Stepping Out Of The Shadows

A good elevator speech to a potential business prospect is pointless if the prospect can’t figure out who you are, who you’re affiliated with, or who you represent.

Far too often, there are prospecting e-mails that fail to clearly identify the business or organization trying to connect.

The e-mails don’t come from a professional company domain, nor do they attempt to clearly identify the entity, making it virtually impossible for a business prospect to vet the entity and exercise appropriate due diligence.

Understandably, if you’re using a third-party contact solution or outsource business prospecting to a third-party and send mass prospecting e-mails, you’re likely to have your e-mail address or domain flagged as potential spam or worse, placed on a blacklist. To avoid this, you may opt to use a “disposable” account.

However, your message still needs to include the name of the business or organization you are affiliated with or represent (that is, the legal entity (LLC or Corp) or registered DBA, if applicable). Furthermore, that entity should be easy to find (read: there should be an online presence like a professional website, social media accounts, LinkedIn company page, etc.).

Business leaders and executives need to know if you’re legitimate, fly-by-night, or merely some unscrupulous entity. It's highly unlikely and unusual for a business leader or executive to blindly respond to a prospecting e-mail without properly vetting the entity and exercising due diligence.

If you’re engaged in business development and prospecting, don’t just focus on the elevator speech. Be certain to step out of the shadows so potential prospects know who’s trying to connect.