Author: Ryan Dolotallas

In July 1968, a young sound engineer named Geoff Emerick grew annoyed with his employers and quit his job.

Geoff’s employers muddled through without him.

And fifty years ago this month, they released a double-album…

…with a plain white cover…

…entitled, simply, “The Beatles.”

So, yeah this really happened…

A 22-year-old sound engineer is hanging out at Apple Studios…

…with the most famous band in the galaxy…

…helping to record “The White Album” which was bound to go down as a masterpiece…

…and he walks out.

Really!?!?

But here’s the thing: The Beatles WERE really, really, really annoying to work with in 1968.

Constant bickering.

Endless recording sessions at odd hours.

Countless takes in search of (elusive) perfection.

You know the song “Sexy Sadie?” (If you have a vinyl edition, you’ll find the track on side three, right before the infamous “Helter Skelter.”)

It’s an OK song. Nothing special. It wasn’t on the charts. It’s not on any greatest hits album.

Guess how long it took the Beatles to deliver that three-minute song?

The Answer: 107 takes.

That’s a lot of takes. (Enough takes to drive a sound-engineer bonkers.)

Backtrack to April 1966. The Beatles recorded “Paperback Writer” in two takes.

Two takes was good enough.

The song was a No. 1 single the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

So why did The Beatles exhaust 107 takes to produce Sexy Sadie?

Because they could.

They were through touring. They had more money than Richie Rich. They had time to burn.

They were THE Beatles, for goodness’ sake. So big they could release an album with nothing (except their name) on the cover.

Here’s the lesson for you:

You’re not THOSE Beatles.

You’re not galaxy-famous.

You’re not THAT rich.

You have work to do…

…Just like those lads in April 1966 who were still busy touring and who didn’t have time for 107 takes.

You don’t have time for 107 takes, either. You don’t have time for seven takes.

Knock out that email or blog or social media post or podcast. Get ‘er done in one take, maybe two.

That will be good enough.

Don’t be sloppy.

But don’t be like the 1968 Beatles.

You and your business can’t afford it. And you don’t want to drive everyone around you bonkers!

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Last month, I told you about conspiracy theorists who tried to “prove” that the moon landings were a hoax. (Here’s that email.)

In that email, I noted that many marketers remind me of the conspiracy theorists. They take a couple of facts and paste them together to create a wacky, inaccurate picture.

A few weeks ago, my friend Randy had a run-in with one such wacky marketer (let’s call her “Wacky”).

She yelled at Randy and nearly fired him. But he got the last laugh. 

Here’s the story…

Randy runs an event management company. Wacky hires Randy’s firm to plan and promote events.

Wacky’s company gets a speaker, buys some pastries and coffee and, with Randy’s help, invites a bunch of prospects to the event.

Wacky wanted 100 people to attend the event.

Sixty people attended.

Two days after the event, Wacky called Randy.

She said: “We spent a lot of money to promote this event.” That’s a fact.

She noted: “We drew far fewer people than we wanted.” That’s also a fact.

She concluded: “This was a massive failure. We can’t do this event again!”

Not so fast, Wacky.

Randy replied calmly: “This event was designed for your sales reps to connect with prospects and get new business. Have you talked to your reps?”

Wacky replied, “No.”

Well…Randy had spoken to the reps.

“The day after the event, one of the reps calls me and tells me he met his entire month’s quota at that one event. He signed up seven people!” Randy said.

Here’s the wacky math:

Big marketing spend
+ 60 attendees
= “Massive failure!”

Here’s the accurate math:

Big marketing spend
+ 60 attendees
+ seven new sales
= Massive success!

Wacky is like so many other marketers who don’t look at the whole picture.

Wacky thinks “Mission accomplished!” if she fills the room. But she doesn’t pay attention to the bottom line — whether the event drove any business.

If Wacky had her way, the company would have scuttled a successful marketing tactic.

Too many marketers think “Mission accomplished” if they collect a bunch of social media likes or email opens or website visits.

Or they think, “This doesn’t work,” if they don’t get as many likes or opens or visits as they expect.

But they don’t pay attention to what happens next.

What have you done to nurture the likers or openers or visitors?

Do the likers or openers or visitors become customers?

