Lesson 18 - Write a ‘Why You, Why You Now’ Outreach Message

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First impressions matter, and your initial outreach message sets the tone. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to write a compelling ‘Why You, Why You Now’ message that resonates with your prospect. Your assignment will involve drafting and refining this type of message for one of your target accounts.

Transcript

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Nicholas, welcome back to the daily quota. I'm your host, Nicholas Hill, and in today's lesson, you're going to write your first outreach message of the course. This is going to be a message written in the why you, why you now. Framework now, before we dive in, I need to give credit where it's due. The why you now. Framework was developed by John Barrows. John is a master sales trainer. I would highly recommend that you look into his podcasts, his courses, his workshops, and in fact, I'll put some links to some of John's work in the show notes. Now the why you why you now, framework is so powerful because it is personalized and it is compelling. So let's break this down when we think about the y, u, y, u now framework, the goal is to be reaching out to someone and telling them why you're reaching out to them specifically. So I could have reached out to anybody, the reason I'm reaching out to you is x, and we'll talk about what that means, the why you now, part of the framework is about urgency. So this is, hey, I'm reaching out to you because x, and I'm reaching out to you right now because y, and we'll talk about some of the different compelling events that would make a message more timely now when we think about the why u, why you now framework, the goal is to capture their attention. The goal is to get them to engage with you and to not just be another kind of spam, salesy outreach that lands in their inbox. So let's break this down, and we'll talk about how you can craft a why you, why you now outreach message, the first thing you need to do is start with a compelling subject line. Now this doesn't this type of message doesn't have to be an email, but if it is an email, you need a compelling subject line. A subject line should be personalized. So it needs to have the recipient's name, you know, reference something specific to them or their company. It needs to indicate why your message matters. Now, it needs to be short and to the point. A subject line should never be longer than, like, 50 characters, and it needs to hint at the value or benefit they can expect by reading more. It's almost like your subject line is selling the body of your email. So it's a teaser. It makes them want to click on it and learn more about what's inside. Some good examples of the subject line. Let's think about some of the different things you could be reaching out for. If you're reaching out for a recent achievement or event, you might say like, Hey, congratulations on your latest lean award, Mark. I'd love to celebrate your success or mark your insights at the Agile conference 2024 were spot on. Let's explore further. You might be reaching out because of a timely business need. So you might say maybe you're starting q4 start q4 on the right foot. Discover our tailored solutions, or end of year budget strategies for Acme incorporated right these are subject lines that hint at, hey, this is timely. It's relevant to you right now because of the season that we're in, market changes. How are you navigating generative AI, learn how your peers are doing this inside, right? Upcoming, upcoming trends in the pharmaceutical industry. Stay ahead of the curve, right? These are things that they might say, oh, okay, well, yeah, I'd be curious to learn a little bit more about that. Or, yeah, maybe we are, you know, thinking about AI right now, and we want to look further into it. Um, personal connections, these can be a great reason to reach out to somebody. So you might say, Mark, I'd love to share our shared vision for the future of the manufacturing industry. Or, you know, we're bringing advanced Social Media Insights, not where you might say, bringing advanced Social Media Insights to Acme Incorporated. So some, you know, personal relevance to them, something that that's going to be relevant to their title, a time sensitive offer. You know, last chance to secure an agile workshop with our experts. Act now, limited time offer for you know, expert consulting on manufacturing processes, right? I don't know why I'm stuck on manufacturing and agile, but these are things that that could indicate kind of time sensitivity, follow ups, reminders. So if you've already sent them an email and you're following up, you might say, hey, just following up. Are you still interested? Mark, reminder, you know, don't miss out. And enhancing your social media strategies with Sprout Social so some follow up reminders. So anyway, I got off on a bit of a tangent there, but you're what I ultimately want you to understand is that your subject line should be teasing the body of the email. Not all of the subject lines I just said were perfect, I'll admit, but I want you to think about the numerous reasons you could be reaching out. There are so many reasons you can be reaching out to your prospect, and you want to laser focus on the one thing that they're going to gain by reading your email and by reading your email right now. So that's the goal of the subject line. Once you've hooked them with the subject line, you're going to jump into the body of the email. The why you part of the outreach focuses on why your message is relevant to that exact person. The best way to understand this is to understand when it goes wrong. Have you ever seen an email that's like, to whom it may concern, or to the IT team at Birchbox? That was a real one that we actually saw at one of my previous organizations where they said, you know, to the IT team at x, and it's like, okay, then how is this relevant to me? Those are examples of when it goes very wrong for something personalized. You might say, Hi Mark. I'm reaching out to you today because I just saw that you were promoted to regional IT manager. Our solution has helped 1000s of regional IT managers implement data security protocols at their organization. Now that is a specific reason that you're reaching out to mark, because you were just promoted into this role that my solution specifically helps. So that's an example. You could also talk about recent achievements. So I might say, Hi Mark, congratulations on your team's recent success in launching your new you know, whatever, I've been following your updates on LinkedIn. I'm impressed with how you've been managing the project. I'm reaching out because I have some insights on this or that specific thing related to their project that might interest you. So talking about their recent achievements, their recent updates, recent company updates, etc. You could reach out because of an industry