So you have a list of leads that are ready to be contacted for an appointment but are anxious about not being able to secure a meeting with them? Then this whitepaper is for you

1. How to get that coveted
appointment
A MSP Advantage Program Whitepaper

2. So you have a list of leads that you want to contact for an appointment,
but are afraid of losing them at this stage? Relax...while this fear is not
unfounded, it is the case with every salesperson. After all, you have spent
a lot of time researching your audience and your leads, in particular,
learning about their IT challenges and issues. Losing them at this point in
the sales cycle, even before you get a chance to explain how you can
add value to them doesn’t seem fair, does it?
This e-guide offers you the best practices that you can follow to make
sure your interaction with an individual lead results in an appointment.

3. Instead of cold-calling your leads, try connecting with them on LinkedIn first. LinkedIn
is an excellent platform for establishing business connections. Moreover, considering
the vast reach of social media platforms, there’s always a good chance that you
already have a connection at some level. Having your lead as a connection on
LinkedIn opens new communication lines and boosts your chances of getting an
appointment.
Send your lead a request to connect on LinkedIn. Make sure you personalize your
connection request. Remember that this is not a sales pitch. It is an invitation to
network online, so choose your words carefully.
If your request to connect on LinkedIn is accepted, then you can follow-up with an
email that thanks your prospect for adding you to their connections. In the same email,
you can talk about how you can add value to them through the services you offer and
provide a link to your website or attach a brochure. If your prospect opens this email or
responds positively to it by visiting your website or downloading your brochure, the
next step would be to call them and request an appointment.
However, if your LinkedIn request is not accepted, then it is advisable to wait for a
couple of days, and then follow up with an email in which you make reference to your
request to connect with them on LinkedIn. You can also mention how your connection
can add value to them, but refrain from attaching any other marketing/sales collateral
to the email.
USE LINKEDIN WHENEVER YOU CAN
HOW TO CONNECT USING LINKEDIN

4. Your prospects are more likely to respond to your communication efforts if they are
personalized. The more relevant your message is to them, the greater are the chances
of them getting back to you. Here’s how you can personalize your interaction with your
prospects.
Customize your emails, sales campaigns and all your other messages to suit your
prospects. Talk about their specific challenges and offer testimonials and case studies
on how you helped a client from the same industry resolve their IT issues. For
example, if you are sending an email about your services to a doctor’s office, include a
testimonial from a medical client of yours.
At the micro level, you can personalize content for each prospect based on their
attributes, including location, name, company name, etc. For example, when
connecting with a prospect in Germantown, VA, you can talk about another business
nearby whose IT infrastructure you manage.
Other very obvious personalization techniques include addressing the prospect by
name, making specific references to their company, etc. For example, “Mr. Kreiger, this
is Dan from NetworkSolutions and here’s how I can help Krieger Associates save
$1500 monthly”
MAKE AN IMPACT WITH PERSONALIZATION
PERSONALIZING YOUR SALES CAMPAIGNS
here’s how I can help

5. To effectively engage in personalized communication, you will have to invest in a good
sales enablement and marketing automation platform. For added impact, make sure
your sales enablement platform is equipped with a powerful personalization engine
that offers real-time personalization of text as well as visual design.
Ideally, your sales enablement tool should allow you to personalize based on the
following elements.
Lead attributes
These refer to lead characteristics such as name, location, title, industry,
company or city.
Lead behavior
These refer to lead actions—the way the lead has interacted with you. Lead
behavior variables include website visits, landing page visits, email opens,
link clicks, downloads, etc.
User variables
This refers to personalizing each marketing and sales communication with
your information such as your name and contact information.
MAKING IT HAPPEN

6. The first step in making an impact through personalized marketing and sales requires
that you stock up on personalized sales and marketing assets. Here’s a list of sales
assets that are absolute must-haves for any MSP.
No one likes cold calling, neither the caller nor the person at the receiving end. Hence,
it is very important that you have the best cold calling script in place, one that helps
you make the most of the first 10 seconds you get with your prospect. Make sure your
calling scripts are not more than 5 sentences. Anything longer and you may be cut-off
abruptly. Don’t confuse your call script for a sales pitch. Your call script should just
introduce your company, check with your prospect if it’s a good time to connect with
them and then tell them in just one sentence what you can do for them. Finally,
include a line where you request an appointment or permission to send more
information.
Remember, your calls may be routed to voicemail or be answered by a secretary
whose goal is to shield colleagues from sales calls. Have call scripts for such scenarios
as well. While such conversations seem pretty simple, having a script at-the-ready
ensures you won’t fumble.
STOCK UP YOUR ARSENAL - PERSONALIZED
SALES AND MARKETING ASSETS
Call scripts

