Why I Emailed a Dog Having fun with a cold email to a prospect livens up the pitch and betters your odds of a response.
By David Koji Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As any small business owner will tell you, acquiring new customers is not easy. In order to get a prospect's attention, you really need to think outside the box of common sense.
There are many different marketing tactics, but one cold email strategy that I use is searching for something unique about a prospect and using that knowledge to deliver a personalized, unique and engaging email. At the end of the day, it's still a cold email, but you can increase your chances of a response by captivating the prospect and breaking out of the typical cold email routine.
Related: If Your Cold Sales E-mail Didn't Get a Response, Make it Hot
I was searching for local attorneys to contact, and I came upon one that listed his dog as an employee of the company. What a perfect and unique opportunity this presented. I could have approached the email by addressing the business owner and simply referencing the dog in some capacity, but I didn't find that approach very unique.
Instead, I approached this by addressing and speaking to the dog in the email. This allowed the business owner to experience a cold email in a way that was a bit wacky, fun and, most importantly, memorable.
If you want to stand out, find creative ways to do so. Here is the cold email I used (the dog's and person's names have been changed):
"Hi Spot,
I usually don't write to dogs, but when I read that you are the firm's customer service specialist, I just had to reach out.
My company doesn't employ dogs, and I am waiting for the inevitable discrimination suit to come my way. But, so far so good. I hope you don't blow my cover and tell Attorney Smith about my non-dog employment situation.
To make sure I keep you happy, I want to extend a free 3 month (no obligation) trial of my company's online sales-lead generation service. Yeah, I know -- what good is killer lead generation without a great website? We can help you with that too. Wouldn't it be great to start seeing your website do some work for a change!?
Spot, if you can pass on this message to Attorney Smith, and have him contact me with a good day to talk this week, I would greatly appreciate it. And let's keep the dog employment situation between us!
Thanks Spot!!"
Related: 5 Things My Dogs Taught Me About Leadership
Find something unique about your prospect and get creative. Your job is to set yourself apart from everyone else. This is a great way to do it. Don't just stop with cold emails. Research your prospect's favorite football team and mail a letter with a sticker of that team. Or, learn his or her favorite hobby and email him or her some valuable resources to help enrich the hobby.
The name of the game is personalization and moving beyond the straight business talk. Learn about your prospect as a person, and watch your cold email responses grow.
