First, you need to figure out what story you have to tell.
Second, you need to figure out who might be interested in the story you have to tell.
Third, you have to tell the story.
One and two might be interchangeable, and actually it is generally a good idea to search for a lock and then fashion a key.
But the problem is that most just go with three.
What you say is going to be misunderstood.
There’s really not much to say, it’s just the nature of communication. You deliver a message from your own position, with your own understanding, and the other person interprets all of that from their own position, with a different understanding. This happens inevitably, no matter how close the speaker and the listener are. It’s not your fault. It’s not their fault. It’s just how it is.
The only thing you can do about it is to repeat the message over and over again.
Of course, you will become boring after while, people will start telling you they have already heard that, some will make fun of you, others will just stop listening and move on.
But it really is the only thing you can do about misunderstandings.
Just be careful that the message you choose to repeat is really the one that matters to your purpose.
Are the numbers you track the numbers that matter? Do they tell the story of a success, of your success, or of someone else’s success?
These days, measuring is very easy. You can track basically every progress, every little step, every achievement, every moment. But are those the numbers that take you in the direction you have chosen?
Sometimes we celebrate because we feel we are connecting the dots, but the final image was drawn by somebody else. Be mindful if that is the case.
In the past four years, I have only replied to four cold outreach from sales or business development reps.
In two cases, I already knew the company. Their brand was so popular in my circle that I was just seeking an opportunity to work with them. When the sales reps reached out, I was sold already. I booked a meeting, and from there on it was just a matter of how.
In one case, the sales rep really put work and effort at personalising the outreach. I did exchange some emails with them, and the whole thing turned into a deal with another side of the organisation a few months later.
In one case, there was an offer for a €125 Amazon voucher to attend a demo. I did reply, the thing got too complex, and since I had absolutely no interest in the tool they were selling, I gave up easily and with a smile on my face.
I can’t say how many others I have gotten, but they all went to the trash bin or ended up accompanying some pungent posts on social media.
And yet, there is people that still believe that one plus one equals sale.
Subject: Such Interesting Mentorship Programmes
Body: Hi Fabrizio, came across your LinkedIn profile and wow you have participated in such interesting internship programmes. I’m just checking to see if you are the person responsible for lead generation. If you aren’t the right person to speak with, can you forward me on to someone more appropriate?
I guess the assumption here is that personalisation is easy. That to establish a relationship it is sufficient to point at some trivial thing, such as the colour of your hair, or the fact we both have two eyes and one mouth. That after quickly exchanging some pleasantries, it is ok to not only go straight to business, but also to ask for further introductions. That the receiver of a cold outreach is nothing but a necessary evil to surmount in the name of the business goal.
Of course, that’s not how it works. Because that is not how people work.
You've got this 