Can Anyone Generate $100M From Cold Emailing? Alex Can (And Did)
Here's an interesting thought: Cold emailing. It works. Really well, actually at least according to Alex Berman. In fact, he's helped his clients generate over $100M in new business from cold emails.
Alex is the Chairman of Experiment 27, a digital marketing agency that specializes in cold emailing.
x27, as they like to call themselves, is easily creating new business for themselves and others using a systematic process of emailing. The best part? Alex believes in giving away his best secrets:
He joined us on the Lead to Grow podcast and gave his simple approach to cold emailing that has generated millions of dollars of revenue for himself and others.
Use Your Current Customer Base to Find the Ideal Client
Where better to start, than with current customers?
Alex works in the B2B space, so he specifically works with clients who are selling to other businesses. When a client comes to x27, Alex determines their ideal customers by looking at their current customers. He selects one specific customer to use as a model. Then, he dissects it.
Using the list of features about that specific customer, the lead generation team at x27 hunts down a list of customers that match those features.
The First Line of the Email Is Everything
Once the lead generation team has narrowed down the list of potential customers, the next step is sending the emails.
Here's where his creativity takes off:
Each email they send out has a few specific features:
- The first line is unique for every email, and individually compliments the recipient
- The entire email fits within an iPhone screen, without having to scroll
These are crucial.
Why the first line matters:
Alex found that by customizing the first line with a compliment unique to the recipient, they had a 10x to 15x higher open rate. How does he compliment them? Simple. The team at x27 goes to the receiver's LinkedIn page and finds something they can connect with.
It could be a new promotion, a win at work, their alma mater, etc.
That becomes the first line of the email.
So, say one of Alex's clients is a technology firm trying to do business with large software companies. Alex's lead generation team finds IBM, and, specifically, hands over the email address to Terri, an IT representative at IBM.
The first line of the email may look something like this:
"Hey, Terri, I love the work you are doing at IBM serving your area of 50 developers. I know from experience how hard it can be to work with that many people."
Or if the intended target were a CEO:
"Hey, I love what you are doing at XYZ company. It's amazing how you were able to take your company from 1 employee to over 2 dozen in just a year."
A compliment really grabs the reader's attention.
(Alex made a YouTube clip with many more opening line examples. Find that clip here.)
The body of the email:
When people receive emails they can see on their smartphone without having to scroll, they read it (and reply). If someone has to scroll to keep reading, they delete the email.
The first line compliments and the body of the email is essentially the pitch, asking to book a call to discuss the product or service.
Conclusion: Wrap Up the Email Into a Phone Call:
After x27 helps clients find their ideal customers, they help them craft the opening sentences for the emails. The next part is the call.
Once people respond to the email (and plenty of them do), Alex tells his clients to book them on a call.
How does Alex suggest you end the first call? "Loved what we talked about today; I'd love to get a proposal down with some numbers and get back to you. When's a good time?"
My Favorite Question:
If you were having lunch with someone interested in you, what is the one thing you would want them to walk away knowing about you?
I loved Alex's response here:
"Hopefully they would think I was interested in them," he said.
This isn't fluff. He means it. Alex spoke endlessly about providing value. He talked about how to really get to know someone, how to get to the "why" behind the "what" and the "how."
His biggest fear? Not providing value.
I don't think he has a lot to worry about there.
This blog post is from a podcast interview with Alex Berman, Chairman of Experiment 27.
Click here to hear this full episode. If you don't use iTunes, you can also find the full list of episodes by clicking this link.