. Jimmy keeps pressing, and finally Marco, with an eye roll, gives in.
Jimmy pulls out his prize possession, the Kennedy half dollar and presents it to Marco with one word, “BOOM.” With this Jimmy implies he has a secret, something of value, but no one in the audience has any idea what is so special. Introducing a secret with your hook is a great way to not only grab your prospect’s interest, but also keep them, however mildly, intrigued as you guild towards your big reveal.
Step 3: The Story
Once Jimmy has Marco’s (and he’s pretty sure the businessman across the bar’s) attention, he keeps that attention by launching into a detailed story about the Kennedy half dollar. He begins the story by drawing attention to the direction Kennedy is facing on the head of the coin.
Here, Jimmy reveals a little bit more of the secret he’s hinted at earlier but the full explanation, the actual secret has yet to be revealed. Jimmy instead goes on to explain in great detail and drama the origins of these coins, why they came into being, and then what happened to make this specific coin that he is holding extremely special. By the time he’s half way through his story, the business man across the bar has looked up from his work and is not only hearing what’s going on in front of him, he’s paying attention.
Whenever you need to capture your audience, especially if they are a highly skeptical audience, telling an exciting story, sometimes even a largely irrelevant story, is the best way to get your prospect to listen to you. Use the story to build on the hook you used to grab their attention, but don’t give away the secrets about your product. Instead, use the story to hint at the benefits to your prospect, and keep them wanting more.
Step 4: Scarcity
Finally, after going on about the details of why the face on the coin should be facing one way, Jimmy finally reveals what makes this coin so special. This is where Jimmy explains why this coin is so valuable, the direction of Kennedy’s face on the coin, which he hinted at, is actually unique to a very limited amount of coins, meaning the coin he is holding is worth far more than it first appeared.
Anytime you can legitimately introduce an element of scarcity, whether because time is running out, or because of a limited supply, you greatly increase the desire of your prospect. When something might be gone before we have a chance to experience it, we are hardwired to want that item, whatever it is, more than if there was no urgency involved.
Slippin’ Jimmy takes this a step further. At this very moment he looks over at his businessman prospect and calls out his skepticism directly. “What’s the buddy?” even though the man hadn’t said anything, and then “Do you mind? We’re having a private conversation here.”
I’ve seen marketers do something similar by including a first name tag in an email at exactly the point in their argument when the stakes seem the highest (talking scarcity is one of those moments). In VSL’s this would be an ideal time to look at the camera and speak pointedly and directly to the camera. By this point you definitely have their attention, and making it known that you know it is a slick and brilliant interpersonal move.
Step 5: Value
Next Jimmy launches into telling how much this coin, because of the unique story behind it and and its rarity, is worth. He picks an almost outrageously high number, $800. It’s a lot of money, though not an unreasonable number for a true collectors item. The reason he does this is to increase the perceived value of the coin juxtaposed with the price he ultimately gives to Marco to buy the coin off him.
You never want to name the price of your product or service without first giving it context, both conceptual as well as numerical. The more you can build up the perceived value of your product by naming what it should cost, the more likely you will be able to name whatever price you want, and people will be willing to pay it.
Step 6: Proof
Up until this point, although the businessman is paying attention to Jimmy and Marco’s charade, he is still scoffing at the idea of the coin actually having any real value. He is certainly nowhere near opening his own wallet. This is where the con takes its most brilliant turn.
Jimmy excuses himself to use the bathroom, giving Marco the chance to seemingly go behind Jimmy’s back and corroborate the claim. Marco starts talking to the business man, mirroring the skepticism he’s feeling. Marco even declares he’s gonna prove Jimmy wrong and call the cops on him. He’s calling out directly all the objections the businessman could have about the ideas being presented to him, laying it all out on the table.
Marco asks the bartender if he can use the bar phone. Marco could have pulled out his own cell phone, but instead he enlists the bartender in the theatrics, a small gesture of proof, simply saying, hey, this is real, here’s yet another person (the bartender) involved in what’s going on.
Marco then calls his made up friend, a guy who happens to deal with rare coins, and briefly explains (to a dead line) what Jimmy has told him about the coin. Before Marco can finish he is interrupted by the completely fabricated expert on the other end of the line, as if they already know how this story ends. Marco’s skepticism turns instantly to a look of smug interest. Marco ups the scarcity factor by turning his back on the businessman. Now Marco is in on the secret, and he doesn’t want anyone else getting in on the deal he’s just discovered is “real.”
As a marketer, you’re probably not selling something to one lucky buyer, unless you’re in the business of selling lottery tickets or something, so you won’t need to keep your discovery a secret for long. But the most important lesson here is that you have to speak directly to your prospect’s objects and provide irrefutable proof. You can do this in the form of expert’s opinions, research backed data, or the most easily acquired form of proof, customer testimonials.
Step 7: The Close
Jimmy and Marco close their deal effortlessly at this point. When Jimmy comes back from the bathroom Marco corners him and offers $50 for the coin. Jimmy says no, he’s not taking anything less than $100. Marco’s into it, but there’s a problem, he only has $64 cash on him at the moment.
