Writing for the CFO
How to write a Hypothesis Opening a CFO will read, built on their own filings and the numbers they answer for, with no ROI claims or buzzwords.
3 min read
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Tagged messaging Page 2
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Writing for the technical lead
How to write an opener for the technical lead, the person on the committee who judges whether your firm can do the work and quietly vetoes it if not.
3 min readSelling to a chief digital officer
A chief digital officer owns customer-facing change and the revenue it drives. Here's what they're measured on, what they tune out and how to open.
3 min readWriting for the champion, not the buyer
The champion sells your work inside the company. Here's how to write openers and follow-ups that give them the words to carry the case up.
3 min readSelling to a VP of engineering
A VP of engineering owns delivery, people and the release calendar. Here's what they're measured on, what they ignore and how to open.
3 min readLinkedIn connection notes that get accepted
A LinkedIn connection note gets accepted when it gives one specific reason and asks for nothing. Here's how to write one senior buyers accept.
3 min readWhen to stop following up
Stop following up when you run out of new things to say, not when you hit a number. Here's how to know it's time and what to do with the account after.
3 min readThe second message is a new hypothesis
When your first opener gets no reply, the second message shouldn't repeat it. It should test a different guess about what's hurting the buyer.
3 min readFollow-ups that add something
A follow-up should give the buyer something new, a fact, a sharper guess or a new angle. Bumping the thread just reminds them they didn't reply.
3 min readOne idea per message
A first message to a senior buyer should carry one idea. Two ideas split attention and the buyer answers neither. Here's how to pick the one.
3 min readLead with a hypothesis, not a pitch
Why a specific guess about the buyer's problem beats a list of your capabilities, and how to build a four-part Hypothesis Opening.
4 min readSubject lines for senior buyers
Senior buyers decide whether to open an email from the subject line alone. Write it like a colleague would, short, plain and about their world.
3 min readCoaching a seller on openers
How to coach a services seller to write better openers. Review the research first, fix one part at a time, and stop rewriting their drafts for them.
3 min readShort is not the same as clear
Cutting words doesn't make an opener clear. Senior buyers need a specific problem named plainly, and that sometimes takes one more sentence, not one less.
3 min readThe case against the case study in a first message
A case study in a first message answers a question the buyer hasn't asked. Here's why it backfires with senior buyers and where proof belongs instead.
3 min readSelling to a CFO
What a CFO owns, how they're measured, the signals that make one open to outside help, and how a services seller should open the conversation.
3 min readWhen they say send me some information
What "send me some information" usually means from a senior buyer, the reply that turns it into a real conversation, and the brochure mistake to avoid.
3 min readWhy quick question kills your email
The "quick question" subject line and opener became a cold email cliche. Here's why senior buyers ignore it and what to write in its place.
3 min read