No Socks Day: An Excuse to Prospect?

I’m always looking for a new reason to connect with a prospect that hasn’t yet responded to my emails.

Clearly triggering events are the number one message to center on, but what if they haven’t responded? After 3 or 4 emails I find myself trying to establish my personality so the contact will begin to feel as if he knows me and want to reply.

However, that’s hard if all I ever talk about are issues they might be facing and how I can help. It starts to sound repetitious and boring. If I don’t mix it up a bit, my email will hit the contact’s delete barrier before it’s ever opened!

Add some fun to your communications as it gets later in the email prospecting game. You’ve received St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving cards, of course. But what about sending a quick email that says something like this?

Friday’s No Socks Day! Can you believe it? Someone actually came up with a day for not wearing socks. Apparently if we all skip our socks for one day it reduces laundry and helps the environment. Go figure!

It’s a fun little tidbit I read and thought you might find amusing. As hard as we’re working, we all need a few extra laughs right now!

I’d still be interested in speaking with you about… now mention the triggering event… Can we set a time to talk next Tuesday at 3pm?

Let me know. I look forward to your reply – and enjoy No Socks Day!

You may say to yourself that there’s no way you could ever send this email , but think about it for a minute.

Your objective is to catch the attention of your prospects. They haven’t responded to the business issue you presented. You want them to start to get to know you, seeing inside you personally, enticing them into reading your emails more closely – maybe even responding.

Sending a fun email that’s still professional and gives a bit of insight into you might do the trick.

First, though, we have to get them to read it. That means the subject line has to be unique, too. “No socks day” really doesn’t sound professional enough, even for me. And, using the triggering event sounds too much like what I might already have used.

Boring. It needs some spice.

I’d probably go with something like: “A fun tidbit to share.”
Sometimes contacts don’t feel a need to respond to what are obviously sales emails. The moment you add something unusual, not completely business related, you’ll find they do read and reply. You’ve given them a different reason to write back about.

I’ve received replies like, “Guess I’ll go free Friday! Thanks for the laugh. No need right now, but stay in touch.” Or, “Enjoyed the tidbit. Yes, we should talk. Give me 2 weeks then let’s schedule something.”

Bingo! I got through.

Everybody wants some fun in their day and that increases my odds it’ll get opened. Pick a quirky morsel that fits your style. Perhaps it’s National Karaoke Week. Email your tough prospects and check-out how it works for you.

By the way, No Socks Day is Friday, May 8. That leaves you plenty of time to plan your communiqué!
For a list of other fun reasons to contact your prospects, check out my Quirky Prospecting Calendar.