This is the opportunity the business man needs and he seizes the chance. He offers Jimmy $75 for the coin. He’s now fully convinced, and he wants that coin as his own. Jimmy turns down the $75, again insisting on $100. In a moment the businessman is out of his chair, offering $80. He’s almost yelling, “This guy was gonna call the cops on you!” Which makes Marco heated, he’s still begging Jimmy to sell him the coin, promising he’ll bring the rest of the money… and a second later the businessman is waving $110 cash in both men’s faces. “Sold” Jimmy announces and exchanges the simple coin for 21900% it’s worth.
There are many ways to close a sales message, but the thing I love about this one is that they keep upping the drama. I see so many sales pages, emails and VSLs that start out strong, with emotion and high stakes, but once they get into the product details, all the bells and whistles, the message completely loses its momentum. The key to remember here is that people always buy from an emotional place, so you will always do better to close with an emotional appeal, up the stakes even. You can do this with future pacing, painting a picture of what life will look like if they make the purchase, or even better sometimes, what their life will look like if they don’t make the purchase. You can also close with scarcity to create a final sense of urgency to push your prospect over the proverbial fence. However you choose to close your sales message, don’t let the wind out of your sales, keep those emotions rolling, and drive your message home to the very last call to action.
When the businessman takes the coin and walks out the bar, Marco still isn’t done with teh con, he keeps yelling after him what he’s gonna do to the guy for “stealing” this opportunity from him. If the business man has regrets, he’ll be miles away from Marco and Jimmy before he comes down off the emotional roller coaster they’ve put him on and realizes the stupidity of what he’s just done.
If it’s this easy to pull a con on a hunk of silver worth fifty cents… how much more should you be able to sell your completely worthwhile products and services using these same tactics!? There are lessons in selling all around us, and the more we study it, the more we internalize these lessons and become experts in exchanging our solutions and dreams for our customer’s cash.
In the words of today’s fearless teacher, “S’all, good man”
Hi! I’m Annie Aaroe, a b2b marketing strategist. To find out more about story-driven, conversion copy and strategy that’s tailored for tech and SaaS brands, visit my website, aaroewriting.com, or shoot me an email at annie@aaroewriting.com.
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A Case For Doing Work That’s, “Beneath You”
Posted on October 11, 2022 Leave a Comment
Why Delegating All The Tasks You Don’t Enjoy (Or Are Below Your Pay Scale)… Can Hurt You In The Long Run
I see this advice everywhere. I’ve heard it at business conferences, read it in blog posts about time management and found it in almost every course promising to help grow your business.
Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.
The idea is that as your business grows, your time is best spent on the highest level tasks that actually make you money. So, you should delegate to employees or outsource all the menial (but necessary) tasks that take up time but don’t directly generate increased profits. Enlightened advice givers will also point out that spending your valuable time on tasks you don’t enjoy will actually suck your energy faster and reduce your overall effectiveness.
I have experience both as an employer (I own a bagel shop and have managed up to 25 employees at a time) and as a freelancer. I understand in both situations, the importance of delegating tasks in order to keep business moving. In fact, for my entire career I have been meticulous about tracking time for every task, updating our written systems to accommodate new hires, and off loading work from my plate to allow me to grow my businesses.
However, I’ve always made a point to keep some of the tasks that I could delegate, on my own to-do list. Whether I’m running a 7-figure bagel enterprise, or growing a 4-figure solopreneur venture, I still value the simple tasks that aren’t directly making me money. Today I want to make a case for all business leaders to reserve a not-insignificant portion of their time on what others may consider “menial tasks.”
“Why the president should clean the toilet”
According to Christianity, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In this capacity Jesus healed the sick, performed miracles and traveled thousands of miles giving speeches. However, when Jesus wanted to show his quality as a leader, he chose to humble himself with tasks that other religious leaders of his day would have thought “below them”. Jesus washed his disciples feet, an act of service that astonished everyone, but made clear Jesus’ intentions. Jesus spent extended time ministering to chatty, wild, simple-minded children, devoting himself to what was considered “women’s work.” Many people recognize the kindness and integrity of the Christian Jesus, but few understand how much his humble lifestyle and actions were crucial to his ministry.
The humility of bible stories connects in interesting ways to present day life. The President of the United States, or of a company, is no more valuable than Jesus himself, or than any other person alive today. Even the newest employee (or subcontractor) hired for the lowest paying, simplest task, has the utmost value as an individual. The concept of justice is built on this idea that every individual has equal worth as a human being. Entire countries have been built on this same lofty principle. And while we don’t ever see this value lived up to in reality, it is still a principle that people intrinsically understand and respect.
That is why it is important for leaders to not only show, but fully believe that they are not better than those who work for them. Taking on menial tasks, like cleaning the toilet, taking someone’s coat, or even just the humble act of actually listening to another person, is how a leader demonstrates this value, to themselves and to their followers.