7. E-mail can be your friend when cold-calling doesn’t work. If you find yourself reaching
voicemail several times or your prospect is too busy to talk, it’s time to shoot them an
email.
An email gives your prospect a chance to hear you out when their schedule permits.
Plus, with a good marketing automation software, you will be able to track your email,
so you know whether it was opened by your prospect and if they clicked your website
link or downloaded the brochure you sent.
You may be thinking that the old-fashioned postcard has no role to play in today’s tech
savvy sales environment. But, sending a postcard when everyone else is just sending
emails helps you stand out. It sends the signal that you invested time and money to
get your message across to your prospects, so you are serious about what you are
selling.
Secondly, you dodge the spam filters! In fact, in a survey conducted by
Marketingsherpa, 80% of participants listed postcards to be very or somewhat
effective. Make sure you make your postcard attractive by adding riveting content
such as interesting statistics and industry-specific testimonials. Also, try different
postcard styles for the same prospect, so there’s some variety to your postcard
marketing.
Targeted sales emails - getting an appointment
Postcards

8. You can send out cover letters to your prospects right before or after your first
appointment. Cover letters offer you the opportunity to tell your prospects about your
services in detail. If you are sending a letter out after a meeting or confirmation of the
first appointment, make sure you include a line thanking your prospects for their time.
A professional, a well-designed business card is a key sales asset. You can use
customization to make the most of this asset by designing two or three different
business card styles--one each for the key business verticals you serve. For example,
if your top clients include lawyers and CPAs, create 2 different business card styles,
where the same information is tweaked a bit for each client vertical. For example, the
card for lawyers can say: NetworkSolutions--IT services provider for attorneys since
1998, whereas the card for CPA firms can say: NetworkSolutions--IT services provider
for CPAs since 1998. And finally, have a generic business card that you can share with
any prospect, irrespective of their industry.
Some tips to follow when creating a business card--use quality paper and have only
as much information as essential. Your name, company name, logo and contact
information will suffice. The font style and size should be such that your card is easy to
read and pleasant to see.
Cover letters
Business cards

9. Nothing tells your story the way a brochure does. Whether you share a print copy with
your clients via snail mail or just email them a PDF version, a brochure allows you to
talk about your business in-depth—something phone calls, postcards, business cards,
e-mails and cover letters don’t. Make your sales brochures more effective by
Brochures
Personalizing them to suit your key audience persona. Consider having at least 2
different brochures—one generic brochure that talks about all your services and
one that specifically talks about how you can assist your key audience.
Adding relevant subheadings, so your prospects will know how you can add value
to them even if they just skim through your brochure.
Adding your contact details including your web address, e-mail, phone number,
office address and links to all your social media pages.
Including relevant images, thus adding some zing to the otherwise monotonous
text-only brochure.
Sticking to a clear font style and size so your readers don’t have to strain their eyes
to see what you are offering them.
Adding testimonials and referrals.
Personalize
Subheadings
Contact details Testimonials
Text
Images

10. Ask any successful MSP about how they manage so many SLA sign-ups and they will
tell you the secret lies in anticipating the next move of the prospect and being ready
with the right response. What they may not tell you though, is, there are tools available
in the market that can do it for you. Invest in a sales enablement tool, one that alerts
you about all significant prospect activities in real-time. Such platforms send email or
SMS alerts as soon as the prospect engages in an action that you perceive as
important. Some of these platforms may even respond to that prospect action
automatically such as by sending them a follow-up email or SMS.
FINALLY, STAY ALERT AND RESPOND ON TIME

11. Mindmatrix Inc.,
2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150,
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Phone: 412-381-0230
Fax: 412-235-0477
www.mindmatrix.net
Learn more about Mindmatrix's
MSP Advantage Program
CONTACT US TODAY!