negative response from prospect

-3

i just wanted your advice on the following correspondence from a prospect (see below- i have removed a few references).

I want to look at this as an opportunity and try to turn the negative response to something positive.

I provide some software solutions to certain customer needs.
The guy i am communication with is a developer in a big it department. it does not seem like he is interested in the benefits we can provide for his team nor the financial benefits for the company as a whole.

How would you respond to this email?

Hello Herman.

I am frankly very upset with your question. Why should I provide you with such information to give you a selling point towards us.

Regards
xxx

On 06/25/13 4:56 AM, H. S wrote:

Dear xxx, from your profile I can see that you are responsible for Application development.

I wanted to ask you about how you manage your Application environment (DEV, QA, PROD) with regards to ……x, y z...

Are you doing it manually or using tools like e.g. old fashioned Tool 1, Tool 2, or own code?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

H. S

Sales Email

asked Jun 26 '13 at 21:17

Herman Salling
1 point

Top digital marketing agency for SEO, content marketing, and PR: Demand Roll

Was your original message an unsolicited email to someone who you don't know and have no connection with? – Bhttoan 11 years ago
no it was based through a reference, they actually know my company but not me personally. – Herman Salling 11 years ago
It looks like spam as you haven't made any attempt to make it conversational or highlight the connection you refer to, unless that bit is missing from the post. Struggling to see what this has to do with startups. – Steve Jones 11 years ago
This question appears to be off-topic because it is not about startups, but general selling. – Randy E 11 years ago

1 Answer

Hard selling from the first encounter is usually met with resistance - in your case, since they knew that you were from company xyz offering a certain service and your question was related to that service, they automatically assumed you were hard selling (just like cold calling)

Best would be to apologize for your direct approach, otherwise no matter how great the product is, you'll forever get resistance from that one person in the team.

Offer some freebies to some of the developers or a trial version or make sure they know about the product by directing indirect advertising towards them, have a page on your website where people can book free presentations, let them twist the manager's arm eventually.

Developers are funny people (at least most of the one I know), if they discover something themselves, they love it, sell it to them and they resist using it.

answered Jun 26 '13 at 23:10

Jan Vladimir Mostert
176 points

It's true. Even my wife has figured this out. She manages to suggest something and make it seem like it's something that I suggested. Otherwise I say no just because it wasn't my idea. – Randy E 11 years ago