Wacky had no plan. She wasn’t even checking to see if any of the event attendees were moving through the sales funnel. 

In other words, after executing the marketing tactic, she was finished. No follow-up plan. No attention to the bottom line, 

Wacky, isn’t it?

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

When I was younger (and lonelier), I wrote a song called “Unrequited Love.”

I wrote it a few weeks after a blind date. I thought the date went well. I called her — several times. Left messages suggesting a second date.

No reply. No more dates. Sad story.

I’m thinking of writing a similar song today. I might call it “Prospect Alone at the Altar.”

This goes back to the email I received last week. In my email to you last week, I wrote about the great cold-call email I received from Ramon who was pitching payroll management software and services. 

I replied to Ramon. Told him I’d like to get together on the phone.

I want to get to know his business. I think there may be a relationship in our future. I might want to purchase his software.

No reply. No second date. Sad story.

I don’t know what happened to Ramon. He may have a valid reason for not following up with me.

So I won’t rip Ramon directly here.

Instead, I’m going to rip marketers, in general.

So many marketers are really good at the first date…

…but they’re lousy at following-up.

Marketers spend big bucks and long hours attracting leads.

They send excellent cold-call emails.

They master the search engines and drive big traffic to their websites.

They create clever ads that draw in prospects.

They collect business cards at trade shows and networking events.

And then what?

Too often, they don’t have a plan to engage prospects who are interested. Too often, they leave prospects alone at the altar.

So before you spend a dime or a minute on attracting new leads, plan how you will…

…follow-up and engage with those who are interested…

…identify who are qualified prospects and who are not…

…close the deal…

…maximize the relationship so you both benefit.

Maybe Ramon had a plan. But I doubt his plan was to ignore a qualified prospect who told him, “Let’s talk.” 

First dates are easy.

After the first date?

It’s up to you to write the happy song.  

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

I was planning to send a different email to you today. 

…until I checked my inbox this morning and opened one of the best cold-call emails I’ve ever received.

I wanted to share it with you because it’s sooooo good and you can learn so much from it.

It begins: “Hey Tom, Curious if you’re manually entering data in 5+ systems every time you hire someone at MarketVolt? Your payroll, insurance carrier, FSA/HSA, 401k, HR platform, etc.”

That caught my attention because…yeah, data entry following new hires is a repetitive, painful process for us.

He had my attention. He described a painful condition for many businesses. And he asked whether I can relate.

My answer: Yep. I can relate. So I continued reading:

“Rippling fixes this problem in a really neat way. In 90 seconds, you can hire a new employee through our system, and we set them up in all of your other systems — instantly. Legacy platforms like ADP and Paychex aren’t ‘open,’ so your team’s likely doing this work manually right now. Not just for hiring, but offboarding and day-to-day management.”

Now he really had my attention. A clear solution to cure what ails me. So I continued reading:

“Our payroll is a lot more affordable too, FWIW.”

Is this guy reading my mind?

I was thinking, “Sounds nice, but it sounds pricey.”

And then he answered my objection.

He established that he offers time-savings AND cost-savings. (By the way, “FWIW” = for what it’s worth). So I continued reading:

“Are you open to a quick demo / cost savings comparison? Thank you! Ramon”

Yes, I am open. So I read the p.s.:

“P.S. Tom — 57% of companies that switch payroll, do so in Q4, so now’s the right time to see what else is out there. If you’re not interested though, please let me know. I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

A call-to-action with a bit of urgency and a personal touch. He asks me to contact him if I’m not interested (implying, of course, that I should contact him if I AM interested). Also, it’s a nice touch to acknowledge the nuisance factor (anyone who reads that far is probably not considering him a nuisance).

Let’s summarize what Ramon did in this email:

1) Identify a pain-point or a desire and ask, “Can you relate.” (Are you entering date in 5+ systems?) Those who can relate read on. Those who don’t stop reading (no damage done).

2) Quickly and concisely identify what you offer to address the pain or fulfill the desire (In 90 seconds, you can enter the data once, and we take care of the rest).

3) Quickly and concisely address potential objection(s) (We’re less expensive than the other guys).

4) Present a clear call to action (Would you like a demo? Please contact me).

That’s a good formula for any business that uses email for lead generation.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.