When you’re warming up a relationship, there’s a balance between looking keen and frightening off your prospect. Some people have been so enthusiastic they resorted to lavish gifts to impress the other person. When Richard Burton was wooing Elizabeth Taylor, he bought her enormous diamonds. Kanye decided the best way to surprise Kim Kardashian for her birthday was with a hologram of her late father. And let’s just imagine the relationship that Qatar is hoping for after it gifted a jumbo jet to Donald Trump.
You’ve spent hours researching a future corporate partner. You’ve tracked down the perfect contact person and carefully crafted an email. Then…nothing. Zip, zilch, nada- no response. How do you follow up to pursue the opportunity without looking like a stalker?
Here are some tips to get their attention.
Don’t make them feel guilty
After getting nothing from your first approach, it’s very tempting to re-send the message and lead with “as per my earlier email….” Ouch. You don’t warm up a prospect by making them feel guilty. They may be frantically busy, off sick or simply out of the office. It might be important to you but low on the priority list for them. Re-sending makes you look like a petulant toddler. Instead, craft a fresh email, ignoring the fact that you’ve sent a previous one and take a slightly different angle. Everyone’s inbox is busy, so they may genuinely not have seen your earlier message. Making them feel guilty is not an enticement for a partnership.
If you’ve read Partnerships Reimagined, you’ll know we talk a lot about the difference between chasing a partner and courting one. The goal isn’t to nag your way into a deal, it’s to build curiosity, relevance, and trust. Every follow-up is a chance to demonstrate that you understand their world and bring something of value to it.
Insights not gifts
You don’t need diamonds, holograms or a jumbo jet to get your prospect’s attention. What they’ll value is information or insight that is relevant to their business. It might be a link to some latest research, a newspaper article or a snippet of video that will pique their interest and make them want to learn more. It shows that you’re genuinely interested in offering something commercially valuable to the business. Don’t overwhelm with a 100 page research paper or your entire theory of change. Big attachments with glossy pictures may not get through their firewall anyway. Keep it short, succinct and relevant. Use it as follow up if a first email got no response. ‘Thought you might be interested in seeing this…”
Vary the channels
Have you been plugging away with emails without success? The average worker in Australia receives 121 emails per day- and they’ve probably got more than one email address. It’s a crowded channel. If you want to get someone’s attention, try mixing up the channels. Text is especially good for Millennials and Gen Z whilst phone calls work well for anyone of more mature years. Everyone has their own preference, so don’t get stuck on one medium of communication.
The most underutilised channel? Good old snail mail. When was the last time you had a handwritten piece of mail sent to you? Maybe it was last Christmas, if your Mum still does cards. If the tech approach isn’t yielding a response, you might need a teaser or prompt sent by mail. There’s a longer lead time for responses, given the unpredictability of mail deliveries, but I guarantee your approach will be way more memorable.
Timing
When you arrive at your desk, do you attack the most important and urgent things first? Of course- and that’s what your corporate prospect is doing at 9 am. If you’re sending emails and making approaches first thing in the morning, you’re interrupting their critical start to the day. Or you’ll miss them because they’re in a team meeting.
You might be on a mission to do prospecting first thing, as it’s your biggest priority- but not theirs. Give your corporate contact time to settle into your day and time your approaches for 11am- 12noon. They’ll be reaching for a second coffee and less likely to ignore you.
Consider also the days when you do the most prospecting. With hybrid working, many people are offline or not working every day. Vary the days you send your approaches, as you may be picking the one day they’re not at work.
Frequency
How often is too much when you haven’t received a response? Generally the rule of three applies. Three approaches, using different channels and days will show a corporate partner you’re serious about the approach. We knew of one corporate-community manager who wouldn’t respond to incoming enquiries unless she’d received at least three- to test whether the NFP was genuinely keen. Then pause. Leave alone for three months and then try again with a different contact.
Most importantly, recognise that your corporate contact is human. They’re juggling the same mix of dysfunctional departments, sick children, bad hair days and impossible deadlines that you are. It’s not personal if they don’t leap to respond to your emails and calls; you’re just not their priority at the moment. They don’t need lavish gifts to get their attention- just some creative thinking and a large dose of empathy.