Here’s a real email thread. The names of the client and the prospect have been changed. I was the salesperson. I have reorganized the sequence so that you can start at the top and scroll down. I added my comments in red.

My first email to Nick is below.  This was after I left a voice mail message for him. The voice mail said, “Hi Nick, it’s Dave Kurlan.  Clyde Cenny told me that you wanted to speak with me. You can reach me at 508-389-9350 extension 211.  Looking forward to talking with you!”

From: Dave Kurlan [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:28 PM
To:
Subject: Clyde Cenny Hooked us up

Hi Nick,

I left you a voice mail yesterday – trying email today. Clyde Cenny said he was speaking with you about sales, and me, and that you were interested in speaking with me. You can respond to email if that’s more convenient. If you can mention a few times that you might be available for a call over the next couple of weeks that would be great…

Regards,

Dave Kurlan

From: Dave Kurlan [mailto:] Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:27 PM
To:
Subject: 3rd Attempt

Hi Nick,

Sorry to bother you again but I don’t want you to slip through the cracks. My last three opportunities to connect with you before July 14 are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week. Would you be kind enough to do one of three things for me:

1) give me a couple of times Monday, Tuesday or Thursday that I could reach you for a quick five minutes conversation;

2) give me a couple of times the week of July 14 for the same purpose;

3) if you’re not interested in speaking just reply to this email and type “3”.

Thanks.

Dave Kurlan

Here is Nick’s response.

From: Nick the Prospect [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:18 AM
To:
Subject: RE: 3rd Attempt

3

So I finally got him to respond.  Now that he has responded,  I sent this:

From: Dave Kurlan [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:49 AM
To:
Subject: RE: 3rd Attempt

Thanks.
Did Clyde Cenny misunderstand your interest or did I do something to upset you?

And his response:

From: Nick the Prospect [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 9:09 AM
To:
Subject: RE: 3rd Attempt

I’m not sure who Clyde Cenny is.

So now we have a discussion. So I sent this:

From: Dave Kurlan [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:58 PM
To:
Subject: RE: 3rd Attempt

I’m laughing very hard right now. Sure explains why you didn’t return my calls – you didn’t even know what I was talking about. I understand there are two Nick The Prospects there – maybe you’re not the one who knows Clyde.

Clyde Cenny is the Chairman of SomeWonderfulCompany in New Orleans and two weeks ago he called me and said he was talking with you (or someone with the same name as you) about the work my company has been doing to help SomeWonderfulCompany with its sales effort and he said Nick The Prospect from ImportantCompany, was interested in speaking with me. He sent contact information and said Nick was expecting my call, etc.

So I apologize if you’re not the same person or if you didn’t know who I was.

Dave

Now that we have a discussion going, I was pretty sure he would respond the way I hoped. Here is what he wrote:

From: Nick The Prospect [mailto:] Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:09 AM
To:
Subject: RE: 3rd Attempt

I’m the one that needs to apologize. I have been traveling and have only been in the office 2 days since the time I met Clyde. I’ll be back in the office Monday and should have time to talk in the afternoon. I hope that works in your schedule.

Nick

Bingo.

Lesson – Even if you fail to get a response or you get a negative response, keep at it!  The key is to get a response – to something – to get a dialog started.

What did you learn from this case history that you can apply to your business?  Send your lessons or questions to me for possible inclusion in a future Baseline Selling Tip.