You may have heard entrepreneurs and marketers talk about warm and cold leads. But what does that mean and does it apply to your virtual assistant business?
First off, yes, it applies to your VA business. There are different ways to find clients to work with and some of these involve warm leads and some of them involve cold leads.
A warm lead is someone who has already warmed up to you. They may already know you, follow you on social media or have filled out a ‘work with me’ form on your website. Warm leads are typically easier to convert into clients because they are familiar with you.
A cold lead is someone who hasn’t had any interaction with you yet. You take the initiative to reach out to them and ask if they’d be interested in working with you.
But reaching out to cold leads sounds so…impersonal. Pushy. Terrifying.
I get where you’re coming from! You’re basically walking up to someone and asking them to hire you, which feels vulnerable and scary. Luckily, it does get easier with practice, and there’s a way to do it that doesn’t feel so salesy and icky.
Half the battle is your attitude, and the other half is clear communication. You need to approach the pitch from a place of wanting to help your prospective client and answer as many of their questions as possible.
HOW TO WRITE A COLD PITCH EMAIL:
Step 1: Get the right mindset.
Instead of thinking “I’m asking you for money”, think “Here’s how I can help you.” Always frame the pitch as an offer to help this business owner. Yes, money will be exchanged if they hire you, but you are offering a service, first and foremost.
Step 2: Find people to contact.
Which business owners do you admire? Who do you already follow on social media? Whose mailing list are you on? Whose blog do you read? Start with businesses you’re already familiar with, because it makes striking up a conversation in the email easier and more authentic.Â
Step 3: Do your homework.
Before the pitch: Do your homework. Poke around on their website. Follow them on social media. Read some of their blog posts or watch some of their Youtube videos. Look over their sales pages and get familiar with what they do.
Business owners want a VA who cares about their business, who will treat their business as carefully as they would their own. Also, getting to know their business will give you a leg up if you do start working together because you’ll already have a good understanding of their brand.
Step 4: Write your pitch
Your email should also answer any questions they might have about working with you, and therefore remove as many objections as possible to hiring you. A good rule of thumb is to always make it as easy as possible for them to hire you!
Things you need to communicate in a cold email:
- That you get their business. You care. You’re interested in their business and you believe in what they’re doing. Tell them how you found them, congratulate them on their latest launch, tell them you enjoy their newsletter. Show that you have some idea of what’s going on in their lives.
- How you can help. You don’t have to say “I notice your blog posts have a lot of spelling errors, would you like some help with that?” You can ask if they need any help with the services you offer. (You can link to a services page on your website, a Google Doc, a document on your Facebook business page, or include a list if it’s short.)
- A call to action. Invite them to respond to your email or book a Skype or phone call to talk about how you can help them. Bonus points: sign up for scheduling software like Acuity to eliminate back and forth scheduling. I recommend a monthly subscription instead of the free one because you’ll get automatic time zone conversions.
- Your rates. They’ll want to know this right away so even though it might feel icky, you can simply mention your hourly rate at the end of describing your services, “My rate is $25 per hour” or list your package prices next to your packages. That’s all you need.
But what do I actually say?
We can talk about communication and lists all day long, but writing your very first pitch can still be really hard!
Here’s a simple template I made for you, just edit it as needed:
Subject: I’d love to help you out!
Hi {CLIENT’S NAME},
(Greeting) I hope you’re having a great day so far!
(Show you know their work) I love getting your newsletter every week, and congratulations on your new ecourse! That’s really exciting, and I hope everything is going well with that.
(The Pitch) My name is {YOUR NAME} and I’m a virtual assistant. I wanted to let you know that I have some availability in my schedule if you’re looking for someone to help you with {Explain what you can help them with}. I would love to help you out!
(Your Services or Packages) {If you’d like to include a longer list of your services, a link to your services page on your website, a Google Doc, or a document on your Facebook business page, that would go here}
(Optional: Testimonial) Words from a happy client: {Testimonial from a past or current client with their name and a link to their website}
(Call to Action) Do you have any questions? Feel free to send me an email or schedule a time to talk on the phone or Skype! {Link to your online calendar}
(Optional: Ask for referrals) If you know anyone who could use my help, I’d love it if you could pass this info along. Thank you so much!
Warmly,
{YOUR NAME}
Use this as a guide, but make sure to adapt it to your services and your client. Nobody likes spammy copy + pasted messages, and most online business owners can spot spam from a mile away. Also, keep it short and sweet. Your client is busy and has an overflowing email inbox!
Step 5: Hit send.
You did it! Now you wait. Sometimes prospective clients answer right away and sometimes they’ll take a few days or even weeks. In the meantime, send another pitch or do something else to move your business forward. (It gets easier and less scary with practice!)
How many clients should you reach out to?
Decide on how many new clients you need first. You can either space out the emails to one a day or email all of them at once.
If you don’t hear back don’t take it personally. They could either be extremely busy, on vacation or don’t need your services at this time. Wait a couple of days to see if they respond and if they don’t you can either send a follow-up email or move onto the next pitch.
No matter what kind of business you have, cold pitches are a classic way to find new clients and a valuable skill to learn. I know it’s scary, but it does get easier. Now get out there and give it a try!
Want more marketing tips and templates? Check out the Introvert VA Club!
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