A few years back, I got a cold connection request on LinkedIn that was different from the others one usually gets.

The person sending it – a rep for product A – had done some proper research about me. They even got to this blog (I have a link in my profile, so all legit). They read a few posts and in their request they actually commented on one of them.

I accepted their request and I did not purchase product A.

In fact, I did not even book a meeting, since it was just something out of the scope of my work.

About a year later, a colleague of mine reached out asking for a recommendation. They were unsure which one of two tools they should pick for their own work. One of the options was product A. I listened to the colleague introducing the two options, and ended up saying that I did not have a clear opinion on which one they should choose. I mentioned, though, that I had a very good experience with the sales process of product A. That resonated with my colleague, since they were having a similar experience themselves.

For many different reasons, my colleague decided to pick product A.

The morale of this story is in three parts.

First, to cut through the noise, you have to do some extra effort. Perhaps quality of outreach is more important than quantity of outreach these days.

Second, brand and reputation is about taking that extra effort and making it consistent over a period of time. It’s easy to do the hard work when it works, but it’s when you do it despite the poor results, or despite the ups-and-downs, that the hard work becomes a part of your identity that others appreciate.

And third, well. Try to attribute that sale.