Keeping a lead engaged until you get that first appointment requires a particular skill set. There are MSP sales tools available now that mean old-fashioned cold calling can be avoided. As a technical person, running sales isn’t in your background, and this process may make you a little uncomfortable. Here are some basic steps using LinkedIn and email to connect with a prospect and boost your MSP sales.

Connect via LinkedIn: Chances are that your prospect has a presence on this very powerful social media. That brings you a step closer to your prospect. Most of the time professionals on LinkedIn are pre-disposed to a business proposition. That is usually the objective of a profile on LinkedIn. Connecting with your lead on LinkedIn may not be so hard but making that connection result in an appointment will take some work.

First, send a request to connect with your prospect. If your request is accepted, thank them via an email using a personalized template. In this email you can briefly explain how your services can add value to their business. You should include a brochure with your company and website information.

If they open your email and download your brochure, your next step will be to call them and thank them. The important thing here to remember is the personalization of your message. Let them know that you understand their pain points. Your prospect must feel that your services offer relevant solutions for their needs. Before you ask the question “When can we discuss our services in detail, one on one,” you must have a level of rapport established where your prospect will feel that meeting you in person is important. So make sure your message is clear, relevant and shows that you really care about their business. Now you should request an appointment.

First time attempts do not always result in accepted connections or reciprocated emails. It may take some persistence and resilience. But you don’t want to appear to be a ‘pest’ either. You may want to pay a closer attention to see if you are not sending the right message. Ask yourself “Am I appearing too desperate to sell?” or “Do I understand their pain points well?” or “Does my message have the personalized appeal?”

Make the necessary adjustments and try again after waiting for few days.

Emails: In today’s extremely busy environment cold calling may not work well. If you need to get your message across, email is a good alternative for that because the recipient can open that email at their own convenience. But your subject line must be appealing and then the content must be relevant to their business’ pain points so they feel compelled to respond. (We’ll talk in a later blog about writing good emails.)

Conclusion: MSP lead generation is not easy. We know that to get an appointment with a decision maker is a difficult task. But we also know that your prospect has business needs and problems for which they need solutions. And if you have those solutions, why shouldn’t they choose you ? Now, it boils down to one thing. Your prospect will choose the one who can present those solutions in the manner that is most appealing to them.

That brings us to remember two words: relevance and personalization. If you can do that why wouldn’t a prospect want to sit down with you, one on one?