finboi

Fi-nance

?Email/ text outreach for selling to friends/ acquaintances?

ok so, have you ever had to reach out to someone you personally know since they are a great prospect but you don't want to seem too pushy?

I tend to say something like:

"hey man, I saw your name/company pop up in our database so I had to reach out to see if you have run into X problem recently.

I'm at company Y, which does Z. We have had some of our most successful customers in your industry/region.

Let me know if you think it makes sense to do a 5-minute call to see if we should talk more about this. Either way, it's been a while and I would love to hear how you have been since our days at X company/school/whatever."

what would you send for an email or text to someone you know?

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18 comments

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

this is what i HATED the most when i was in financial services.....always having to call ppl you knew. Friends, family, relatives, ect. it sucked, i hated it and I honestly would never do it again.

UNLESS they are buying something for the company they work at and not talking about their own personal situation/money.

BUT

If they worked at a company that was a prospect I would just call and say

"Sam! Im working right now and my boss asked me about X company and I realized you work there! this almost never happens haha. can I tell you what we do real quick and then you can point me in the right direction if you think it makes sense?"

finboi

Notorious Answer

Fi-nance

Haha you get it

I do like the deflection attempt here. Make it seem like you discovered that they are a prospect.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

If they're your friend I'd just pick up the phone.

I've never been in this situation before. Could get awkward. As a principle I don't mix friends and $$$.

finboi

Notorious Answer

Fi-nance

Would you try to get a referral bonus from a friend? To me its almost unavoidable to cross friends/acquaintances with business for anyone with a decent network.

That said I hear ya- reason I posted is to avoid getting awkward while not ignoring decent prospects

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

True, I have been guilty or referral bonus stuff with friends, but that's a bit different.

In that case you're helping each other (one getting job, the other gets money). This case is more one-sided, since you want them to give you something.

Honesty and forthrightness are you friends. I'd call them up and acknowledge it's kind of awkward, but they're your ICP, etc.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

ERP Sales

don't mix friends and $$$!

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Depends on when the last time I spoke to them was and how close we are.

If we're close enough I'd just be super casual about it and tell him what value I could bring him and to let me know if that's something he'd like to take a closer look at.

If we're not super close and haven't spoken in a while, I reach out and explain what I'm doing and that it reminded me of them because of how they could benefit. Tell them I'd be more than happy to give them a more in depth look whenever. Then move on to have a genuine conversation with them.

Personally, I like to call myself out, so I'll crap on myself with some self-deprecating humor about how I'm a bad friend because we haven't spoken in a while and now I want to sell them something. This works with my personality though, and wouldn't come as a shock. Really depends on the kind of person you are.

The real key is in not trying to sell them something just because they fit the ICP but because you genuinely want to help them solve whatever pain you solve.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

Friends don't prospect friends. Mention what you sell and if they are interested they will ask about it.

Personally, I'd be afraid of the company fucking something up and losing a friend. Real homies are hard to come by.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

100%

CatMom

Politicker

Account Executive

I’d probably try calling them directly and just be honest like hey I’ve been doing really well at my company and from what I’ve learned, you’re a great prospect for me. Any chance you’d be willing to hear me out? Otherwise, I’d try having someone else on the team (as long as it doesn’t get too muddy with splitting the opp in some way) reach out to them first, cold, then go to them and be like hey man how ya been? Saw one of my colleagues has been reaching out to you and thought I’d save you from them blowing up your inbox…got some time to chat this week? Either you end up loving what I have to offer and it’s a win/win or you hate it and I get to take you off the call list which is still a win for you…idk you can get creative with it but just some ideas!

finboi

Notorious Answer

Fi-nance

I like that tactic of deliberately getting someone else to reach out first

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

If you make me call your buddy you can bet I'm taking a cut 🤑

Or at least making you buy me a nice lunch 🥩🍷

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I guess I've been lucky/unlucky in that while my friends and relatives may work at target accounts for my company, they have never been in roles where I'd normally target them. It's always been a case of massive company + massive company, so it becomes something we talk about but our roles are so different, it really makes no difference.

If it did, I'd pick up the phone and explain the situation: "you're a friend, working at a target account of ours, who should I be talking to, thanks, hey, interested in this upcoming concert?" Simple. You're not trying to set them up for a Pampered Chef party (I hope).

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Mary Kay all the way

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

Officer of ♥️

'Bruhhhhh you gotta check out this product it will save your ASSSSS, you down?'

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Not a fan of mixing these.. Unless it naturally comes up in conversation and there's a problem you can solve.