Hey or Hello? How to Target Your Message to Your Target Segment

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“Hey! When can we schedule a time for me to demo our new app?”

At least once every couple of weeks I get a LinkedIn or e-mail message that starts that way (or something close). I often wonder if anyone actually responds to those types of cold call sales pitches. How you communicate with clients (and prospective clients) is a key part of selling—and long-term relationship building.

Subject lines also seem to have become more misleading, with aggressive business development people implying that we already have a time scheduled and that I simply forgot about it.

As marketing technology has become more sophisticated and some agencies and digital companies bring on independent business development people, the level of personalization and smart relationship cultivation tactics seem to be on the decline. No matter how sophisticated your sales management system is, remember these three simple things.

• Invest the time and resources in doing a little persona research, so you understand who your best clients are and how you can find those qualities among prospects. Understand how they want to be communicated with (media, frequency, tone).


• Show a little respect. “Hey” may be a common salutation among friends, but unless you already know your prospect (and you’re of the same — typically younger — generation) it should be avoided. Again, the right salutation depends on the target market you’re trying to reach.


• If you’re sending individual pitches rather than using a mass targeting system, do a little research on your prospect before you reach out. Referencing a “procurement department” when you write to or call a business that only employs ten people is probably a miss. I recently attended a trade show as media and nothing in my credentials indicated that I own a restaurant and yet I got a handful of pitches from companies selling bar and kitchen equipment. Fail!

Although how we communicate has evolved, knowing who you’re speaking to can make a big difference between who hits the delete key and who reaches out for that demo. Hey…after all that’s just common sense!

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Nancy A Shenker

Nancy A. Shenker is a marketing innovator, brand builder, writer, and speaker, with both client- and agency-side experience. Over the course of her 40-year business and marketing career, she has been a C-level marketing executive, an entrepreneur, and a mentor to hundreds of small businesses at all stages. Founder of theONswitch marketing(R), Shenker was formerly a senior executive for major consumer and business brands, including Citibank, MasterCard, and Reed Exhibitions. Shenker has written four books, and publishes a women’s entrepreneur community called sheBOOM, as well as A.I. website Embrace the Machine(R) and travel and lifestyle website BleisureLiving(R). She writes a column for Inc.com called Bots & Bodies, covering the human aspects of technology and speaks about digital marketing, transformation, and women’s career paths at national conferences.

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