Do this to avoid "overthinking" your outreach and build lasting trust with customers

Quotaless reads less than 300 words to help master your mind, business, and time.

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Yesterday was my first day.

After three years consulting startups, I joined one full-time.

Reviewing webinar signups together, we notice a lead from a top prospect.

The contact used her Gmail instead of her company email.

“If I sign up for a webinar with my personal email, it’s because I want to fly under the radar. I don’t want to be bothered,” says Zack.

“Write that down,” I say.

Everyone wants to contact the lead. But the webinar isn’t for a few weeks and they don’t want to come off intrusive, tone-deaf, “salesy”...

No one wants to be those things.

But the more you worry about saying “the wrong thing”, the more you risk sounding artificial or inauthentic.

You risk getting away from yourself.

“Now write that to the customer. Tell her how you feel and see what she thinks.” I say.

That’s the most honest thought Zack might have all day. And being honest is the surest way to avoid sounding inauthentic.

Capturing those real thoughts isn’t easy. I keep a stack of 3 x 5 notecards on my desk and a journal with me most days.

The trick is to write how you feel. Use the words that first pop up in your head, the more specific, the better.

Once you have that down, reflect it back to your customer then ask what she thinks.

For Zack and his prospect, it might read like this:

“I debated emailing you for 20 minutes. You’re one of my top prospects and I’m stoked you signed up for our webinar.

But writing to your personal email feels odd.

Am I overthinking it?”

I guarantee she’s felt that way before.

We all have. And naming it pulls us together.

Then we don’t feel bothered.

We feel connected.

Remember,

When we embrace practice, develop awareness, and align our efforts, we can rise above the deal.

We can live #quotaless.

300+

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