event. Hi Mark. I just finished listening to your speech at the AWS reinvent conference last month. I was really intrigued by your take on, you know, how social media management is evolving in 2024 and I'd love to have another conversation with you about how we can align our objectives, right? Something to that effect, you could reach out because you have a shared connection. So you might say, Hi Mark, Emily mentioned your innovative approach to social media management during our chat last week, I've been exploring some similar themes. Thought it would be great to exchange ideas and how we can discuss this at a larger scale. You could reach out because of a company milestone. I think I mentioned that a minute ago, but something like, you know, Hey, Mark, I saw that your company is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Congratulations on this significant milestone. Given this momentous occasion, I thought it might be the perfect time to explore ways we can help you amplify your achievements and prepare for the next 10 years, right? So those are some examples of, you know, company milestones. You could say that they one is that, you know, companies win awards all the time. So you can reach out and say, I saw that your company just won x, y, z award, and this is why I wanted to reach out to you. And then another one is just shared interests or background. And this doesn't have to be professional, it can be personal. You could say, you know, Mark, I'm reaching out because I was doing some research on your company. I noticed that you and I went to the same school. Hook them, right? I'm reaching out because I just finished reading your latest blog post on LinkedIn and the future of work, and I want to talk about the future of remote work with you. You know, things that people are genuinely interested in, as long as you're not lying, as long as you're genuinely interested in that topic and learning more, it's a great way to reach out and get to know somebody. So lots of different reasons for the why you part of that email. Now, hopefully these examples show you that there's so many different ways you can personalize your outreach. The goal here, though, is really to show that you've done your homework. You want to show them I'm not just shooting off an email here. I'm putting work into this outreach. I'm putting investment time, energy, focus attention into this outreach. When people see that effort, they are far more willing to reciprocate effort. We're going to talk about the concept of give to gets a lot in this course, what can what value can you give? And what can you get in return? The simple act of putting in work and focus and attention shows that you're willing to give value that you're not just looking to take. So do the work. Show that you've done your homework in your outreach. Once you have sent the why you, then you're going to talk about the why you now, which is, why is it urgent? Why is it critical for this person to act on your message right now? It needs to be a compelling call to action. So you might say, you know, Mark, given the latest changes in regulations around social media management for corporations, now is the optimal time to reassess your processes. Our solution can help you navigate these changes. You might say. You know, as you approach your fiscal year end, now is the ideal time to consider solutions that can enhance your annual report. We just launched our new multimedia engagement product, and I believe it is the perfect tool to enhance your team's processes. Right a new product launch can be an excellent reason to engage right now and create that urgency, seasonal relevance. Hey, the peak shopping season is right around the corner. With black friday coming up, I know that you're getting ready for tightening your E commerce strategy. Let's, let's strategize that together. Competitive Edge, right? You might say, Hey, your competitors are I've noticed your competitors are starting to ramp up their their aggressiveness and their marketing, and I think now is the time for us to really hone in on your your competitive differentiation strategy, right? Some other things, you know, it could be event driven in light of your recent expansion announcement. It could be a special offer. We're offering a special pilot to those that are signing up for our beta program. I, you know, I, I tend to think of like one time offers, discount offers, as being a little gimmicky. But if it's true, and you're not just using it to get to the meeting, then I definitely think it's it's valuable. So you've opened up with the Yu. You've made it urgent with the Yu now, now you need to give a call to action at the end. So at the end, you might say something like, Mark, can we set up a quick 15 minute call next week to discuss here's my up to date calendar where you can set something up right away, directly, right again, as I've mentioned several times in the course, you want to make this easy for them. Make it easy for them to click on this link and get directly to your updated, available calendar. You could also ask for a referral. One thing that SDRs in my previous organizations have found beneficial is to say, you know, are you the right person in charge of this initiative? Are you the right person to speak with, or can you get me in touch with the right person to speak with about this, and then finally, just end your outreach with a short, simple signature line. I've said it before, but try not to include links in your signature. It can get you sent to spam. Don't take up a signature. Don't create a signature line that takes up half the page. Make it short and simple. I mean, I've signed off before. Just Nick right and then, and then they can they know who I am. Um, cool. All right, let's review the framework, personalized, compelling subject line that piques their curiosity or conveys urgency. A why you to show them, why you're specifically reaching out to them, how your solution can help. A why you now to convey urgency and why they should get back to you right away, an easy, clear call to action and a short, simple signature line. If you can nail down that formula in your outreach, you will see your open rates, click rates, reply rates skyrocket. You will generate more meetings. You will get to get in front of more prospects. So I would highly encourage you to look into that framework. Cool. I'll leave an example in the notes. But for now, it is your turn. For today's assignment, I want you to choose one contact at one of your top prioritized accounts, you're going to write a sample outreach message to them using the why u why u now framework, your study guide, will provide guidance and examples for this, and you'll submit this messaging to your mentor or manager for feedback before sending it out. I highly encourage you to do that if, especially if you're early in sending outreach. And that is it for today's lesson. Hope you enjoyed it, and we'll see you next time on the daily quota. Thanks. You.