Stop asking "Would this be a fit?"

I recently was at the receiving end of a one-line message saying: "Do you think [product_name] would be a fit for your company?"

For context, this was a new app - an AI-driven app, of course. The message triggered painful memories of my own mistakes in business development outreach.

Don’t get me wrong: I value clear and concise language; however, this type of message fails for at least three reasons, none of which pertain to directness:

1. You assume I remember your product. Even if I attended your webinar last week, at the pace the industry moves, I've likely seen 12 new AI apps launching since. In an age of short attention spans, it's unrealistic to expect that I will recall specific details.
   
   
2. You're asking me to do your job. When you won't invest time explaining your value proposition but expect me to figure out if it's relevant for me, you're signaling that your time matters more than mine.
   
   
3. You haven't done your homework. It suggests you don't understand my challenges, and are making random suggestions instead of trying to learn about my specific needs.

Lead with insight instead

Flip the script. Demonstrate you understand my world by hypothesizing about my challenges:

"I see you're running a consulting practice. What I consistently observe with successful independents is that once you hit capacity with client work, business development becomes nearly impossible. You're either serving clients well, or doing business development, or administrative work, but rarely have capacity to all this simultaneously. The feast-or-famine cycle starts kicking in hard. Is that tension something you're wrestling with? What if I told you there’s a solution that can help you drastically reduce admin work while your business development runs in auto-pilot mode?"

This works because:

• You've shown industry and stage-specific knowledge
• You've connected a growth milestone to a predictable challenge
• You've positioned yourself as an advisor over just another vendor
• You've opened a conversation where I might learn something

Even if your hypothesis is wrong; even if I am not able to enroll for whatever reason, I can engage with your message: "Actually, admin work is fine, but we're struggling with effective outreach and campaign management", and now we can have a real conversation.

The research investment pays off

This approach requires more prep time per prospect, but dramatically improves results. Instead of 100 generic messages hoping for 2-3 responses, send 20 well-researched messages and generate 8-10 meaningful conversations.

The key is identifying problems I likely have but I haven't been able to fully articulate yet. When you can surface and name these clearly, you establish immediate credibility and connect with me.

Bottom line: Stop asking prospects to evaluate or pilot your solution. Start by showing you understand their business well enough to hypothesize about their challenges. That's how you earn the right to their attention.

What's the worst opening line you've received in a sales pitch? Was it from me? Share it below!

#SalesStrategy #BusinessDevelopment #B2BMarketing #CustomerEngagement #BusinessGrowth