Dear potential customer… this is how a company began the initial contact, or, introductory e-mail they sent to a group of new clients we had identified before a recent fair. This is also a frequent mistake that is made when you first make contact with a client: not putting yourself in their shoes. That is, not highlighting what their advantages are in buying our product and instead highlighting our advantages.

To look at things from this perspective it becomes necessary to study them and look at how the client introduces himself to his prospective clients: what he says in his catalogue, how the company presents itself on their website, on social media, if they have a slogan, etc. We’ll then begin to understand which elements they focus on to sell their products and can use this as the hook to use during our first contact with them which will focus on what advantages they will have if they choose to purchase our products. Obviously, research of this nature means investing a large amount of time but it is the only way to create an added opportunity to generate interest from my potential client in an increasingly crowded and competitive arena.

Of course, it’s much easier and faster to send a standard text e-mail to 100 new contacts in BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) but let’s ask ourselves: when we receive these “cold” e-mails do we read them or, rather, delete them straight away – or even going so far as to mark them as spam?

The path we must take today is the one that re-establishes a more personal contact with our customers and potential customers. More personalized e-mails but also telephone calls. I’m convinced that the telephone allows us to make initial contact with the client in a very personal manner. It’s not always possible to do this and it, too, takes a lot of time. But when it’s successful it is very, very effective.