The average attention span of a human today is less than that of a goldfish 🐠 — 8 seconds is all you get to grab someone's attention.
Why? Because distractions are everywhere: social media, phone calls, emails, the looming to-do list, and now, incessantly ringing doorbells as well (courtesy: Work From Home!) 🔔 We call it…
THE ATTENTION APOCALYPSE
Which is marked by:
Less time to spare
Need for quick, actionable solutions
Apprehension to conventional marketing strategies
A desire for valuable content (without the fluff) ☁️
Looking for something that makes their head turn within 2 seconds.
At The Scalelab, our role is to grab prospects’ attention from the very first interaction. And the 2000+ meeting we scheduled last year sure helped us perfect this art :)
Here’s sharing some of the tips of the trade. In this article, you’d know:
Where Companies Go Wrong with Prospecting?
The Anatomy of Attention
4 Hacks to Capture Your Prospect’s Attention
The Secret we follow at The Scalelab 🚀
Where Companies Go Wrong with Prospecting?
In quick attempts to catch a prospect’s attention, there are many things B2B businesses end up doing wrong. These include:
❌ Company / Sales-focused Approach
“We are a Marketing agency…”
“My company offers a…”
“Our software has several features…”
❌ Non-personalized, generic content (catering to everyone)
“Dear Sir…”
“We can help your company…”
"Find PDF attached"
❌ Irrelevant, uninformed Pitch
Pitching B2C services to B2B companies
Not studying about their needs, constraints, and pain points
The Selling-a-comb-to-a-bald-person approach (they don’t need it!)
But, we’re professional optimists who focus on solutions. So, first, let’s understand —
The Anatomy of Attention
Remember these 3 key points —
1. Attention is a Highlighter.
Businesspeople send and receive more than 140 emails a day. That’s huge. So, to grab your prospect’s focus among 100s of emails, you need to give them a point of highlight — something which matters to them directly, like their needs, pain points, solutions.
Remember: It’s always about them, not you!
2. Attention comes from the First Impression.
When writing an email, you have less than 3 seconds to grab your prospect’s attention. So, everything depends on your first impression. Get that right, and you have your prospect’s limited but valuable attention.
Keep reading to know how to create a long-lasting first impression while approaching your prospects…
3. Break the Standard.
A Microsoft study says that the human attention has reduced from 12 seconds to just 8 seconds. And you cannot grab someone’s attention with the standard messaging which has been seen and read a 1000 times.
The same old mass-distributed email templates didn’t work then, won’t work now.
It's about being specific and differentiated.
How To Get Your Prospect’s Attention?
1. Adopt an Effective Lead Qualification Process with BANT
One of the top reasons why a prospect isn’t paying attention to you is that they’re NOT the right person.
So, it becomes important to analyze and structure your lead qualification process to find relevant people interested in your services. Adopt the BANT framework to find out if:
Your services are within their Budget.
The prospect has the Authority to make the purchase decision.
Their company has an untapped or unfulfilled Need for your service.
They require the service in a Time frame that’s feasible with your business.
2. Know Your Prospects Inside Out!
Once you’ve completed the lead qualification process, dig in deeper by researching them.
Before expecting a prospect’s attention, you have to pay them with yours. For grabbing their attention and personalizing your approach, you need to know who exactly you’re talking to.
Focus on collecting data points like:
Their Company & Industry
Role in Decision Making Process
Goals, Pain-points, Values, etc.
From their:
Company Profile (Website, Social Media Handles)
Personal Linkedin Profile
Conversations through Interviews / Surveys
Referrals from their Colleagues
Use these bits of information to tailor value propositions that are relevant to your prospect’s needs and interests. Remember:
Assistance is the road to attention!
3. Personalize Your Marketing Communication
Can we tell you something really basic but super-important?
You can't expect anyone to be interested in you and your company if you don't make the effort to call them by their name. A Dear Customer or Hello Ma'am just won't do....
Personalize your prospect’s or customer’s experience with your company to garner their attention and step out of the crowd. For this:
Use your prospect’s name in the email subject line, or body copy.
Set email sequences triggered by specific actions your prospect took on your website.
Bring in your personality in the email copy to have an edge over standard mails.
4. Employ the AIDA model
A time-tested writing method to catch your prospect’s attention and warm up your leads, AIDA identifies the 4 key stages in your messaging to generate engagement. It expands to:
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
4 Hacks to Stand Out & Grab Your Prospect’s Attention
1. Value their Time
Prospects have a lot on their plate. Their time is precious. (So is yours!) So, honor that and follow these tips:
Keep your communication (emails/pitches/proposals) short, simple, and crisp. (Just like french fries) 🍟
Identify the best time to reach out to them (avoid weekends, holidays, and off-hours).
Follow the Rule of One
One Big Idea
One customer
One story
One specific promise
One Call To Action.
2. Warm Up Your Cold Outreach
Cold outreaches are great. But everyone is doing that, right?! How do you stand out? Familiarize yourself with the prospect before sending them business-related information. Warm up your cold outbound pitches by:
Engaging with their LinkedIn content
Starting a conversation with them on their social media handles
Making use of referrals from their colleagues or your previous clients
Pro-tip: Leverage on something they wrote or mention a specific point that stood out for you!
3. Get Creative & Personalize
Distinguish your emails in your prospect's inbox with these tips:
Write a catchy, clear, concise subject line
Use a personal email ID (makes your company look human)
Send videos or gifs when appropriate (helps break the ice!)
4. Don’t Sell. Add Value!
Industry professionals can smell sales-y outreach mails from a distance. And trust me, nobody likes being sold to. So shift your focus from ‘mere selling’ to ‘value addition’. For this:
Highlight their problem / pain-points
Give a brief solution which will add value to them right away
ASK for a meeting to discuss the solution in detail
Again, employ the AIDA framework listed above :)
And finally… 🥁
THE GRAND SECRET — Be Human 💜
Yep, it’s as simple as that.
In this digital age, people crave the human factor. Statistics by Salesforce show that 84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business.
And seriously, what could be a better tip to grab attention than asking you to stop being a robot, be human, acknowledge human emotions, our (and their) idiosyncrasies, and talk like a long-lost acquaintance.
So, here’s giving you super-insider tips we follow at The Scalelab:
Be Authentic, Approachable, Conversational, Unintimidating.
Even though you’re talking through digital screens, be human in your approach.
Write your emails as close to an in-person conversation as possible! Talk to him/her directly with your email.
Help people. Provide value. It ALWAYS works like a charm ✨
Break the ice with a smile :) — and yes, you can use emoticons as well
Want to make it all easier? Check out these...
Resources for Effective Prospecting
For Lead Qualification
For Prospecting Through Website Data
For Finding Contacts of Relevant Prospects
For Email Personalization
Finally…
Time to outgrow the “send to all, sell to some” approach that long plagued our industry. Today, your best shot at being heard is by starting meaningful conversations that add value to your prospects’ lives, form connections, and add value to both.
And remember: “Don’t sell. Instead, focus on… building long-term relationships.”
They’d surely be mutually beneficial in the long term. And yeah, that’s how you grab your prospect’s attention…