By its very nature, humility does not show itself off. There are, however, what I’ll call “side effects” of humility that you may recognize. If you think back to a boss you had that was “always there for you” or a team that “looked out for each other” or a leader who “seemed like just a regular person,” you are probably witnessing the by-products of a humble leader. In business, humility is rarely looked at or spoken of as important. The truth is, to be an effective leader, humility is essential.
“Don’t Forget Where You Came From”
How many movies hit their climax when the hero is forced to face his past. We see a young single mother in a roach infested apartment, a neighborhood of scraggly kids with an ‘up to no good’ look in their eyes, or a dimly lit mail-room swarming with sweaty, tattooed ex-cons and possibly homeless old men. Our hero is forced to choose between what benefits himself, and his new found community of rich, powerful folks, or doing right by those people who knew him before he rose to the top. The “good” hero doesn’t forget those who helped her get where she is today.
These ideas work in fiction because they are too often ignored in real life. Getting ahead is synonymous with not having to do the shit you don’t like anymore. No more eating generic brand food. No more scrubbing floors. No more paper pushing or answering to bosses you can’t stand. But some of the things we don’t like doing, are important for us to keep on doing even when we don’t HAVE to.
While there is value to outsourcing tasks that suck up your time and energy, some of those tasks are still incredibly important to the health of your business and the morale of your staff. If you aren’t filling your time with at least one menial but still important task in your work, you WILL forget where you came from. As a result your employees will lose respect for you, the quality of their work will decrease, and your own inflated sense of yourself will infect your entire operation, possibly incurably.
“You have to know it to believe it”
The third reason I have for including menial tasks in your work week is much less lofty and simpler to explain. Many tasks should not be delegated completely because a leader needs to stay familiar with how their business runs on the “ground level”. Before you delegate, you should do every task at least once, so that you know the basics and can better manage those who take it over. But even after you’ve delegated, it’s important to keep coming back and spending time doing all of these tasks so that you can make sure the systems are working up to their best possible potential.
As your company grows, or if you own multiple companies, you won’t have time to check into all of the tasks that make your business run. However, spending time each week in different departments, doing the work of your employees will help you understand fully how the work is done and will ultimately make you a better leader.
Bonus: “Idle hands…”
My last idea is a bonus idea, because it is only a matter of my opinion (and experience). I believe doing menial tasks that include manual labor are the most important to incorporate into your work week. Nevermind the fact that sitting at a desk all day wrecks havoc on our health and stress levels. But performing manual labor as a part of our work also brings a tangible aspect to our success.
As the owner of my bagel shop, I can analyze numbers, develop new income streams, or create marketing material all day long. Each of those tasks brings money directly into my business, allowing me to pay my employees a fair wage, grow the business profitably for my family and our future, and offer something valuable to my community. However, it’s not until I get my hands dirty in the dough room or mix the cream cheese flavors or break a sweat in front of the oven, that I actually understand what makes my business money. Spending time on the physical, tangible activity in my business is what fuels all of the ideas I need to do the rest of my work.
In my job as a copywriter, there are far fewer tangible jobs. However, I still incorporate walks into my creative process because nothing helps me distill my ideas better than physical exertion. I also incorporate handwriting into my work week because the physical act of handwriting, whether it’s hand copying someone else’s sales email I found to be effective, hand writing the first draft of my novel, or jotting down my daily to-do list on a notepad, the physicality of the task energizes a necessary part of my brain.
If you can find a place to incorporate manual labor into your work week, then I believe you will see cognitive and emotional gains which will boost your productivity and the overall quality of your life.
You Are What You Do… Repeatedly
When I talk about incorporating menial tasks into your work week, I’m suggesting this become a regular practice, a part of who you are as a leader, and as a company. One of my favorite SaaS companies, Bonjoro, exemplifies these ideas beautifully. They are a Customer Relationship Management system for recording short, personalized videos to send out to customers. When you sign up for a Free Trial with Bonjoro, within a day, you will receive a personalized video from the company’s CEO, Matt Barnett. Every single person who signs up gets one. These aren’t even paying customers, and yet Matt is such an incredible leader that he takes the time to record these first impression videos himself, and he’s been doing so for years. He is able to communicate his excitement for his company, and for your new arrival in it as a prospective customer. But I’m sure this does more than create high levels of customer loyalty. I’m sure that it keeps Matt, the CEO, dialed in on a physical, emotional level, to the essence of what his company does. He can’t ever get lost in meetings, growth strategies or paid time off, like so many leaders do, and forget what the company is all about. He is, it seems daily, connecting back to the most basic tasks that make Bonjoro run. And I will also predict that his team has a high level of respect for their leader, as well as motivation to do their best, because they see him doing it.
This is just one of countless examples of companies who have humble leaders driving their success. Take a second to think of your favorite company, and I bet you’ll find that some of the same activities I’ve discussed in this article are an essential part of the leadership team’s daily practice. Now it’s time to start making it part of yours too.
Hi! I’m Annie Aaroe, a b2b marketing strategist. To find out more about story-driven, conversion copy and strategy that’s tailored for tech and SaaS brands, visit my website, aaroewriting.com, or shoot me an email at annie@aaroewriting.com.